Harry Potter – Deathly Hallows Part 1
Analysis of 2 minutes –
The Warner Bro’s logo is one of the first clues to how the film will unfold because it has been edited to look old and damaged which creates a spooky and mysterious effect as people will not expect the logo to have been altered; it is also accompanied by the sound motif which most people will automatically associate with Harry Potter – its theme tune.
After this, the audience is instantly drawn to an extreme close up of an unknown man’s eyes looking intense and full of emotion. This creates the impression of negative things to follow because the film starts with such a striking opening. We are aware of the importance of this as the lighting only brightens with flashes from the cameras, presumably of the press, on to the man speaking. His tone of voice is strong and fluent with a subtle fear enveloped into it which suggests something is, or has been, a terrible circumstance to which these people will need to be highly aware of.
There is no exact setting as the camera cuts to 3 different scenes involving 3 different people after the man’s speech. By switching to other situations the audience is lead to believe that the three main characters in each scene are important to the story because of how much focus there is on them within only 2 minutes. Whilst the scenes are being displayed there is no non-diegetic sound which suggests that this is intended for the audience to be fully focused on what is taking place on screen, without being distracted by any unnecessary sound added. However, in the mid-shot of Hermione’s room there is diegetic sound of rain hitting against the window. The dreary weather reflects on the atmosphere of the room; dull. We were previously drawn to an extreme close up of a newspaper revealing the negative circumstance, from this we can then gather why Hermione’s expression is so glum (pragmatics would also be useful in understanding the extent of her feelings because from previous Harry Potter’s people will know that Hermione’s parents are in fact ‘Muggles’.)
The audience becomes aware of their surroundings more when Harry’s scene is showed as it is a clear mid shot; modern looking, small houses appear with Harry still at the window. The camera then moves on to a close up of him gazing out the window, however his expression is not sorrowful or dull. This suggests he is possibly relieved that his family are packing up. Once again, pragmatic knowledge is useful because like Hermione’s parents, Harry’s family are also Muggles.
The last scene shown is an instant mid-shot of a small, run-down cottage which appears to be in the middle of nowhere as you can clearly see rocks and water behind. The rule of thirds is used to draw our attention to the third character; Ron. He is not placed directly in the centre because we can see the door of the cottage. This emphasises his appearance because we are aware he is important but in a more subtle way. Ron’s expression suggests that he is worried as he is seen faintly looking into the distance with a puzzled face; this is taken further when he is called into the house and appears to jump a little which creates the impression he is waiting for something bad to happen.
The first 2 minutes only gives us a necessary amount of information; enough to keep us grasped on the storyline but not too much that the audience feels they can predict what will happen. Although it shows 3 different stories it is not overwhelming because they are very short clips just to introduce the characters briefly so they are aware who to follow further in the film.
 |
| 1 |
1. Before the film has actually begun the audience gets the impression that the film will not be a happy or cheery film because of the dark colours, clouded over background and transformation of the, normally, golden/yellow Warner Bro’s logo; all of these create a spooky and mysterious scene, before any action has actually taken place.
 |
| 2 |
2. Through this extreme close up the spooky and mysterious theme continues. By only seeing his eyes we are unaware of who this man is or why he is relevant but we are aware of his emotions, which instantly relates the audience to any situations in the previous Harry Potters.
 |
| 3 |
3. The close up of this prop unveils the mystery from previous scenes, which is significant because the audience is now aware of what is to come and understands the use of such intense shots previously.
 |
| 4 |
4. Pathetic Fallacy is effectively used here through the room being so dark, the characters expression looking upset and the rain hitting against the window. It is evident that this character read something she did not like because her expression is dull and she looks upset.
 |
| 5 |
5. The audience is positioned to feel that this character is an outcast due to the detail on the windows as they look like bars. We are more aware of this from the previous shot of a car being loaded and the others looking remotely happy in contrast to Harry. The audience is automatically focussed on the boy behind the window because he is the main character so we have to create a connection with him in order to relate to the forthcoming events.
 |
| 6 |
6. This mid shot shows us just enough of the characters distressed expression and also the gloomy background to emphasise this, highlighting that a negative storyline will unfold.
No comments:
Post a Comment