The film starts with the company logo and has a simple transition, fade out, into the film. It has nothing to do with the film itself and its only job is to give some information about the company putting the film together.
The film starts off with an establishing shot of the street sign and then pans to the actual street. This is so we can see where this first scene is being set and by seeing the setting the audience can gather a sense of the atmosphere that it creates. As it is set at night this already makes the audience feel as if it is mysterious. By looking at the establishing shot it is clear that it is quite misty. Mist adds to the feeling that something weird is going to happen.
A man starts to walk down the street. The audience sees this from a low angle. This is probably because we are then able to see his whole outfit, which makes him seem even more mysterious and gives the audience a greater understanding of what type of character the man is. The character then takes out a device which he uses to gather all the light that is in the street lamps. An extreme close up is used so we can see the thing that he is holding in greater detail. Whilst he is taking out the light from the street lamps, a long shot is used to make sure that the viewers get to see the whole setting whilst he is doing this to help get to know the location further and also to see exactly what the character is doing.
A woman then joins him. A two shot is used to make it clear to the viewers that these two characters know each other and have a fairly close relationship and are together in what they are about to do. Even though the scene is set at night time and it was dark, the characters were still lit up well so we can see their faces and bodies. The non-diegetic music that was playing over what was happening gives the audience a sense of what sort of thing is happening in that scene and ultimately what type of film it is going to be. The music sounded very mysterious and magical. This automatically makes the audience sense something is going to happen that is beyond what is usually possible.
The company logo just to show the necessary information, but doesn’t have any relevance for the story line of the film.
The establishing shots. The street name automatically gives the audience a specific place where it is set, in this case ‘privet drive’ Having the owl sitting on the street sign also gives this an added feeling of something extraordinary is going to happen. Then the establishing shot pans out to along the road to give a greater sense of what this street is like.
Looking at the character from a low angle the audience will be able to see that what he is wearing is not usually clothing and this will help deepen their thinking of something extraordinary is going to take place. We also are able to see the street lamps that become important to the scene.
This extreme close up is to get a more detailed look of what the character is using to turn out all of the lights in the street. It helps to show that it is no ordinary piece of equipment.
The long shot is used here to help show the whole setting and what effects the characters actions it has on it. It also shows the location a bit more which helps build an even bigger picture for the audience.
From this I have seen that you need to use a wide variety of shots to set the scene for the audience. Establishing shots are key so that they know where they are and what kind of setting it is. Two shots and close ups are needed to establish relationships and emotions, so that the viewers relate to the characters and can work out what they are thinking and feeling. The non-diegetic music is also key to establishing the overall tone, the music here creating the mystical fantasy feel.
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