Post 9/11 film: The Hurt Locker

I have chosen The Hurt locker as a post 9/11 film as i believe it represents this event in a rather good way allowing the film to be intense at certain parts. This film is a good example of a post 9/11 film as it is firmly set within the framework of the war on terror. The main aspect of this film is that there are Islamic terrorists who are attacking the US army. The US army have a big juggernaut like suit which is very padded and enables great protection from explosions. This may be a direct link to 9/11 as it is symbolising that even though America is highly defended it can still be wounded by things for example explosions (9/11). Furthermore this film shows how the bomb squad who are in this film become more psychologically damaged by the war each day that they survive showing that they are becoming more vulnerable as the days pass. In addition this films continues to show influence of the effects of 9/11 as the films isn’t about politics, it is about people. This is showing an effect of 9/11 as politics couldn’t really do much for the country and the people of America were frightened as they realise they are not invincible. It tries to show how a person under terrorist threat would feel and how they would be living with caution.

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How does mise-en-scene create meaning and provoke audience response in a 3-5minute sequence for the film “I am legend”?

I have decided to study the film “I am legend”, and the micro element that i shall be analysing is mise en scene. The extract that i shall be analysing the scene in which Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) returns to his house and makes himself some food and washes his dog. I believe that the directors aims in this scene were to create how normal yet different the character is. The character seems normal as he is dressed in a suitable fashion and seems to be happy, but there are many hints which indicate that he is different and maybe he is hiding something.

At the beginning of the sequence Dr. Robert Neville exits his car and goes to the passenger door and brings out 2 containers. One of which has a biohazard sign on it showing the audience that clearly this man has possession of dangerous chemicals. He then walks away and begins to go up the steps to his house. As he walks up these steps he pours a clear liquid all over them. The audience may be led to believe it may be just water. This provokes the audience as Dr. Neville is acting in a suspicious way. His body language is suspicious, as he seems to be acting strange and being cautious with his actions. This is showing the audience straight away that there is something dangerous out there. However there is a contrast as there are birds tweeting and golden leaves which symbolises how peaceful this area maybe, also the area seems to be empty. This provokes the audience to think what has happened to everyone. Already there seems to be abit of mystery lingering in the audience’s minds. As he reaches the top of the steps and finishes with the liquid he looks left and right to check if anyone is there. This could provoke an audience response as it may indicate that he is being cautious that no-one is watching him and that he is being careful with his actions.

 The first thing that is seen when we enter the house is 3 power boxes. Yet again a sense of in normality as the power boxes must be needed to generate a lot of electricity for something but what? This leaves the audience alert and thinking of what Dr. Rogers may be hiding. Furthermore there is an abnormal amount of food in a storeroom and when he takes out some Bolognese sauce he replaces it with a new jar. This shows us that he has clearly stockpiled on food meaning that there is a lack of food and he is trying to survive, also that he is organised with his food and he likes to keep it all in the same place where he found it.

As Dr. Rogers enters the lounge the television is on and the director makes the audience aware that it is a recording. The recording is obvious as the director places the camera directly in front of the television, so that it takes up most of the screen. this immediately catches the audience’s attention Also on the television there are numbers counting up which show the audience that it is a recording. These numbers are immediately shown to the audience as they are bold white writing and comes off the screen, being the first thing that the audience see’s. Immediately the audience know that something is wrong. This shows the audience that Dr. Rogers is trying to feel normal and live a normal life as if nothing has happened. He acts normal as he walks around his house, implying to the audience that he is trying to live his life as a normal human being. He then shuts the door to the lounge making sure that he is secure and safe. This may indicate to the audience that he is trying to keep everything like windows and doors shut within his house in order to keep something from the outside getting in.

The director uses the kitchen fridge as a prop to give us a bigger perspective on Dr. Neville’s life. Each item on it poses a question for the audience or acts as a clue for his situation. On the front of the fridge are pictures of his family. His wife and children. These pictures may be a memory of what he used to have it makes us feel sympathy for him as he maybe missing his family. There is also a calendar on the fridge. This may mean that Dr. Rogers is trying to keep track of the days. Furthermore there is a magazine cover of him on the fridge. When the audience spots this the first thing they will see is a huge white question mark next to the word saviour. The purpose of this question mark is to show that maybe Dr. Rogers is questioning whether he is a saviour or not. This may signify to the audience that Dr. Rogers may have been a saviour in the fact that he may have saved many people, but he has put a question mark there as he didn’t save what he wanted to save. Maybe it is his family that he didn’t save. This would explain the photos on the fridge used as memories. In addition there is still a large abundance of food within the kitchen/ lounge. This shows the audience that he has a lot of food and that he keeps it organanised. Furthermore as he eats his food his dog (Samantha/Sam) begins to eat her own food. Dr. Rogers talks to the dog as if she is a human. He treats her like a child by saying “eat your vegetables.” This shows the audience that maybe the dog is his only friend/family left. After Dr. Rogers and Samantha have eaten he takes her upstairs to the bathroom in order to give her a wash.

This scene is of Dr. Rogers washing his dog. As he is washing his dog he turns on the radio and seems to be happy as he sings along to this song.  This is the Director is building up a false sense of security scene for the audience. As an audience we are suspicious as everything seems to be okay. This scene is implying “calm before the storm.” The words from the song “everything is going to be alright” may show the audience that Dr. Rogers is reassuring himself that he is safe through the words of a song. Maybe the song makes him feel as if he is in another world? The sound from the radio is diegetic. As he washes his dog the camera zooms out and there is a golden glow of light from the sun which fills the room. The colour gold symbolises a new age, hope and warmth. This could provoke a response from the audience as they could be questioning whether or not this is a good or bad new age as there is so much mystery behind Dr. Rogers. Further on in the scene Dr. Rogers is still washing Sam and a beeping of an alarm begins. Once this beeping begins all the noise in the environment of the room including the music and the water coming out of the shower fades away and all the audience can hear is the sound of this alarm. This can provoke a response from the audience as it shows them that this sound is very important to Dr. Rogers and it seems to make him upset. There is a major contrast between performance when this beeping occurs as Dr. Roger goes from being happy and singing along to some music to just quit and there is a sign of deep thought and sadness in his face. The camera then goes to the dog and the dog begins to bark. This alarm seems to block out the barks from the dog and no facial expression is shown from Dr. Rogers. The barks from the dog show the audience that there is something wrong and that the dog senses it. Eventually all of the sound comes back to Dr. Rogers and he immediately stops washing the dog and gets up from his seat and closes these steel doors/shutters behind the window. This provokes the audience into the response that there is defiantly something dangerous out there and these steel doors are used for protection and that Dr. Rogers realises what world he lives in now. Furthermore the beeping indicates to the audience that Dr. Rogers shuts these steel doors at the same time every day. This final scene answers the entire audiences question about Dr. Rogers’s family, why he has so much food, why he poured that liquid on the steps outside.

In conclusion, i believe that the director was very successful in creating layers of meaning and provoking a response from the audience as he has created the scene so that the audience believe that Dr. Rogers is a normal person and that he is living a normal life, but there are hints around the house and hints in the personality of the character which show that he is living a slightly different life compared to a normal human being. These hints engage with the audience as they begin to ask themselves questions about Dr. Rogers’s life and it begins to create mystery behind the character as he does things that not a particularly normal living person would do. The director then uses the last part of the scene to finally show the audience that he is far from a normal person that is living a normal life and that the life he is living is rather dangerous and survival is a key aspect to living in this new world.

How does sound create meaning and provoke response in the short film lucidity?

My film is about a young boy that begins to see strange things happening to him around the house. He seems to be seeing things and is getting worried about what he is seeing. Everything that he is seeing is within his head and seems to be some kind of illusion, but seems real to him. The paranoia begins to get worse as the time goes on causing him to become more scared as the minutes pass by. The aims in which i have tried to achieve are a sense of horror and eeriness within the house. This is used to keep the audience engaged with the film.

The film begins with the boy walking down the stairs playing music aloud throughout the house on his speaker. I chose this diegetic sound to show teenage taste of music indicating that the boy is having a normal happy day and is enjoying his day. He then turns down the music. I did this so the music can signify the mood set within the house. The loud music indicates happiness and joy whereas the quiet, low volume music indicates the mood of happiness being slowly removed from the house.

The second scene is the boy moving through the kitchen to go outside into the garden to get some fresh air. I did not add any sound here as there was no need due to the scene being simple and nothing mysterious was happening.  He then goes to the bridge and leans over it to see his reflection, but he sees his friends reflection next to him. I purposely used no non-diegetic sound here as the silence before the reflection is seen signifies peace, this way is more effective as it stands out to the audience. When the reflection is shown no sound effects are used as the boy screams in horror. The sound from the boy is natural and sharp and pierces through the audience placing shock and fear within them. I wanted the audience to feel as if this was the start of something horrible and mysterious like an alarm for the audience. The boys then moves away in shock and trips over and falls to the ground making his hands dirty. As he turns around and falls to the floor i added a non diegetic sound to symbolise how confused and scared the boy was. This non-diegetic sound is a rather sharp and alerting noise which gets louder as the boy falls. Once he has landed on the floor the sound immediately stops to show awareness to the audience.

 He then makes his way upstairs to wash his hands. As he runs up stairs a build up of music is used to show that something is going to happen and this moment is being built up to. Whilst he is washing his hands he the water turns to blood. At this point a sudden change in the music is used. The change is a quick change in pitch causing the music to sound loud and sharp. This provokes the audience as it immediately grabs the audience’s attention telling them that something wrong has happened.

The next scene is of the boy running downstairs and goes to sleep thinking that all of these weird occurrences that he keeps seeing will go away. I added some non- diegetic sound here as it complements the tilt shot showing the audience that something is still going to occur as the confusion is still lingering.  After this he then wakes up and gets a suitcase. He drops the suitcase and a loud unnerving non-diegetic sound is used to show how shocked the boy is knowing that he has just dropped his dead friend. This is also used to guide the audience to feel uneasy as well as the character.  He turns around and his other friend is laying on the floor dead. The doorbell then rings and the sound is removed as he thinks someone is here to help. He then goes to the door still under shock and realises that there are two people at the door. He opens the door and his friends are standing there and say hi. They say hi as they haven’t experienced anything and feel normal and are acting in a normal way. I deliberately used the most normal dialogue to make it seem more shocking. Also when he opened the door i purposely used a sharp non- diegetic sound to alert the audience.

Overall i believe that is have been successful within sound. I also believe that other sounds could have been used within the film such as when the boy was walking towards the bridge. This sound could have been used to build up tension within the audience so they are expecting something horrible to happen from when he arrives to the bridge.