Analysis of Student Film 3

Genre

Drama

Editing

Used effectively. Is continuous making it flow well. It is made too seem chronological meaning we see various events as they happened. Again, making it very easy to follow what's happening.

Sound

From 10 seconds onwards, a gentle backing track is introduced. This is played the whole way through until the end of the opening scene. This immediately sets the tone and makes the audience very mellow and their mood changes to fit with the piece they are watching. This would be an example of the Uses and Gratifications theory. Other than the backing track, no other sound is evident in the piece. They could maybe incorporate some other sound to help make it more interesting, however, the one piece of music throughout does work well.

Camera

An initial establishing shot to set the scene is used. This straight away allows the audience to understand where the film is going to be set. After this we have a transition to the next shot which is from on the beach of the sea. After this shot we see a long shot of two girls walking down stairs and onto the beach. The long shot, in comparison to the large wall behind them, open beach and sea makes them look quite insignificant and weak, even though they are the main focus point in the scene. A high angle shot is used to film the title. This is cleverly done and works very effectively. We also see over the shoulder shots used as the two girls walk away from the camera towards the sea. A mid shot is also used when the girls are throwing shells and stones into the sea. We also see a close up of the shells on the floor and of the girls hand as she picks one up. Overall there are various different shots used which make it interesting, however, I still feel as though some more shots could have been used as all the shots used were very basic as the camera itself rarely moved, instead the characters moved.

Mise

Set on a beach. In the majority of the shots we can see the beach and parts of the sea. We also get shots of the sea wall and an initial establishing shot in which sets the scene completely. The Mise is obviously selected for a purpose. It is quite overcast and this adds to the scenery making the audience more curious about what's happening. Clothing is causal, what you would probably expect people to wear to the beach. Everything looks in place and as you would expect it meaning the audience doesn't know what to expect or what could possibly happen later in the film meaning they want to watch more.

Titles

The use of titles is good. They change where they appear, as the first one is top left and is black, however we also see titles that appear bottom right, left and top right. The main titles has been very cleverly thought out as they have drew it out on the beach, the only negative about this is that it is quite hard to read. However, when it comes to being unique and creative this is excellent. Overall titles are used quite well and other than the main title, are very clear and easy to read.

Characters

There are two characters in the opening scene that we see. They are two girls who seem of a similar age. We see them running around a beach to start with, then we see them sitting down talking. The characters are very basic but it intrigues the audiences as we want to know more about them. By doing this it entices the audience to want to watch more and see the whole film. Also by using certain shots it helps show the characters emotions and portray to the audience there feelings.

Positives of Opening

• Titles are used well, very clear and easy to read.
• Very well thought out Mise en scene. This helps make it more interesting for the audience to watch and also helps set the mood and tone of the piece.
• Camera shots were very steady and professional looking, enhancing the piece.

Negatives of Opening

• Although camera shots were professional looking, some more advanced shots to show off skills would have been nice to see. Shots were very basic.
• Move the scene on a little, at the end it started to get boring, very repetitive.