For my micro analysis I have chosen to focus on the ‘sound’ and ‘mise en scene’ as I feel these two features are most important in setting the scene to attract and help the audience feel certain emotions in my particular scene. The sound can be diegetic which is sounds the characters can hear as well as the audience; this can be the voices of the characters or sounds made by objects. It can also be non-diegetic which are sounds the audience can only hear, and are outside of the story itself; this can be a soundtrack or commentary. Mise en scene is everything seen on camera or on the ‘set’ of the movie; it can be props, costume, setting and non-verbal communication.
The film I have chosen to do my micro analysis on is ‘The Lost boys’ (Joel Schumacher, 1987) and the scene I have chosen is the first six minutes of the opening; this is where the audience are introduced to the main vampires of the film, then to the family on which the film is based. The film is about a small town that is invested with vampires, and after Michael gets dragged into a vampire gang, he and his brother Sam set out to kill the leader.
The scene begins with the non-diegetic sound of young children talking with an earie echo in the background which gives the audiences a creepy sense of fear; the children say ‘cry little sister, come to your brother’ which are lyrics to the main soundtrack of the film ‘Cry Little Sister’ by Gerard Mcmann, however it is not part of the actual song and gives the audience the impression that the narrative of the song links in with the film itself.
After this, a harsh drum beat signals the start of the actual song which starts the movements of the camera as it pans its way towards the setting of the film. Moments later as credits begin to appear on the screen, an evil sounding laugh is quietly heard under the sound of the song; this connotes danger and gives the audience a sense of fear as to what will happen in the film. This also allows the audience to become aware of the films genre (horror) as this kind of haunting laugh is typical of that genre type.
As the audience are finally taken to one of the films main scenes (the fairground) the first diegetic sound of the movie is heard over the music; footsteps of David. This gives the impression that he and his friends are important characters as their entrance on the set creates almost a chain reaction of diegetic sounds over the background music. The initial sound of the footsteps also makes them seem to be outsiders as the sound of them is out of time with the music and so makes them seem out of place. Eventually the non-diegetic music is drowned out by the sound of the carousel tune. This break from the non-diegetic sounds signals to the audience that the ‘real’ part of the film is starting; this entices them to engage more with the film. After David nudges a group of teenagers on the ride, both groups began to get rowdy and begin yelling at one another; this connotes that David and his friends are trouble, and allows the audience to foresee future events on the film of them causing a commotion.
‘I told you to stay off the board walk’ is said by an officer working the fairground which would suggest they are well known for their trouble making, and due to the fact they listen and walk straight off gives the audience the impression the officer is in charge and has power over them. Immediately after the officer says this, the bell for the end of the ride sounds which links to the fact it’s the end of their time on it too. At this point David responds to the officer (letting the audience know he is the leader of his ‘gang’) by saying ‘okay boys, let’s go’ which would suggest to audiences he is sexist; there is one girl in the group and the fact he specifically said ‘boys’ would make one think that he feels the girl is irrelevant to the group and stating his male dominance. They then leave, David getting off last and the loud sound of his footsteps emphasises the slow pace in which he is walking; he’s in no rush and not taking the officer entirely seriously, suggesting the groups rebellion.
Eerie music again begins to play with an increasingly harsh drum beat; this builds tension and gets the audience ready for something bad to happen. The music gets louder as the camera moves over the fair to show it closing; the screen cuts to different areas to show the lights go off, and the music introduces new instruments in sync with this. Each sound is made quick and is likened to the sound of a knife which gives the audience a sense of fear as knifes connote danger. The sound of crickets and nocturnal animal noises emphasises the fact that it is late at night which is stereotypically when bad things happen in this type of genre.
The footsteps of the before seen officer are played over the music to suggest his importance and high-pitched bat-like noises are heard in the background which builds tension and allows the audience to foresee danger to the officer; the background music increases in volume also to help this.
As the officer is caught the strength of the creatures that took him are highlighted as a car door is ripped off and the loud sound of it crashing on the ground suggests there was a lot of force. The creatures are suggested to be David and his friends as a familiar laugh and he sound of them creaming ‘woohoo’ is heard in the background as the officer is taken; this enforces the audiences knowledge of them being bad news and lets them know that chillingly they enjoy killing as they’re are making sounds of enjoyment. The audience are not yet introduced to what creatures the gang actually are, but they are able to imagine it’s something horrific as we hear the panic as the officer tries to open the car door frantically before they take him.
The screen fades to black and a soft ballad is played in the background; this shows the contrast between the day and night as the dark night is filled with terror, yet the town is calm and sunny during the day, suggesting nothing bad will happen in daylight. The audience then realise the song is coming from a car and voice are heard in a conversational tone; a family are heard playfully fighting over what music to listen to, which is often typical during long journeys and makes them out to be the average family.
As they drive past the sign which welcomes them to the town, the oldest son reads ‘murder capital of the world’ and immediately The Doors ‘People Are Strange’ begins to play on the radio. This suggests to the audience that the narrative of the song relates to the town and this is backed up by the fact the screen them continuously switches to scenes of different ‘strange’ looking people throughout the town.
Michael asks a local man if there are any jobs, and the man replies ‘nothing legal’ which humour to the narrative of the story, but at the same time makes the town seem very run town and out of sorts. The song continues to play only stopping as they reach their new house; this suggests they are the only family in the town who are not ‘strange’.
The beginning of the clip shows the camera panning across water (the sea) for a long time; this shows how far away from normal civilisation the town is making it seem very secluded and isolated. This gives the town mystery and makes it seem dangerous as there is no one around for miles to help in times of need. Nothing is seen on the calm, dark water except for an obvious strip of moon light which empathises the fact this scene is set at night which will enable the audience to foresee danger as bad things typically happen at night (the background music helps give the audience this feeling).
An establishing shot is then shown of the town which shows it covered in darkness except from the dots of lights across it; to the right the fairground is most noticeable due to the big fusion of lights it radiates. The audience are made to notice this area of the town more as the camera then cuts to the fair which is highlighted as an important scene which is visited and referred to numerous times throughout the film.
As David and he gang are seen on the carousel an immediate contrast is noticed between the bright, colourful happy feel of the carousel, and the dark, mysterious and evil look of the gang; this makes them seem like outcasts. The way they confidently walk across the ride while everyone sits, knocking the horses as they go makes them seem feared and hold power over the people of the town. This feeling is then enforced further after David starts a fight with a group of boys sitting on the ride; the other boys aggressively fight back but by only by merely pushing and shoving, where as David immediately grabs one by the throat in a murderous way. While he does this, the other boys shout and he just smiles, giving the impression he started the fight on purpose and enjoys it, making him seem evil. The officer then comes over and straight away grabs the leader David and holds a weapon to his throat; this suggests he is very well known by local authorities as a trouble maker and even though David agrees calmly to get off the ride, he shows a sly grin which allows the audience to foresee near-future events. The other members of the group get straight off the ride while David stays on taking his time; a hierarchy is seen as when they get on the ride they walk on one by one is a line suggesting some members have more powers then other, much like they were a pack of animals.
All the lights around the fairground begin to go off, making everything very dark making the audience aware of the late time, and the camera then shows the officer walking alone in a wide open space. The last car is then shown to drive away, making him seem very isolated as he calmly walks unknowingly; this feeling of isolation is typically seen to be when bad things happen in horror movies, so the audience have a fairly good idea something bad will happen to the officer from this stereotype. After noticing the danger, the officer runs which shows he is scared, and the fact he grabs his hat shows the speed in which he is running. The audience can see the strength in the creatures as the officer is quite big and they pick him up with ease, ripping the door off his truck at the same time.
The screen cuts to black and then the camera again begins to pan across the sea, but this time in daylight which shows the contrast from day to night as the sea is shown to be calm and the town is seen to be sunny and peaceful. We are then shown the car in which the protagonists of the story are driving; the car seems to have a lot of stuff in it suggesting they are moving to the Santa-Carla. This makes them unaware of the strange happenings of the town, which is reinforced when they drive past the Santa-Carla sign and Michael shows a worried expression as he sees graffiti on the back saying ‘Murder capital of the world’.
The family look like outsiders are their dress seems fairly normal and average of the times (set in the 80s) when compared to the other people of the town who are mostly Goths or looking worse for wear. As the camera shows scenes of the towns strange inhabitants, it shows most of them to be smoking which all the buildings having something broken on them; this makes the town look run town and a typical setting for the films horror genre. We are also shown numerous shots of people putting up ‘missing’ posters which again allows the audience to assume someone bad will happen to the family in which they have just been introduced to.
The camera gives a shot of a couple of dirty kids openly going through bins in broad daylight for food; Lucy (the mother) then tells Sam to go and give them money for food, suggesting she’s not used to seeing such a sight and also introduces the audience to her good nature. Their house is shown to be far from the main town, and surrounded by fields; there is only one dirt track of which leads up to it suggesting not many people go up there, making it look isolated from the rest of the town’s weird people.
This clip introduces the audience to the two opposing groups of the film (humans and vampires), and builds tension to future happenings of the film. The sound gives the audience a sense of mystery towards the vampires as well as fear towards them, whereas the mise en scene helps show them to be outsiders and gives the impression they’re powerful and run the town.
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