Visual/audio Scene analysis

The scene I will be reviewing is from the film Whiplash

Aesthetics 

- Something that I noticed immediately in this scene is that the room isn't that bright. This is something I think was done on purpose to convey to me the audience that this scene is going to be serious. Darker colours used in films usually resembles with seriousness and vice verser with lighter colours. This complements the scene quite well with the two characters struggling to work together. J.K Simmons's frustration is really brought out in this scene with the little amount of light being projected on to him. It makes him feel more threatening and sinister. This aesthetic is used really well here and was something I immediately noticed. 

Space and composition 

- The rule of thirds in this scene is used with J.K Simmons before approaching Miles Teller. I think this was a good decision to make for these specific shots. The reason I think this is because he keeps taking a few steps towards his student every time his student isn't able to match his standard for a drummer. The rule of thirds is good here because J.K Simmons is slowly filling the rest of the space in the shot. He's walking closer to the camera/his student and filling up the view of the audience. The effects this gives on me as an audience is that the teacher is getting more frustrated and menacing. Because of that effect I'm now invested to see where his emotion is going to go and what the conflict is going to be like in the next shots. This technique is very effective here. 

Acting 

- I thought the acting in this scene overall between the two main characters here is amazing, especially J.K Simmons's. Simmons starts off this scene with a calm tone and keeps this before throwing a chair and exploding with volume and anger indicating that he's had enough with his student (Miles Teller), Along with this he also takes in heavy breaths which can be heard with the editing. Furthermore indicating J.K is trying to calm down his body. This however is short lived as the character begins to raise his voice even more and storms over so that he's a few centre-metres away from his student. These things J.K does as an actor conveys to the audience that he's frustrated and trying to hold back. Then calm tone and heavy breathing supports this as he's unable to get Miles to match his drumming standard after a number of tries. Something I also found with Simmons trying to contain his frustration is the constant change between his smiles and frowns. Showing that he's trying to be happy but is actually mad and upset, It's very obvious in this scene of what's going on (to me at least) and I think this is all down to Jk's body language change and facial expressions as well as the tone changes in his voice. The combination of all the things he did here I think is amazing and what makes this scene so easy to follow.

Technical aspects 

- In this scene there are a lot of over the shoulder shots. Every-time when one of the main characters are in focus at the start of the scene is an over the shoulder shot. This can be quite effective and I think this scene shows how effective this shot is. The thing with over the shoulder shots is that they help give the audience a perspective of what the different characters are seeing. This can help display a relationship between two characters. In this case a broken one with the two people struggling find the middle point with the drum tempo. This type of shot helps with the mood in this scene, an intense one to one conversation where two characters have a conflict. I really like how simple and easy to follow these different shots were. It helped make the scene feel like just those characters were in the scene, intensifying the moment between the two. Because the audience has both characters perspectives from both if their shoulders it makes the dialogue more personal for the audience. They can get more of a feel of what those two characters are seeing and how the other one reacts. 

Sound 

- What I noticed in this scene with the sound is that the people making this movie purposely made it so there's reverb. Reverb is evident in a lot of large rooms  and when the band is playing or even when J.K Simmons is delivering his dialogue you can hear the sound still lingering in the room. It takes a while for the sound to fully go from the scene. This is to probably make the scene as realistic as possible. Because there's a lot of space and band rehearsals usually practise in big rooms there will probably be a lot of reverb in these sessions. The movie is trying to make it as close as possible to these everyday sessions that these bands have. Without this reverb the scene would feel maybe a little more fake so these ambiences really help to bring out the scene and make it feel real. Having this ambience of reverb tells the audience that there in a big room and because there's a lot of dialogue and the band is constantly playing it really helps in utilising and making it obvious there is this reverb. 

Editing 

- The editing in this scene really tries to show the reactions of J.K Simmons and Miles Teller. Because there's a lot of tension and frustration it's really important to show how the actors react with their body language. There's a small amount of time focused on the actors before they deliver their dialogue so the camera gets enough of their reaction to convey how they feel in the movie. This happens before J.K lashes out right next to Miles. When they get close there's a lot of quick shots as the two go back and forth with their dialogue quickly. The importance of giving an actor screen time before they share their dialogue is so they can show body language and facial expressions, these two skills helps give audiences an idea of what the different characters are feeling without showing this emotion through dialogue. Miles's character in this scene starts to stutter and resist in saying anything when his teacher gets in his face. Although Miles doesn't really say much I know that he's scared because of the brief moments where the camera fixes on him before he delivers his few worded lines. I think the importance of getting these reactions in this conversation in incredibly important and necessary for this scene to work. The editors did an amazing job with trying to capture as much as they can in the 4 minutes of this scene.   

Narrative 

- ACT 1 - After Miles's character isn't able to keep up with his teachers beat after a number of times, it is evident that Jk's character is becoming even more upset. Despite this he still keeps his student keep trying. The tension rises after his student fails to live up to his standard after 10 tries. Despite J.K maintaining a calm voice it's obvious he's starting to loose his patience.  

ACT 2 - When J.K throws the chair and breaks the bands music the tension begins to rise even further. He then begins to go at his student by repeating the question 'were you rushing or were you dragging". Beginning to put pressure on his student. Because his student doesn't have an answer it puts more fear in to the character causing J.K to raise his voice and ask more times as well as slap his student in the face. 

ACT 3 -  J.K puts more emotional stress on his student by insulting why his mother left him and making a fool out of him by calling him names and humiliating him with even more questions. This causes Miles (the student) to cry putting him down even more and helpless at this point. The scene ends with the reacher humiliating his student even more by making him shout he's upset putting more emotional pain and embarrassment on his student and finally demoting his student to the reserved drummer. Adding even more stress to him.

Representation 

- The stereotype of a teacher is that they're reasonable and fair as well as will to help others. The teacher in this film is quite the opposite, he's harsh and brutal, yet he does still want to help people. He pushes people by using competition and telling them they're not good so that they students will push themselves to become better. A tough love type of relationship dynamic between him and his students. This idea of representation is completely overruled and I think is very effective in this movie as it catches the viewers off guard.

Sound analysing  

Dialogue

- In this scene the dialogue is clear and has a bit of reverb added to match the big room that the scene is taking place. This reverb effect makes me as an audience feel like the characters are in a big room just by listening to the audio.

Ambience

- In this scene there is no ambience whatsoever. This is because usually band practise rooms don't have any sound taking place from ventilation or any objects/devices other than the instruments being played. In this scene I think it works well as you get to notice the reverb more easily from the dialogue and music stopping. Making the rehearsal room feel very big. 

Sound FX Foley

- I think the only Foley/FX sounds used to create this scene was the claps from the teacher, the sound of the chair being thrown, the foot steps and the slaps. Which is a pretty small amount of sounds to be added for a scene I find. Because this scene is from a movie with not a lot of movement or action there aren't a lot of sounds added, especially if you compared it to that of an action movie. The sounds are very convincing and have a little reverb added which is a nice touch. The most creative sound in this scene was probably the effect of the chair being thrown. 

Score/music

- In a way the score in this scene is the music being played by the band. Which is a classical jazz themed music. There is no other sound making the scene feel quite real as in our everyday live we don't have sound coming in to change/affect the emotion of the scene. Because the music being played is diegetic the scene feels quite real. I prefer this style of filming and I think it works quite well here. Letting the audience make their own mind up instead of the music trying to push you towards a certain emotion. 

Diegetic/non-diegetic music 

- The music in this scene is diegetic which means the sound can be heard be the characters. In this scene the sound is being created by them and at no point in this scene does any non - diegetic music start playing or does the diegetic music become non-diegetic.

Sound alterations

- In this scene there are some sound alterations. This includes reverb affects added on as well as some panning done on the lines. The reverb was added because of the massive practise room. Usually in big rooms like this sounds last longer. You may notice that some of the dialogue especially the big sounds still linger in the room. 

Where are certain sounds recorded?

• - The sounds from the instruments were probably recorded in a booth and the actors had to pretend to play them. (Booth/studio)
• - The footsteps and chair swing were probably recorded in a booth. (Booth/studio)
• Ambience was probably recorded in a both and edited in a booth (Booth/studio)
• Dialogue recorded on set (set)

This scene I will be reviewing is from the film The Social Network

Aesthetics 

- A lot of the lighting in this scene is pretty dim. You may notice that there's some light and could've been given more lighting to prevent a lot of shadows from being projected on to the characters faces. Usually when there's shadows on someones face it means that there's some kind of evil lurking or deceit in this case with Zuckerberg going behind  Eduardo's back to sabotage him.

Space and composition 

- When Eduardo confronts Zuckerberg for the diluted shares, Zuckerberg is sitting down while Eduardo remains standing. I think this was done because Mark Zuckerberg had no legitimate reason for his action which can also be seen as he doesn't give much of an explanation except from a revenge stunt, while Eduardo begins to question him and his relationship with his best friend. I think the height in this confrontation moment helps tell the audience who's morally right in a way. With Eduardo being higher up when speaking he's got all the right to be mad and frustrated at his friend. 

Acting

- I think the acting in the scene where the character Eduardo confronts his best friend Mark Zuckerberg is done amazingly. Andrew Garfield in my opinion did really well at conveying to the audience what kind of emotions the character Eduardo was feeling. He did this with his quick movements which can reflect on the big temper that's going through the character's head. Before having a meeting with Mark's lawyers he seems joyful, Andrew shows this by walking quickly which could mean that he's excited and he does this with his head high also showing confidence. Another thing Andrew does is using his facial expressions and smiling while doing all of the above, The character is clearly showing to the audience that he's almost beyond happy, he's excited. Which is completely the opposite of how he acts before the scene concludes. 

After being given the news that his shares have been reduced and removing him from the company Andrew storms to Jesse Eisenberg shouting at him with watered eyes. These two things indicate that he's angry and sad from the sudden betray by his friend. This change in emotion in a matter of seconds in the same scene shows just how great of an actor Andrew Garfield in this performance. I think his simple yet effective changes in the face and voice makes this such a great performance, he really convey his anger to the audience. 

Technical aspects

- In a lot of the one to one moments when Eduardo is talking with the different lawyers as well as Mark there's a lot of over the shoulder angle shots. This angle like I mentioned with Whiplash gives the different character's perspectives. Presenting a deeper connection to the audience. Because the viewers are seeing what the character's are seeing they can understand what the characters are feeling better. It works well in important emotionally invested scenes. This scene definitely fits in thats category. Eduardo is trying to understand why he was betrayed by his best friend losing out on billions of dollars from the company that he helped start from the beginning. These shots not only give perspectives but also show reactions from the characters they're talking to. Expressing how the character feels about what's being said.

Sound

- In this scene there are a number of different sound techniques added. From the reverb of Eduardo shouting Mark's name to the sound of the doors opening when going in to a fit of rage, this scene despite having little action uses a lot of sounds to create a realistic atmosphere. When Eduardo comes in to the work place for the first time he and the viewers see that the place is really big and open. In big open areas there's usually a lot of reverb and because of that the editor either left in the reverb from the scene when it was filmed or added reverb to the dialogue of the actors. This touch makes the atmosphere feel real. Another sound technique that made the work place more realistic was the ambience. The sound of people typing and talking as well as the sound of shoes walking in the building. I Think ambience is a necessity in this scene for making everything work to feel natural. The camera shows that there are probably hundreds of people working for Zuckerberg so it uses these ambience noises of people talking to add this sense of realism.

Editing 

- The editing in the movie as a whole switches from the present (the court case) to the past. So the Scenes in the present foreshadow what a scene is going to show before it's even on screen. The editors let Eduardo and his lawyer explain these events and give them more camera time to foreshadow the next few shots. Overall there aren't many quick shots in this scene and when there are the shot shows someones reaction to show the audience different characters emotions. The editor chose to show a lot of over the shoulder shots here especially in the court case. I'm presuming they did this to build up on the conflicts that's going on and capture the reactions and perspectives off of each character in the scene.

Narrative

Act 1 - In the beginning of this scene the court case begins to set up the conflict that is going to happen in the next few shots with telling the audience and Zuckerberg that he'd been betrayed and lead on by what used to be his best friend. The Actor of Eduardo narrates these events by telling his side of the story in sadness inferring to the viewers that these next shots are going to reveal why this character is upset and hurt.

Act 2 - The second part of this scene is Eduardo having the business meeting that he'd been called up for. In these shots seen with Eduardo and Zuckerberg's lawyer Eduardo is given a contract and the first thing the audience gather once he reads the piece of paper is his shock and disbelief. From this as a viewer I already new that he was gonna be taken out of the company, with all the foreshadowing that had happened this shot of Eduardo reading the contract made me as a viewer feel gripped. Act 2 in this scene overall is the shock and realisation of Zuckerberg's betrayal. Tension begins to rise.

Act 3 - Eduardo confronts Zuckerberg by smashing his laptop and yelling his name repeatedly. Then question how much his and everybody else's stocks were diluted down to. Because the two are now against each other and having a big conflict tension begins to rise even more. After Mark begins to question him anymore Zuckerberg is seen unable to defend himself after every question having one of his other snaky friends to defend for him. Making it obvious that Zuckerberg is in the wrong as he's got no proper explanation for his behaviour in betraying his friend. The scene ends with Eduardo being taken away despite this it still feels like Eduardo has all the power, especially as just before he's escorted by bodyguards he says "I'm coming back for everything". Implying that he's going to sue Zuckerberg. Because the audience has seen his side of the story they might feel that he has the right to sue someone for this. 

Sound analysing 

Dialogue

- As far as I'm aware there is no ADR/ voiceover done. Usually these are done in quiet scenes or if a character/actor can't be heard. I don't think any of this is done for this scene.  

Ambience

- I did notice some ambience added to this scene to make the work place setting feel more lively. In the background of Facebook's headquarters you can hear footsteps and conversations. Because you can also see people moving about and talking in groups it works really well. There isn't any ambience in the court case shots as these kind of scenarios are undisturbed and quiet. As soon as Zuckerberg and Eduardo start arguing the ambience begins to go which is a nice effect as the room is focused on their drama. 

Sound FX (Foley)

- The list of sounds I found being used in the scene were: door swings, footsteps and the laptop breaking. Surprisingly not too many sounds going in or being used but all of which work really well. They work really well sounding convincingly for the scene. 

Score/music

There's a particular piece of music that plays repeatedly through the movie and plays at the end of Eduardo's argument with Zuckerberg. This piece of music is called 'Hand covers bruise'. It's a quite a simple song but has a very deep effect. It uses a Shepard tone which has three different sound tracks happening at the same time. One track has its pitch descending another ascending and the other balanced and it makes the brain feel like the music is getting faster. This effect is great and build tension letting the audience know that something's going to happen. 

Diegetic sound

- There is not Diegetic sounds being played in this scene, only non-diegetic which is the song I mentioned about for the score 'hand covers bruise'. 

Sound alterations 

- There is some reverb added on to the lines and sound effects in this scene when talking in the Facebook work place. As the room is very big naturally there'd be a lot of reverb so the lines and sound have been added some reverb to fit the scene. I think this was definitely necessary for the scene and I think it works really well.

Where are certain sounds recorded? 

• - Footsteps were recorded in a booth (booth/studio)
• - Dialogue were recorded on set (set)
• - Door swings and footsteps were recorded in a booth (booth/studio)
• - Score recorded in a booth (booth/studio)
• - Typing sounds were recorded in a booth (booth/studio)