Micro elements essay final draft

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 8^th 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 is the dream-collapsing scene. The clip 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.

The first micro-element that will be analysed 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.

The temple has 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 communicating to the audience the deviant nature of the characters within the film or creating the meaning of urgency for the character to 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. 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 small handguns compared to Mal and Cobb, 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.

The statues of oriental soldiers in the temple, 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 the audience to recognise the 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.

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. Another prop that is used within the scene is the bath. The bath is full of water, when Cobb hits the water, it 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.

At the start of the clip the non - diegetic sound of a quiet, low rumble 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. The sound builds to a crescendo, enabling the audience to predict the narrative, which their conversation is going to result in a negative or unappealing way.

The diegetic sound of gunshots is extremely loud, allowing the audience to feel as if they are in the film. Each gunshot sounds different. The guard’s 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 diegetic sounds of shouts from the guards make the audience feel as if they are the ones that need to run because they are being chased by the guards. Another diegetic sound that is used throughout this clip is the sound of the statues falling, the windows and display cabinets smashing and breaking. These sounds create an intense atmosphere for the audience, allowing them to feel part of the chaos.

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 allowing the audience to understand that he cannot hear anything that was happening. This also makes the audience feel as if they are also under water, as the sound drowns out any other noise that is used in this scene. 

During the dream, the diegetic sound of the water creaks as it gushes into the temple. This is showing the audience the sheer amount of water that is going into the dream; it also creates the feeling that the water is also coming in around the audience. When Cobb comes up from the water the sound once again becomes diegetic. The diegetic sound of Cobb’s heavy gasping for air adds an element of drama to the scene.

The diegetic sounds of the characters begin wrestling on the floor; from this the sound is diegetic, using the sounds of moaning and groaning. This shows the audience the pure hatred the three characters have towards Saito. The diegetic 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 can’t see. This makes the audience respond and 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 prominent micro elements that are used are mise en scene and sound. Sound is used within this clip to create drama and atmosphere, allowing the audience to respond and at times predict the narrative. Mise en scene is used to make a distinction between reality and dream state. Finally, the use of the props allows the audience to differentiate between the characters, helping them to discover the personalities and the characteristics of each individual character shown in the clip.