Prisoners Clip-Cinematography Analysis

Prisoners clip- Cinematography Analysis

In the beginning of the clip instantly we get a contrast between lights, we get a nice bright light in the background whist we get low key lighting in the foreground, this implies that the background is a safe place where nobody could possibly get hurt or injured on the other hand the outside/ in the background is a dangerous place and someone could be in danger. The use of rain further amplifies that the outside is an unsafe place.

In the next shot we get a medium long shot of a man eating inside a building, the use of three-point lighting in this scene creates the impression that the character we are looking at is the main good guy/ the hero of this film. His clothes also suggest that he is just an ordinary working-class middle-aged man which could be important because he could be hiding his true identity. The use of diegetic sound in this scene such as the rain and the dialogue between the main character and the waitress, adds a sense of realism into the scene and shows the audience that this movie should be taken seriously.

In the clip we get a cut just after the main characters phone goes off then he goes straight into his car, the use of this cut symbolises that whatever was on his phone was really important and needed to be brought to attention quickly, this creates a mysterious atmosphere to the clip.

Later on, in the clip we get a shot of a man in a car that fades out its field of depth and it contains low key lighting the use of this implies that this is the main bad guy/villain. The fact he is waiting in the car creates the suspicion he is waiting on someone or something and he is up to no good.

After the clip of the guy waiting in the car, we get a shot of the main character pulling up to the suspected criminals car/van this creates an atmosphere of sympathy/distress for the main character because he is putting himself to experience the unknown.

The entire sequence of shots uses either low-key lighting or one source of light, this gives the effect that something bad is about to happen or something is about to occur which is unusual and not anything the main character has experienced.

After this we get a POV (point of view) shot of both the suspects wing mirrors, the fact he keeps looking at the wing mirrors show that he is scared/nervous of the situation he is in and shows us he’s about to make an important decision.

In the shot after this we get the suspects decision which showed by the use of a tracking shot, the criminal’s decision is to try and drive away from the police, he then crashes his car into a tree trying to end his life, this shows the audience that he has something to hide and that he is being a coward.

We then get a shot of the van smashed up against a tree, the van seems to be smoking a lot which could symbolises death and a passing of a person in different genres of films.

The next shot is the main character checking out the van to see that the suspect has gone and is not in the driver’s seat anymore, he then searches the van to see if the suspect is in there, this could be described as the solution to this scene of events. The main character finally says what the suspect has done when he says, “where are the girls”. This is when the action starts to decline, and the drama has been resolved.

There was a lot of uses of mise-en-scene and cinematography throughout the clip the uses of these techniques created a creepy/sinister setting to the clip and added the emotion of suspense because it waited right to the end of the clip, also the clip showed the emotion of the bad person. In the clip and it shows us how they react to situations which is not what a lot of these types of films do also the director made you waited to the end to tell you what the suspect had actually done. the end of the clip kind of left us at a cliff-hanger because we don’t know if the guy they took was the right guy after all.

My Personal Response on Hereditary

A-Level Film - Tate Glover:

Hereditary:

Hereditary a film directed by Ari Aster, takes place in a suburban house in America, Hereditary tells the tale of the Graham family who are grieving the recent death of the family’s grandmother, the film takes an unexpected turn because strange occurrences  that happen to each family member, the film shows the consequences tragedy can have on a family, tragedy is a key theme and reoccurs a lot later on into the film.

I really enjoyed the film as it leads the audience to places other horror films never take you. This is due to its dark and twisted cinematography. The film tells an interesting narrative and has a very detailed ending which is ties up the film nicely.

Another reason I enjoyed the film is because of the actress Toni Collette, who plays Annie Graham - the mother of the family. She emphasises a character that is trying to keep her family stable but slowly becomes the main problem of her family falling apart because of all of the rituals that she executes to stay in contact with her mother. Later on, in the film Charlie Graham (Annie’s Daughter) dies after getting decapitated by a street lamp. This causes Annie to start going insane and then starts to disconnect herself from the rest of her family. In one scene she snaps at her son Peter and delivers a monologue about how you should treat your mother; this scene is powerful because it shows that Annie has lost all of her sanity.

I left this film with scared and confused feelings as the ending was unexpected and wrapped up what was going on throughout the film. During the film there was only little hints to what the story was about, the director makes you swap between who to blame until you find out the true culprit (Grandma) was behind the whole thing.

This film has been compared to many famous horror films. Hereditary is described as this generations ‘The Exorcist’ as it features mysterious and dark themes. The film has also been compared to Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ because of Aster’s use of death and gore.

The soundtrack for the film is incredible it was written by Dustin Musser and Dylan Lewman, the soundtrack adds horror and fear to the film and creates an unknown and mysterious atmosphere in scenes of the film. Sound effects have also been used to further amplify fear of the audience.

Overall, I really enjoyed Hereditary because it felt different to any other horror film I have watched. It is evident that a lot of effort was imported to this film from the sinister cinematography to the mesmerising sound track. Hereditary understands that fear is subjective and that everyone enjoys horror differently. The director appeals to has attempted to appeal to everyone. This is done as not everyone gets scared by jump scares or loud noises. This attempt was clear and highly successful, as the film achieved a 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4 on IMDB.