Film Viewing Practice Essay "Agent Carter"

After watching Agent Carter, I found many different examples of sound, camera shots, mise-en-scene, and edits. The ones that will be presented are most important to the development of the film and the audience. The film seems as if everyone is doing something suspicious or working for a secret agency and creates excitement for what may happen next.

In the very first scene of the film, a “Marvel” symbol was portrayed, and we heard a voice over. It was a lady, named agent Carter, asking someone for their coordinates so he could land safely. She sounded very panicked and immediately made us feel as if someone was in danger. It was a voice over, so we did not see anyone yet and we were wondering who was in danger and where they were. It made the audience excited for the next scene. Agent Carter soon started crying so we assumed that the plane did not land successfully. In a scene later in the film, we heard another aspect of sound that was important. It was when agent Carter was looking at a photograph. The photograph was of the man that was in the plane and soft, sentimental music began to play. This confirmed to the audience that the man did not survive and that he meant a lot to her. The music helped leave a feeling of sorrow and emptiness for the audience knowing that she no longer had the man in her life.

Shorty after the scene where agent Carter was looking at the picture, she had asked to speak with her boss and an over-the-shoulder shot was used to portray this conversation. The audience saw her boss looking toward the camera with part of her shoulder included in the shot. This allowed us to see how careless and rude her boss was when telling her that she was not good enough for any tasks. This made the audience feel anger toward the boss after seeing how he portrayed no emotion when looking directly at agent Carter. Another great shot used in the film was an establishing shot of the city. The audience saw many tall buildings and a bridge. People going to large cities like this are known for chasing their dreams, such as New York City, where people say that dreams come true. This made the audience feel like agent Carter was living in this city to chase her dream of being an agent and receiving a task. Now they are left hoping to find out that she achieves her dreams.

Continuously, the mise-en-scene aspects used in the film was a large contribution to the development of the film. The low-key lighting used confirmed that agent Carter was working for a special agency. The scenes were dark and mysterious, making the audience feel as if there was something sneaky or illegal going on. The costume on agent Carter went hand in hand with this feeling as she wore a black dress and held a briefcase. This allowed the audience to see how formal her job was, and the briefcase had them wondering what was in it. This also created suspicion since briefcases are associated with secret or confidential items in most films. The special effects used in the film were also very interesting. In the first scene a man flying a large plane was seen and he was about to crash. Although it seemed as if he was flying the plane, rear projection was used, so the man and the plane were filmed as two separate shots. He did not really crash since he was not flying the plane, but the success of these special effects helped create emotion and sadness. It seemed real so the audience felt the emotions as if he really crashed and died.

The editing techniques were also very significant in the development of this film. During the office hours when all of the agents were working, a red flashing siren went off and the boss answered the phone and took a new task. This red siren symbolized that a new call was in, and a new task had to be covered. This showed the audience the importance and urgency of every call. After agent Carter took a call and assigned herself a mission, contrast was shown when she arrived on the scene. She began to beat up two guys outside of the building while there was a guy inside of the building listening to calm music. The film flipped back and forth between these contrasting scenes. It went from chaotic fighting to a man relaxing. This was comedic for the audience since the man inside had no idea what was going on, but it also created a feeling of suspense. The audience was wondering when the peace of the man indoors would be disturbed and was excited for what would happen next.

Overall, this was an exciting, suspenseful, and emotional film. The audience was able to stay involved as each scene showed different film making aspects, which were the sound, camera shots, mise-en-scene, and edits. The film was produced very well and pleasing for the audience to watch.