Micro analysis
Of A Film Sequence Essay
This essay will be analysing the
film Inception. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan; it was released July
8th 2010. The film is about the main male character Dom Cobb
(Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to enter people's dreams
and steal their secrets from their subconscious. The clip I am using is the dream-collapsing
scene. The clip I am using is 3:48 minutes long, this occurs near the beginning
of the film. This essay will analyse how the micro-elements of sound and
mise-en-scene create audience response and meaning,
Mise-en-scene
The first micro-element I will be analysing is mise-en-scene.
The clip is set in a Chinese Temple and then a hotel room. The fast change from
one scene to another allows the audience to understand the characters are in
dream state. The Chinese Temple allows the audience to understand the character
of Arthur’s heritage.
There are patterns and colours on the Temple walls in the beginning
of this scene. The walls are a green colour and they have patterns of trees and
dragons, the trees create meaning to the audience that people may begin to grow
during the film. The dragons in the patterns warn the audience that there are
aspects of danger in the dream. The aspects of the trees and dragons on the
walls create the meaning to the audience that the theme of this clip is good
vs. evil or the turmoil a character goes through to be able to grow into the
character they are at the end of the entire film. These aspects of the Chinese
or Japanese culture show to the audience that the temple they are in may have
some sort of relation to the person who’s dream they are in.
A significant prop used in the clip is the envelopes, the two
envelopes are both a gold-copper colour, one contains blank paper and the other
contains the confidential documents. This shows that it acting as a decoy showing
the audience the deviant nature of the characters within the film or creating
the meaning of urgency for the character the get the envelope and the
information it holds. The significance of the envelope within the film is to
show the audience that Cobb is unable to find the most important information in
the second envelope. There are two envelopes within this scene, the fact that
audience do not know what is in each envelope creates a reaction of suspense, as
they wonder which envelope will be chosen.
Another prop that is used within this scene are the guns that
are used by the guards in the temple, Cobb and Mal. These guns are all used as
methods of threat, inducing pain, or a method of death to wake Arthur (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt) up. Each gun is a different size, which symbolises to the
audience the level of power each character has within this scene. The guards
all carry relatively small handguns, Mal holds a small handgun and Cobb holds
the largest gun, showing the audience that he is the most dominant character.
Every gun that appears in the scene is black showing to the audience that they
all have dark, unforgiving purposes with the intention to either kill or harm
an individual.
Also, used within this scene there are statues of oriental
soldiers, helping the audience to understand where the dream is set, also
leading them to question why has the person’s mind they are in transported them
to the place and what significance does it hold to the film. A figurine falls
completely blocking Cobb’s route, this helps to structure the narrative of the
film. The figurines all fall as if they have a job they must do when they fall.
The figurines look like dark menacing figures that have a purpose, to the
audience the purpose of the figurines are to stop Cobb from getting the
confidential information that the envelope contains.
Another prop that is used within the scene is the bath. The
bath is full of water, when he hits the water, the water used within this scene
looks very still and cold, this creates the meaning to the audience that the
stillness of the water is going to be disturbed, the coldness of the water is
also shown through the colours of the walls surrounding the bath, this is
because the walls are a very icy blue colour and blue carries the connotation’s
of being cold and unpleasant. The bathroom is dirty, grimy and looks very run
down. The audience would gather from this that the area is very run down and
poor, the audience would respond to this as they would wonder why they are
there and why Cobb has been pushed into a bath in order to be woken up from his
dream.
Sound
The
non - diegetic sound is a very quiet, low rumble, all this sound is non –
diegetic. This builds suspense, making the audience feel tense, and full of
suspicion about what is going to happen during the scene. The low rumble
changes into a very quiet, almost unaudioable orchestral sound, which begins to
get gradually louder, as Mal and Cobb begin to converse. This is creating
meaning to the audience that their conversation is going to result in a
negative or unappealing way, which disturbs the characters business. This also
will make the audience feel suspense and wonder what is going to happen next.
This may make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable, as they are unsure
about the overall outcome of this scene.
The non
– diegetic low orchestra sound in the background then begins to crescendo as
the action in the scene begins to unfold. The sound reaches it’s maximum when
Cobb shoots Arthur, during this section of the clip the gunshots all then
become diegetic sound, this recreates a more realistic scene as it allows the
audience to feel as if they are in the film, this is because the sound of the
gunshots are very loud and sudden as if someone is firing them from the room
the audience is sat in. The sounds of shouts from the guards are also diegetic,
making the audience feel as if they are the ones that need to run because they
are being chased by the guards. Another aspect of sound that is used throughout
this clip is the sound of the statues falling, the windows and display cabinets
smashing and breaking.
The diegetic
sound of the statues falling, the glass in cabinets smashing, objects breaking
and the sounds of the gunshots from the guards. These sounds are all diegetic
sounds creating an intense atmosphere for the audience. Each gunshot sounds
different, the guards gunshots all sound the same, very rapid allowing the
audience to understand that they have a target in mind. Whereas, the sound of
Cobb’s gunshot is singular and louder than the guards; signifying Cobb’s
dominance.
The
loud orchestra sound that is used throughout the scene continues up until the
point when Cobb is pushed in the bath. When Cobb is pushed in the bath the
sound of him falling becomes non – diegetic, the non - diegetic sound continues
whilst Cobb is under the water, the sound becomes a very slow beat showing the
audience that he could not hear anything that was happening, this also makes
the audience feel as if they are to under water as the sound completely over
takes any other noise that is used in this scene. Also, during this scene the sound becomes
diegetic when Cobb is shown in the dream, the sound that is heard at this point
is creaking as the water is creating pressure against the walls of the temple,
when the water comes into the dream it is diegetic as the water gushes into the
temple, this is showing the audience the sheer amount of water that is going
into the dream, also it creates the feel that the water is also coming in
around them as the sound completely fills the sound in this scene. When Cobb
comes up from the water the sound once again becomes diegetic. The diegetic
sound that is used in this scene if the clip is splashing and a lot of heavy
gasping showing the audience how unexpected it was for Cobb to be pushed in the
water.
During
the end of the clip, the characters begin wrestling on the floor; from this the
sound becomes diegetic, using the sounds of moaning and groaning. This shows
the audience the pure hatred the three characters have towards Saito. Also,
during this scene whilst they characters are wrestling there are sounds of
angry shouting coming from outside in the street. This makes the audience split their attention
between what is going on in the scene and their thoughts about what is going on
outside the room and what they cant see. This may also make the audience look
around and wonder what is happening, as they can hear angry shouting coming
from somewhere and they don’t know where, this will make them feel intrigued about
what is going to happen next in this film.
In
conclusion, within this film clip the micro elements that are used are mise en
scene and sound. Sound is the most prominent in this scene as within the clip,
there are aspects of the sound used that are non-diegetic and some, which are
diegetic such as gunshots or the splashing of water. Also, mise en scene is
used within this scene constantly with the use of props (such as the envelopes
or the bath), wall designs, costumes or the make up worn by the actors within
the clips. Sound is used within this clip in order to create meaning to the
audience about the atmosphere within scenes and also helps the audience to feel
make them feel almost as if they are in the film scenes themselves. Mise en
scene is also used in this clip in order to make the scenes seem as realistic
as possible, also some of the props used in the film help the audience
recognise where the film is set. Finally, the use of the props the audience to
differentiate between the characters, helping them to discover the
personalities and the characteristics of each individual character shown in the
clip.
