NARC (2002). Commenting on Performance, Sound, Speech and Lighting

NARC

NARC is a crime film based on illegal drug trading, involving corrupt police officers. The film was directed and written by Joe Carnahan and released in 2002. The cinematic techniques used in the film are very unique and remarkable.














 One of the most remarkable part of the film is the opening sequence. The opening sequence is a chasing scene where the actor is running after someone through the streets. Since the hand-held camera shot is used, the audience connects to the scene right away.

Use of blue filter and low lighting method also brings up the significant difference between a dream from the memory and real life.

Performance:

Henry Oak, one of the major characters, is presented as a short-tempered police officer. His performance gives the audience hints of him having a brutal past, later it is shown that his family was killed. Although he is very emotional, but he acts to be very tough and strong.

Sound:

Loud and violent non-digetic sound is used in most part of the film. There are a few split scenes with loud music which relates to the situation and has a greater impact on the audience as they would be able to connect themselves to the film. Fast paced non-digetic sound is used during all the action and suspenseful scenes.

Lighting:

The lighting of this film is very dim and dark. This represents evil and unlawful events that have been taking place in the film. Bright lighting technique is also used at some scenes where it represented happiness for the characters. For example, when Henry Oak was talking about his family, he went to flashback where the lighting was very bright and colourful.

Moon. Commenting on the use of mise-en-scene, lighting and performance.

MOON

"MOON" is a 2009 British science fiction drama film direct by Duncan Jones. The film is based on a man who faces personal crisis during his last days on the moon as a part of his three year contract.

Lighting:

• If observed closely, it can be seen that when Sam is on the surface of the moon there are quite a lot of lens flares from the sun's light. This brilliant technique is used to make the shots more realistic and lively.
• Low lighting method has been used almost all throughout the film to make the atmosphere dark and cold and create suspense amongst the audience.
• A specific scene where Sam finds another Sam in the wrecked space-car, red lights are used. This method has been used to convey a message to the audience. Red symbolises danger, blood or something bad is about to happen.
• Whenever Sam goes out to the surface of the moon, it always shows that the background is always dark. This again, tells the audience that Sam is in a place where there is nothing he can do and live a normal life.

Mise-en-scene:

• The machine (Gurdy) has a voice which is gloomy and also expressionless so it is complicated for Sam to understand what he is trying to express. Gurdy also has a limited number of emoticons stored in his database to back up what he is saying. All this sum up and the bottom line is that Gurdy is a robot and therefore, he cannot express feelings like humans.
• The color setting of the spaceship is very dull and monotonous. This shows that Sam is lonely and it actually proves the point that he is not on earth, where everything is lively, full of emotions and colourful.
• Non-digetic sound is also used to to make the audience feel Sam's feelings to some extent. The music is soft and very painful. Therefore it reflects Sam's feelings and shows how lonely a person he is.
• There is a scene, where Sam goes to flashback and he sees all the happy and precious moments that he has spent with his family and it starts to fade away. This usually happens to people who are going to die and eventually Sam dies at the end.

Performance:

• Sam is always talking to himself as there is no one else to talk to.
• In the entire film, there are many times where he tells Gurdy, "Why won't you listen to me?" This is very much ironic as machines are not suppose to respond to human commands until it is legitimate. This again tells the audience that how lonely Sam is as he is all by himself.
• Sam eventually starts hallucinating and this shows that his mental stability is decreasing day by day .

The most interesting part of this film was the camera angles. I will try to include the high angles and the establishing shots into my trailer and make it look interesting too. 

Batman (1989). Analysing Mise en scene, Camera angles and Lighting

Batman 1989 is a classic film based on the best selling DC comic called "The Batman". The entire movie has been filmed in a fictional place called Gotham City, where Batman is the saviour and fights crime on his own. I will analyze mise en scene, camera angles and lighting step by step.

Mise en scene

• Batman (Bruce Wayne) always asks his butler Alfred to do things for him and also relies on his advise most of the time. This shows that Batman is dependant on his butler very much.
• Jack Napier (later Joker), in the beginning of the movie is very dull and quiet and boring. On the other hand, after the incident in the chemical factory, he turns Joker and his personality changes as he becomes more loud, lively, dresses colourfully and his sense of humour also increases. This conveys a message to the audience that Jack has dual personality problems.
• In the scene in the museum, when Joker's goons are ruining every picture, he suddenly stops one of his men from destroying one specific picture and orders him to keep it intact. That picture is a very dark and satanic picture which gives off negative energy to the viewers. This picture is focused because it reflects Joker's feelings and thoughts.
• Batman working alone, staying in the dark most of the time conveys a message to the audience that he likes to be lonely and alone and there is possibility that he also might have a bitter past, which we find out later in the film.
• There are a few dialogues which Batman and Joker use are quite similar. One specific one was when they went to Vale's apartment. Although both of them came at different times but said the same thing, "....nice place, lots of space....". This shows that Batman and Joker are quite similar in one way and their aims are also similar but they walk different paths.
• Although everyone in the film is using guns and grenades, Batman on the other hand uses special gadgets of his own which makes him stand out.
• At the very end of the film, when Joker starts giving out money to the people of Gotham, everyone thinks Joker to be a hero although he has been killing people. The director has tried to convey a message to the audience which is, money can buy anything.

Camera Angles
Basic camera angles such as, low angle, high angle, establishing shots, long shot, tracking shots etc. have been used in the film to describe different characters, situations and the effects of the characters.

• Establishing shot of the Gotham City in the beginning of the film
• Close up shot to the pictures from Vale's portfolio and the Joker likes them. As the pictures were disturbing and expressed sorrow and disaster, the close up shot stated that Joker also likes inflicting pain on other people.
• High angle shot on Batman when he breaks through the top in the museum. This shot made Batman look more superior and a dominating character in the film.
• Another example of high angle was when Joker was giving out money to people, the shot stated that he was dominating the people of Gotham by buying them out.

Lighting
The whole movie has mostly been filmed either at night or in the evenings.Very few shots were taken in the day time but still maintained a dark and gothic effect using low lighting method. The entire point of using low lighting method was to create suspense and mystery amongst the audience. Significant focal lighting or bright lights were used at some point to convey messages to the audience.

• Bat-cave, Batman's car and even his appearances are mostly at night or are very dark, which tells the audience that although Batman is a hero but he also has a bitter past or moments which he regrets and his life is very dull and he likes it this way.
• At one point, when Batman is dressing up before goes to face the Joker, there's light focused on Batman's face which gives the audience a hint that Batman is the only hope Gotham has got against Joker.

Overall, I thought it was very good film as it was made at the time where special effects were not yet introduced in film-making. The lighting style of the film interests me the most and I think I will try to implement this idea in my trailer.