AH: Technical analysis

Task- 

• Carry out a detailed technical analysis of the first 2 mins: describe and list the shots in the sequence, making a note of mise-en-scene and transitions:

Inception (Nolan, 2010)

Number of shot	Duration of shot	Camera technique	Mise en scene
1	9 seconds	Mid shot- begins as a still then camera pans	Sea location
2	2 seconds	Mid shot- Still	Shows the waves
3	7 seconds	Close up- Still	Man lying face down in the sea
4	2 seconds	Mid shot- Still with the use of pull focus	Shows a boy playing on the beach with the sand
5	4 seconds	Same as shot 3	Man looks up and sees the boy
6	3 seconds	Long- still	Now shows a boy and girl playing in the sand- girl moves out of shot however
7	3 seconds	Close up- camera moves left to right	Man still lying in sea
8	2 seconds	Close up- Camera moving left to right still	Boy playing
9	4 seconds	Close up- still	Man rests his head back down
10	2 seconds	Mid shot- Low angle- use of handicam	Gun points him in the back
11	3 seconds	Mid shot- still- high angle	Shows a guard wearing a cap and carrying a gun
12	2 seconds	Mid shot- low angle- use of handicam	Gun prods man and finds a weapon in his back pocket
13	2 seconds	Mid shot- still- high angle	Looks at guard again who looks left and shouts
14	5 seconds	Extreme longshot- establishing shot- still then pans right	Shows a building located on the beach in the distance with a guard
15	10 seconds	Long shot- slowly zooms in between two doors	Cross cut to new location inside- shows a room with a man in a chair with back to camera
16	6 seconds	Mid shot- still	Back of mans chair
17	2 seconds	Close up- still	Gun on table
18	6 seconds	Same as shot 16	Same as 16
19	5 seconds	Longshot of room- establishing shot- still	Guards drag man into the shot
20	8 seconds	Midshot- tilt up	Man eating food from bowl
21	4 seconds	Over the shoulder- still use of pull focus	Man talking at other end of table
22	3 seconds	Close up- low angle- still	Man face down so we cant see his face
23	7 seconds	Close up- camera pans the tilts up	Shows man observing weapon
24	9 seconds	Midshot- still	Man observes item
25	2 seconds	Close up- still	Item spinning on table
26	6 seconds	Close up- still	Man talking- looking at camera as if shot was from others point of view
27	4 seconds	Midshot- still	Man eating slowly faces up- reacting to dialogue
28	3 seconds	Close up- still	Matched cut to another man in suit talking
29	4 seconds	Over the shoulder shot- still	Another man in suit replies
30	1 second	Midshot- still	Reaction shot of another man eating
31	2 seconds	Midshot-still	Man directs question at him
32	1 second	Midshot- still	Man interrupts others dialogue

The soundtrack consists of various elements such as non digetic sounds. For example you can hear childrens voices as well as the waves moving used to create versimilitude. There is then a soundtrack evident underneath which is used in order to create tension and the sound builds up when we see the man lying in the sea and the use of a soundbridge is then used to create continuity between the cross cut. The soundtrack uses very deep music to help add to the intensity and slowly building tension of the narrative. It is evident that sound is very significant in helping to create emotional colouring in order to put the audience in the position that they want them to be in, and therefore different sounds help them to connote different moods, or different aspects of the narrative.
Furthermore, the use of sound in this clip is evident in order to link clips together. An example of this can be shown roughly 1.05 minutes into the film. During this the soundtrack is slowly building up whilst the gaurd finds the man laying on the beach, and as the camera moves to the right slightly and focuses on the building in the distance, the sound hits a climax and then we here a drum which is used as a sound bridge in order to link the two clips. We can see that the clips are linked, due to the fact that a cross cut is used to move from one location (on the beach) to another (inside the building) and sound is important in this aspect as it helps to set the tone for the audience, as well as create continuity editing so that the narrative runs smoothly and does not look random or distorted in anyway.
Sound within the production can also be used to sustain what is going on in the surroundings of the narrative. In this case the beggining of the clip we can see this as we can hear the sea in the background. This is also an very important part of filming within this clip, as it helps to create verisimilitude for the audience, whereby it looks and sounds more realistic.

From doing this task i have learnt how to analyse various camera techniques and explain them in terms of mise en scene which will be very useful to consider when carrying out our own production, due to the fact that i will now consider aspects that are within each shot more carefully.

It is significant that we  use sound the right way within our production, and in order to do this we have to consider aspects that will help to put the audience in the best position, and to create atmosphere that is suited to each shot. It is evident in this film opening, as well as many others, that the audience must feel like they can hear what is going on in the surroundings through the use of non diegetic sound. Non diegetic sound is used in order to incorpertate aspects that are not evident from a source within the filming of it, however they are added in. Therefore we must be careful in the selection of the music and sounds we are going to add in seperately in order to create a successful production.

In general this task has been very important in learning characteristics of filming, as it has helped to improve my knowledge of how to link shots together, in a way that will benefit continuity editing within our production. This task has given me knowledge of how to analyse a film opening, as well as to think carefully when planning and producing our own.