Jay Shah Presentations Presents

Analysis of the Opening Scene of :

The opening slide offers a chronological establishment to the setting, scenario and (in this case), the time period in which the first chapter is set. This not only helps the audience understand the scene but also intrigues them.

The first Camera shot we see is an establishing shot with the year of the scene. This shot tells us more than it needs to by showing a farm house in the distance outside which a man is present, who we initially see chopping wood. The background inaugurates the idea that it is set on a hilly area.The diegetic sound of the birds chirping an the wood chopping creates the atmosphere of an ordinary day.

The next shot is a close-up panning view of the man we saw earlier. Again the diegetic sound of the axe creates a rhythmic momentum.

The next shot slowly introduces the first non-diegetic sound of the music piece the “Fϋr Elise”. This is supposedly an elegant piece of music yet it confuses the audience as the woman shows a puzzled look on her face as we see a vehicle in the distance from an over-shoulder camera shot.

The background music also changes as the next shot appears. In this shot the man is seen apparently speaking in a language which is yet to be identified, however, the subtitles make it clear that even later, there will be moments at which some of the dialogue might be in a language other than English. This shot also creates a bit of curiosity the man is seen telling to other characters to stay inside. This creates a subtle mood of unease.

This close up provides the audience a view of the man’s impassive face. It portrays the man’s emotions, which are progressively displayed as petrified.

The following shot uses the camera movement known as tracking to follow the mysterious, yet highly ranked man in the long coat. This delivers the idea that he was their for something significant.

This shot above is an extreme close up of the two men. This shot uses juxtaposition to put both men in equal positions, this helps expose the contrasts between the two men as their costumes are polar opposites, as the man in formal wear is portrayed as a man who demands respect and the woodchopper- as a humble working class man. The dialogue also helps by identifying the character we had seen from the start.

SoundThe diegetic sound of the birds chirping an the wood chopping creates the atmosphere of an ordinary day. The axe also creates a rhythmic momentum. The first non-diegetic sound of the music piece the “Fϋr Elise”. This is supposedly an elegant piece of music yet it confuses the audience as the woman shows a puzzled look on her face as we see a vehicle in the distance, when it is first heard.

Diegetic Non-Diegetic

Birds Chirping Fϋr Elise

Wood Chopping Mexican mariachi band

Car Engine

Water

EditingThere were no obvious uses of editing in this opening scene as it was all meant to be very simple as it was based in the 1940’s.However, I was able to identify the use of an eye line match when the SS Marshal Is looking at the three daughters of the farmer, here we see over shoulder shot of the marshal and their father:

Here we see an eye line match of the three daughters from the SS man’s perspective. This would normally be used to allow the audience to put themselves in the characters shoes, but here it is used to create a sense of empathy for the daughters.

Camera Shots

Establishing Shot

Low Angle Shot

Over Shoulder Shot

Medium Close Up Shot

Extreme Close Up

Tracking Shot

Over Shoulder Shot

Point Of ViewShot Silhouette

Shot

Extreme Close Up

Point Of ViewShot

Medium Shot

Camera Movement

Tilting Tracking

Zoom-in

Mise En ScèneThe LIGHTING in the room created dark areas in the house in order to make it look like they did not have any light inside the house

The SCENERY was wild and hilly in order to make it look like it was in the mountains near the border of France and Germany.

The DÉCOR was simple and mainly made of wood in order to show that they did not have a rich standard of living and that they were working class.

The COSTUMES were very carefully selected in order to show the best contradiction in lifestyles of the family and the SS officer.

The PROPS also depicted the idea that the SS officer was richer, as when the two men smoked their pipe, the officer’s pipe was larger and more luxurious than the farmers.

Representation

This shot above is an extreme close up of the two men. This shot uses juxtaposition to put both men in equal positions, this helps expose the contrasts between the two men as their costumes are polar opposites, as the man in formal wear is portrayed as a man who demands respect and the woodchopper- as a humble working class man. This represents the polar (opposite) classes that they are characterized as. Also, inside the man’s house, the SS ‘s stance as compared to the man’s posture, is almost robotic.

The End