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.

Film Elements Graphic Organizer

 

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene in Marvel Studios' The Avengers

I chose to watch Marvel Studios’ The Avengers because I recently watched Black Widow and did not know many of the characters. I wanted to get in the loop since everyone has a favorite Avenger and I cannot even identify two of them. It is also a very exciting action film with a lot of movement and fun aspects of mise-en-scene.

The first scene of the movie has very low-key lighting. You can see a black figure and a blue light from a crystal that the figure is holding. This portrays the figure as the bad guy who is doing something bad or sneaky. They also use shallow space to show the blue crystal in detail, this signifies that it is special and of an unknown importance. The same man was seen using the blue crystal as a weapon. A few scenes later, we can see another shallow space of this blue glow, but this time it is not a solid ball. There is three-point lighting used during the scene where they show the circular set up that is holding the blue glow. This shifts most of the focus to this set up while everything in the background is darker.

There is a man at an airport where a helicopter lands. There are two people who are wearing all black that get out of the helicopter and greet the man. This wardrobe choice is important as the man is seemingly doing something suspicious since he is also wearing all black with black sunglasses in the dark. People wear sunglasses so they cannot be recognized. They then enter a lab where people are wearing white lab coats, signifying that they are doing something scientific. Which is accurate as they were experimenting with the blue crystal.

A few special effects are used during the film as well. One scene used rear projection when showing someone flying a helicopter. The man and the helicopter were shot separately, and he never flew the helicopter. This same mise-en-scene aspect was used when the building was about to blow up. Everyone was running to their vehicles and driving at a high speed to escape. They were also shooting at each other, but they were not really driving the cars or shooting at each other.

There was then a scene using offscreen space when a woman shown who appeared to be in a car garage and everything was shaking. You could also hear rumbling as if the ground was moving. You cannot see the source causing the area to shake, but you know there is something causing it.

The man using the blue crystal as a weapon holds it up against a man’s chest. The film producers use frontality to show the man with the crystal against his chest. This is done so the audience can clearly see how the crystal turns his eyes completely black and then to a blue glow like the crystal.

5 Master Edits- with Sound

 

1) Direct Sound: For the first half of my contrast clip I used direct sound, which was the music playing in the moment that goes along with the dance. It tells how the boy in the video is my best friend and portrays him as a sweet person. Direct sound is also diegetic. 

2) Voice Over: I used a voice over during the second half of my contrast clip to add excitement and explain how the boy was harsh to the other players during the football game. This helps emphasize the contrast in his personality from the first clip to the second clip. A voice over is non-diegetic. 

3) Direct Sound: I used direct sound for each of my simultaneity films to show each of the different sounds going on at the same time. All of the clips were taken at the same time, but you heard a different sound in each film, showing how many different things were going on at once. This is a form of diegetic sound.

4) Music: I decided to use music during the symbolism portion. The music I used is usually correlated with a soldier or a person preparing for a challenge. This helps symbolizes how our mascot, the trojan, is a tough person ready to overcome any challenge, which is placed everywhere on our school. The students call themselves "the trojans", so this shows how we can overcome any challenge as our mascot would. Music is non-diegetic.

5) Sound Bridge: I also incorporated a sound bridge into the symbolism clips. The same music keeps playing through each of the different clips of the trojan mascot. It shows how all trojans, even if they look different, are tough and have the same will power.

6) Offscreen Sound: I used an offscreen sound throughout my leit motif films. You can see the football players on the field in the film but you can also hear people chanting "I believe that we can win" during the film. You cannot see the people chanting but this offscreen sound suggests that they are present during the clips.

7) Sound Bridge: I used another sound bridge on the last two clips of my leit motif section. This sound bridge shows how people continuously use this chant throughout the football game, especially when it is a close game and they need motivation. This is what football players hear and boosts their motivation during the entire game.

8) Voice Over: I decided to use voice overs during the different clips in the parallelism section. This portrays how each parallelism clip paired together has a similar action going on since they also have similar voice overs. These voice overs further increase the emphasis on the parallelism between the clips as it explains what happened in each clip. This is a non-diegetic sound. 

Three Edits in Raya

 Contrast: 

In the beginning of the movie there was a map that showed the dragon land as a whole, when it was called Kumandra. Then, it split into five different tribes called tail, fang, heart, spine, and talon. These names are significant as they make up a whole dragon, but now each are called a different part of the dragon since the are no longer a united dragon land. Each tribe was fighting for the powerful magic ball, called the dragon gem, that ended the plague that turned everyone into stone. Each tribe believed that this magic dragon gem created prosperity and health, so they all fought to retrieve it. The splitting of this map shows the contrast between the united dragon land where everyone got along and the split land where everyone fought. 

Simultaneity:

In this scene, the chief of Heart, which is Raya's dad, invites all tribes for a dinner at his land. He wishes to unite the tribes again and maintain peace. Raya is just a child during this time and makes "friends" with the daughter of the leader of the fang tribe, her name is Namaari. Turns out that this was plotted by Namaari and her mother so they could steal the magical Dragon gem. Raya falls for the heist and brings Namaari to a special cave to see the the gem. This is all taking place while the adults of the tribes are having drinks in a separate building. Namaari lights off a firework to signify to her mother that she was near the gem and they could now steal it. This represents simultaneity since it shows two different scenes that are going on at the same time.

Symbolism:

In the beginning of the movie when all of the tribes are fighting for the Dragon gem, it falls and breaks into 5 pieces. Each tribe takes one piece. Raya finds Sisu, the dragon who was able to end the plague with the magic Dragon gem, and they venture to take each part of the gem. Sisu has 4 siblings and each time she touches a piece of the gem, she is granted the power that one of her siblings had. This means that each part of the gem symbolizes one of Sisu's siblings. The first gem is being able to glow, which comes from Sisu's litter sister Amba. The second gem is being able to shapeshift, symbolizing Sisu's sister Pranee. The third gem is fog, symbolizing Sisu's brother Jagan. The fourth gem is controlling water droplets, symbolizing Sisu's big brother Pengu. The last gem symbolizes Sisu's and her power: water.

Five Master Edits

 Simultaneity: 

My clips flip from a football game to what is also going on during the game. The cheerleaders are cheering, the guys are sitting on the bench, and someone is drinking water all while the football game is going on.

Contrast:

My contrast is of Branden doing a silly dance and then of him knocking someone off their feet. This shows a major contrast in his personality.

Parallelism:

The film I used for parallelism was when people from different football teams did the same thing. Both quarterbacks ran toward the sideline and they both threw the same type of pass. Additionally, both number 6 players from both teams played the same position and ran similar routes.

Leitmotif: 

My leitmotif film was based on a chant "I believe that we could win" that the football players say to motivate themselves. Each chant is followed by a touchdown, extra point kick, and kneeling at the end of the game to show that they are winning. 

Symbolism:

The symbolism I used is the trojan. The trojan represents a strong hardworking person. This is our mascot and is posted on our posters, homework and football players symbolizing that we are strong enough to achieve our goals. 

Camera Angles in Cruella

               Review of a few Camera Angles in the Movie

                       Cruella (2021)

I chose this movie because I have not seen it before and heard that it was a great movie. I also love the movie 101 Dalmatians and was wondering how the movies would relate, and I was not let down as they are closely correlated. At the end of the movie, after the credentials, there was a short scene where Estella's funeral was held, signifying that there may be a second Cruella coming out. I noted every single camera angle in the movie but am choosing my 7 favorite.

Close Up

I love the lose up shots of this movie. I chose these 2 separate shots, the first being the first scene of the movie and the second being towards the end of the movie. The first one was when a lady was birthing Cruella and grabbing the bed sheets. We were unaware that the hand shown in this close up was not the hand of the lady who was shown in the next scenes caring for baby Cruella. The second close up shot is when Cruella is stealing a necklace with a key from the Baroness, which we found out is her real birth mother. This key opened the box with Cruella's birth certificate, proving that the Baroness is her birth mother.

Pan Shot

This pan shot shows what Cruella and her friends are doing throughout the apartment as they prepare to crash the Baroness's party. They are crafting and planning an epic gown for Cruella's appearance. It shows how serious and determined the team is. This shot created excitement as we were wondering what they were creating and waiting to see the fabulous dress.

Flash

I chose 2 flash scenes that were exciting to watch. The first one was in the beginning of the movie where kids launched a spitball at Cruella for being different. I thought she was going to have a negative reaction but she held it together. The second shot is toward the middle of the movie is when the dog dressed as an opossum jumped on a guards face so the guy could get into the Baroness's house. This was fun to watch as the dog is so little but so scary.

P.O.V. Shot

This shot was represented from Cruella's point of view, where the dogs chasing her did not see her and jumped over her. We are Cruella, laying on the ground, looking up at the dogs belly as it jumps over her. The audience felt relieved that the dogs did not catch Cruella, but the next scenes show the dogs killing her mother, which was sad.

Tilt Shot

These two tilt shots must be the saddest scenes of the movie. The first tilt shot shows Cruella's adopted mother get attacked by the dogs and falls to her death from the top of the cliff. The second tilt shot is Cruella being pushed off of the same cliff by the Baroness. It shows the exact same shot from the top off the cliff looking down, but the only difference is that Cruella does not die.

Reaction Shot

This shot is super breathtaking as we watch Cruella find out how her mother really died. This was right after the Baroness used her whistle on the dogs, which was the same whistle Cruella heard when the dogs caused her mother to fall off of the cliff. She realized that she did not cause her mothers death, but the Baroness killed her on purpose. This was her reaction.

Reverse angle

This scene is very heartfelt. After weeks of Estella turning into Cruella and being disrespectful to her friends, this scene shows where she calls her friends family. It shows a shot of each of them as they speak. It shows that Cruella does care about them and still has a heart. It makes the audience restore hope for their non-biological family.