Mimic 3: Sentinel (Petty, 2003)
Camera technique
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Mise-en-scene
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Duration of shot
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Slow zoom in from long shot to a medium long shot
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Fade in to a man with his back to the camera, a beam of light is projected to the wall. He is moving his arm as if he is sawing/grating something, then a bit of blood spurts onto the wall then fades to a blackout
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14 seconds
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Big close up of the ground, still shot
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The screen is still for a few seconds, then some glasses are dropped on the ground, blackout
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10 seconds
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Handicam used to track the boy, zooms in on him
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A small boy is followed through a dark place, he is wearing a bright orange hoodie and beige trousers, every few seconds looking behind him
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20 seconds
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Extreme close up
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ECU of an eye looking through a camera lens
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4 seconds
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Ped up and ped down
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The small boy notices a pair of glasses on the floor and picks them up and cleans them
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14 seconds
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Close up
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Shows the boy putting his glasses back on
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5 seconds
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Tracking shot
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Shows the small boy walking towards a dead bird and touching it
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9 seconds
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Big close up, fast cutting rate
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Shows the bird covered in blood struggling
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3 seconds
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Ped up, from bird to the boy
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Shows the bird flailing about and the reaction of the boy at a low angle
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3 seconds
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Shot-reverse shot
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The boy is backing away from the bird, and the camera cuts to a close up of the bird’s dead carcass, then a silhouette of a man is shown behind the boy, he is in shadows so we cannot see his face to create enigma
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8 seconds
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Birds eye view
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See a quick overview of the area and the man walking up to the boy, still in the shadows
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3 seconds
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Close up
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Boy turns around to see the figure behind him
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2 seconds
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Camera moves in over the shoulder
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Camera moves into a shot of the figure’s shadow covered face.
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4 seconds
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Think about the soundtrack. How many layers of sound are there? How does it help establish an enigma / create dramatic tension?
There are many layers of sound, noticeably the faint music in the background and the
diagetic and
non-diagetic sounds. The increased
volume of the glasses dropping, camera shutter and wing flapping from the chicken shock the audience as they are not expecting the noise to be that loud. The
high pitched music in the background creates tension as the audience are waiting for the
crescendo in the piece of music when the
antagonist approaches but they are put off by the diagetic and non-diagetic sounds.
3. What have you learnt from this technical analysis? Reflect on the filmmaking techniques used and how effective they are at 'hooking' the audience.
I have learnt that
music should be used accordingly and not thrown in there to try and create
tension. The footage should be able to match up with the footage or otherwise the desired effect of making the audience
anxious will not be successful. With all the
different lines of actions and
shots, it reels in the audience as it is more interesting to watch. The way in which the filmmaker has been able to create tension is by the use of
sound mainly because it is
distorted so that helps to
connote fear of the unknown and helps to make the situation of the boy being watched by the man in the window more tense.
