Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs meaning through the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise-en-scene

Camera Shots, angles, movement and composition:

The first shot of this extract shows a EWS of the harbor and shows us that our main character is going into a new setting. It then cuts to a wide shot showing the main character in the middle of the frame and the camera slowly zooms up to him. For this shot to work the camera would have had to be mounted onto a crane and slowly pushed closer to the actor. The shot ends up having the actor on the left side of the screen and he is looking back and fourth down the busy street. The actor then starts to walk away from the camera and the camera zooms out a bit to show that he is covering a lot of ground. Two guys walk past the frame including a small car, here the actor disappears and we can't see him after the two guys and car pass. This serves as a good transition into the next scene of a train going past a road to its left and a mountain to its right. The train goes into a tunnel and the scene changes to a pan from left to right which shows our actor staring into the window with his reflection fading into the past. This is symbolize himself being sucked closer and closer into the past. We then get an over the shoulder shot of the actor looking down at a bullet that was once in his back. This could also symbolize that he is looking into his past and wondering what it is. We then cut to the actor walking around the train station looking very lost. We then cut to a silhouette shot of the actor staring down a long road with a blue light at the end of the road. Then could show that he is looking into his past and wanting to revisit it. The camera starts at a low angle and slowly runs up the actors body and we see more of the setting. The scene changes to a low angle shot of two officers walking past a footpath. They spot the main actor asleep on a park bench and they confront him. The camera looks like it is on a dolly or a glide cam in order for the shot to be this smooth. The next shot is a close up pan from right to left of the main actor waking up with a flashlight shining on his face. The officers ask him why he is there and at first he doesn't have an answer until he suddenly realizes that he can speak their language. One of the officers poke him with a stick and the main character grabs it. The camera slightly zooms in before our main character starts to fight these two officers. After the fight scene we cut to a wide shot of the main character running away and throwing his jacket away.

Editing:

The editing in this extract is very basic cuts however it cuts very well. All of the shots in this extract are cut to be in good timing so that none of them are too long and the audience doesn't get bored. For cutting the only real hard cuts or fast cuts would be the fight scene at the end of the movie.

Sound:

Sound plays a big role in this extract because it really sets the scene for what is to come and also builds up and environment/atmosphere with a scene. In the first scene we hear footsteps, chatter, machinery, boats, wildlife, and cars. In the train scene there is less sound inside the train, only the casual chatter and noises of the train. However in the train station there is lots of noise, from the trains themselves to the noise of the people around our main character. In the next few scenes there is barley any diegetic sound because of the lack of people that are around. The only sound that to come out in the next few scenes are all natural sounds, eg footsteps, groans. Another form of sound in this extract is music and music plays a big part in building up an atmosphere and setting. For example in the park scene suspense music is being played in order to build a tense moment where we see that our main character discovers something new about himself.

Mise-en-scene:

The Mise-en-scene is this extract changes from a harbor to a train, to a train station and then a park. All of these locations build up a feeling of our main character not knowing where he is, because he looks very confused in each different scene. Within each setting there is a common set of colours that come through through. These colors are red, blue and green. Red symbolizes the future of our main character and blue represents the past for our character. This can be seen in his red jacket, or red themed train. Blue can be seen in the harbor and in the park lights. These colors are repeated throughout the movie and gives the movie and good sense of repetition within the color schemes.