Friday 4 February 2011

'Law Abiding Citizen' Analysis/Bradley Mills

The film opens with an extreme close up of a box of beads, the shot pans and we can she a young girls hand making a bracelet. Diegetic sound is used for music, a song plays from a radio, this suggests the girl is at her home. It then cuts to an extreme close up of equipment used to make tools, still we are not sure who this is or where it is happening yet so it is keeping the audience confused. We then see a mid shot of the man behind the equipment , he talks to the young girl and we now understand the relationship from the dialogue. Addressing her as 'baby' we understand they are father and daughter. In the background there is a knocking on the door sound, followed by a woman's voice who calls 'honey?', this suggests the people are for him. It cuts to a mid shot of the father opening the door, and the fast editing surprises the audience as a man hits him with a bat, to add to the mood there is dark deep music which connotes danger, likewise with the the two en who have come to the house they wear black and black hats and their props such as the baseball bat and gloves help the characterisation. An extreme close up shows the father being tied up, this creates great tension as we know the father is in trouble and the wife an daughter are in the house. It the cuts to a long shot of the wife her body language shows shock as she screams. The sound is echoed which adds to the feeling of being out of control. The extreme close ups used between the couple show their distress and fear, this makes the audience tense and also emotional, which is typical feature of the thriller genre. Still extreme close ups are used as the burglar stabs the father, this intensifies his action and adds to the thrill and shock, a high pitch sound accompanies what is seen on screen. It then fades to black but we hear screams and the audience is left in suspense as they cant see what is happening. Long drawn violin music in the background makes the scene intense as an audience we are distressed as the traumatic experience plays on screen.

A mid shot of the daughter is shown to notify she is still in the house, it then cuts to a worms eye view of the burglar which connotes his power and strength over the family. An over the shoulder shot shows him pick up the little girl and take her off, face editing is used to cut back to the father who struggles as he desperately wants to save her, the extreme close up is used again to show is desperation and distress, this editing choice really impacts the viewer and the emotion is very strong. 
A sound bridge of police sirens joins the next scene, a fade to black transition shows time has passed, and a pan of a city opens the establishing shot of the city. An Ariel view of people walking through a building is used and then it cuts to a man in a suit walking up stairs , his clothing suggests his importance and power and the audience can link this character to the scene before.
In the short sequence, the style of editing , sound , mise en scene and cinematography has conveyed an emotional, tense and distressing opening to the film. The dark music helped to create the mood and intensity of the situation. And the use of sound bridge and fade to black transitions cleverly conveys time passing. However the most impact given was the use of extreme close ups, this choice of cinematography gave an intimacy and close view of emotions from the family which is import when there is not much dialogue.

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