Fargo Analysis

Director: Joel Cohen

Writers: Joel Cohen and Ethan Cohen

Release Date: 31st May 2006

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller.

• 
  We learn alot about Lundergaards character by observing his body language. For example, the scene where he tells his father-in-law that his wife has been kidnapped we see him rehearsing how to tell him which shows us that he obviously has some involvement.


• 
  Cars are made to represent characters in the film. For example, bright lights breaking the dark horizon represent the witnesses prying eyes in the scene of the first murder. Also the crashed car upside down represents the helplessness of the victims along with the red brake lights in the snow which shows bloodshed. Cohen also uses sound to provoke tension amongst the spectator. For example the beeping sound in the car when the first murder occurs is consistent throughout the film and it almost acts as a warning to the audience that something sinister is about to happen.


• 
  The black, dark landscape that surrounds the first murder scene represents death as the coulour black has connotations of evil and death. The next scene then shows Margie disappearing in her police car into a pure white landscape. Not only does this show peace, innocence and light, but it also shows how she doesn't know what she is in for as she fades away into the distance.
  The landscape is also used to create tension. The blizzard like conditions prevent the spectator from seeing too far into the distance so we never know what is "around the corner" however art the end of the film when all is revealed it becomes alot clearer so I think that the clouded landscape represents Margie's mind as she is struggling to work the whole thing out.


• 
  Black is seen again when we see the Wife for the first time and her head is covered by a black cloth, showing death. We also see it again when Gerry's father-in-law is going to give the kidnappers their money. As he is driving his face fades into blackness repeatedly, I think this shows how the darkness is over coming him which it does as he tries to kill the kidnapper.


• 
  The flat, open landscape shows isolation, loneliness and gives the audience a real feeling of helplessness. This is alot like Hitchcock's technique in North by Northwest.


• 
  The costume also shows alot about Gerry. Throughout the film he wears very bland clothes, reflecting his bland typical car salesman job. Also, at the end of the film when he is finally caught by the police he is in his pyjamas. I think this shows his vulnerability and how everything has fallen apart for him.

Zulu

Director: C.Y. Endfield
Writer: John Prebble
Release Date: 22nd January 1964 (UK)
17th June 1964 (USA)
Genre: Action, Drama, Historical.
Plot: Outnumbered British soldiers from different military backgrounds do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorkes Drift

• Sounds of Zulu chants are very haunting, intimidating. Shows the vast numbers of them and how outnumbered the British soldiers are.
• Gunshots echoe around the land, shows the open space. Like in North By Nothwest, vast baron landscape, nowhere to hide.
• Use of a longshot to show a house in the middle of the desert shows how the landscape reflects characters. A tiny house amongst vast open plane. Again like in North By Northwest, tiny bus amongst huge baron desert.
• Landscape reflects characters!!
• An extreme longshot shows more Zulus hiding in bushes. Raises tension as we know there are more to come but the British do not.

Atonement- Mise En Scene

Director: Joe Wright
Writers: Ian McEwan (novel)
Christopher Hampton (screenplay)
Realease Date: 7th September 2007 Uk
Genre: Drama, fantasy, mystery, romance, war.

• The use of red in this film is very important and it is a great example of how colours can represent feelings and emotions. For example in the scene with the red roses I think red is used to represent love and how his love for her is being trampled. The colour is then consistent throughout the film and is used alot which shows that love is an underlying theme of the film.
• The scene in the cinema is good for showing how events within the scene can show themes, issues, or emotions. For example, when Robbie (James McAvoy) is stood infornt of the cinema screen he appears to be a small character infront of this huge love story. I think that this shows how he is inferior in the story and that he is totally overcome by his love for Cecilia.
• The buildings and surroundings are very good for showing the characters class and the time period. For example, Robbie is wearing a suit which makes the audience assume he is innocent as this is very upper class attire for men of that era. The buildings also have very elegant and wealthy looking design which shows the two characters' social class. It also show the time period as architecture of this sort was very typical of that time period.

North by Northwest

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Ernest Lehman
Release Date: 22 November 1959 (UK)
6 August 1959 (New York USA)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller, Mystery.

• The first aerial shot encapsulates the whole desert in one shot, this is Hitchcock's way of conveying Cary Grants vulnerability as he is a tiny speck amongst a vast baron space. The emptiness of the desert also impluies that he has nowhere to hide and there could be danger ahead.


• The diegetic sounds of the cars go from relatively quiet to very loud showing the distance between them and the character which relaly puts the spectator into his perspective.


• Cary Grants costume implies that he is lost or in a place that he is not comfortable with. A suit in the middle of the desert....


• The editing cuts between shots of Cary Grant's reaction and the first person perspective shots shows his confusement and bewilderment. Hitchcok also seems to make a pattern of it, flicking from one shot to another for the same amount of time each time. I think that this showed how the character was looking around quite desperately 'clutching at straws' to find something or someone around him. This again enforces the idea of vulnerability thus raising tension amongst the spectators.


• Hitchcock also uses an anti-climax as the two characters meet. As a spectator we begin to become used to cars coming down the long road so when a car comes from a different direction we automatically become wary. As the man comes out of the car the tension is further raised especially as Cary Grant strolls across the road, almost paying homeage to the western genre. However, the tension drops straight away as they talk about a boring subject, the weather. This immediately drops the tension and lulls us as the spectators into a false sense of security. Hitchcock does this in many of his films so that when then tension reaches its climax the audience are very unsuspecting.