Save the Last Dance
Fade in brings us to a close up of some sort of machine and a
diegetic metallic chinking can be heard. The machine part lowers and an action match is then used as a cut takes us to an image of a barrier being lowered. Board says ‘Track 2’ instantly connotative of a train station. Cut to a titled shot of an oncoming train where panning is used to see the train in a close up, yet blurring obscures our vision momentarily, giving a sense of suspense. This acts as a naturalistic wipe to a long shot of the inside of a train carriage. The camera tracks and turns in to face a girl sitting by the window, similar cut to the previous long shot of the train passing in its location. Cut to a mid shot of the girl in her seat, absent-mindedly looking out of the window. Her lack of interest in the camera instantly draws our attention to piece of paper in between her fingers, the ticket inspector appears in shot to collect her ticket. As the camera remains focused on her we assume that she is the protagonist. Her body language is turned in to the window and closed off from the outside. Cut to a similar shot of the train passing on the tracks in close up, with a slight pan to see the whole way down the train. Cut to a long shot of woman walking into the camera’s focus, down the isle, naturalistic close up as she rests momentarily to address someone, ‘Excuse me is this seat taken’. This becomes a sound bridge as the camera pans down to the girl, who is centralised within shot as she moves her stuff out of shot, focus is kept on her at all times. Cut to a two shot with the window framed between them, connoting their journey. Insert to a magazine close up, ‘Dance’ girl on front, tutu connotative of ballet, romantic colours of pink. Hand comes into the corner of the frame and turns the magazine so that we are now seeing it straight on. Cut to a mid shot of the black woman and continuity editing of action reaction shots are used to reiterate their dialog. The girl is framed tilted in towards the window, closed off, where the woman is framed with the train setting behind her much more involved within the journey, smiling happy contrast to girl who looks reserved and sad. She asks the girl if she dances, to which she bluntly replies, ‘I used to’. Cut to a close up of a girl’s torso as she dances, the camera pans up and reveals that it is the same girl as is on the train. The camera used to emphasise her dancing by focusing on her hand movements. Cut to an establishing shot of a blue house in a remote, countryside area, reminiscent of a home. Sound bridge ‘I have something for you’ brings us to a two shot of a woman approaching the girl from behind. She says ‘this is for love not for luck’ and places a chain around her neck, ‘you dance like an angel’, as it inserts to a close up of her neck as she fingers the chain. Cut back to a two shot of intimate hugging and she calls her ‘mom’, the intimacy is contrasted to a cut of her all by herself, looking out the train window. She is fingering the same necklace we saw previously, presenting the necklace as being important to her dancing and her mother. Sound bridge ‘you’re the best luck I’ll ever have’. Cut to a mid shot of her dancing again but this time in a different location and black leotard, appears more serious, close up of her legs. Sound bridge ‘are you okay’ to a school corridor location, camera pans in order to follow the girl and her friend. Their dialog alludes to the fact that she has an audition for Julliard, and her growing anxiety. Sound bridge of her friend ‘praying’ as we are brought back to a close up, almost from her reflections point of view, from the train. Her down cast gaze suggests that she is upset, and the diegetic whispered praying gives it a surreal feel, to which we assume it is a painful memory. Another sound bridge is used of her mother voices ranting about how busy she is at work and a cut to a two shot of her and her mom talking. The mother appears to be cancelling on her promise to drive the girl to her audition, the girls back is turned on the camera and the camera pans to follow the mother round the shop, indicating this is where our focus should be. Action reaction shots represent a brief conversation between them, where the girl insists her mum must be there, to which she ambiguously replies ‘I know’. Representing an air of mystery and building tension around this pivotal audition. Cut as the girl is marginalized to the side before the camera pans to her again gazing thoughtfully out of the window, as a visual motif. Cut to a close up of a board, ‘Welcome to the Juliard school auditions’. Momentary wipe of a girl dancing in front of the sign out of focus but her black leotard is representative of the previous scene when we saw her dancing in the same leotard. Cut to a two shot and close up of the girl and an official looking woman, informing her that she is ‘up next’. Cut to a long shot of the hall, all the girls are stretching, connotative of Ballet. Insert to a mid shot of her checking her watch and looking back, as though waiting for something. Cut to an establishing shot of an auditorium, with a group of stern looking people, smart black suits before the camera pans to stage. Close up of her face, anxious, turns from the camera as a cut to a previous scene of Sarah and her mother walking down the street, ‘I’ll be there, I promise before you audition’. Quick insert to a close up of the train wheels on the tracks, to which the diegetic sound breaks the narrative and seems to allude to something bad. Cut to her on the train framed by the window, fingering her necklace as a reiterated theme. Ariel shot, tilted, of her dancing, cinematic shot with bold colours and very professional looking composition. Close up again to her feet and legs, emphasis on the movements. Cut to mid shot like before dancing, jus head and shoulders. Cut to the outside of the train where the diegetic sound breaks the intimacy of the narrative and seems to build tension. Quick shot of her on the train before a sound bridge takes us back to her audition as one of people in the audience, who we assume is a judge, asks her a question about her contemporary piece. Action matching is used of the mother in car checking her watch, indicating that she is late. Continuity editing I used to depict her dance movements on the stage from the judges perspective. Jump cut to an over the shoulder shot in the same street location as before, close up mum giving her a kiss on the cheek, close up of mums face suggests she is proud, Cut to the train and window, tempo of music changes and speeds up, installing a feeling of tension. Parallel editing is used of her dancing, from the judge’s point of view, to close ups of the mum inside the car. We see the tyres veering suddenly to the left and diegetic sound of screeching is heard before the car wipes out of shot. Long shot of the girl on stage, cut to a shot head on with a van, as if it is about to hit us, foreshadowing this as an accident. More diegetic screeching is heard as cuts of close up vehicles veering out of shot, are interspersed between close ups of her legs as she begins to stumble backwards. Parallel narratives ads tension, as they seem to foreshadowing each other’s demise. Mid shot as the girl falls back as a cut depicts the jus peering over the steering wheel; before making a sharp right turn and wipes out of shot. Cut to the underside of a lorry over us, low angle as if we are on the ground, connotative of an accident. Cut a close up of her on the train, she gasps as if pained by the memory as her head turns to and from the camera as if trying to shake it away. Cut to a two shot of the girl and a police officer, obscured through a glass door. Cut to a wide shot of a stretcher being taken into an ambulance but we cannot see who’s in it. Cut to close up of the mum slumped against the cracked glass, with her eyes closed and covered in blood. Cut to Sarah gasping and turning towards us before collapsing. Cut to her back on the train as we hear long drawn out violin sounds, connotative of death. The camera zooms out as we see the rest of the passengers stirring form their seats in the background, indicating that her journey has ended.
Scarlet's Witch (2008) - 16 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVwu-WZ8Kc&feature=fvsr
Found on Youtube: F.C. Rabbath Creations Entertainment
In the opening credits tracking is used down a winding road in a series of sepia shots which then give into a fade of a girl sitting in a car in the same sepia tones. This instantly establishes a link of a journey between the connections in colour of the two scenes. Furthermore the sepia effect gives it antique feel as though it is a long preserved memory of some significance. The mid shot of the girl also reveals a great deal of her settings through the windows, and over exposed lighting outside the proximity of the car also draw importance to the journey she is making. A cut to a close up of a swing and an establishing shot of a park, connote that she, the little girl is the main focus point. This is reiterated as a voice over begins to unravel into a story about a little girl. A cut to wide shot of the girl (Scarlet) and the playground instantly insinuates that she is an outcast amongst this group, which is again reiterated by the running voice over "she was a very selfish girl that didn't get along with anyone". A cut to a two shot of a man and woman instantly progresses the story as Scarlet walks into the space between them in the background in a shallow focus before the focus pulls and attention is drawn upon her and the man. A series of shot reverse shots are used in close ups to assist a small dialogue between her and the man (her father) in which she states that she wants to go. This instantly brings back connotations that she has made some recent transition in her life, possibly moving there. A cut to a close up of her father in deep focus shows a look of disappointment that suggests an heir of family disagreement or a dysfunctional family.
As the car in the opening sequence connoted my idea of depicting a train journey in my own opening sequence, and I really liked the subtle way in which they highlighted the importance of the journey through lighting techniques and exposure. In addition to this I liked the way in which they incorporated the narrative voice over cinematic shots to insinuate subtle moments in the characters life that allows us to empathise with their decisions, which is something I am trying to incorporate within my own work.
Fade in brings us to a close up of some sort of machine and a
diegetic metallic chinking can be heard. The machine part lowers and an action match is then used as a cut takes us to an image of a barrier being lowered. Board says ‘Track 2’ instantly connotative of a train station. Cut to a titled shot of an oncoming train where panning is used to see the train in a close up, yet blurring obscures our vision momentarily, giving a sense of suspense. This acts as a naturalistic wipe to a long shot of the inside of a train carriage. The camera tracks and turns in to face a girl sitting by the window, similar cut to the previous long shot of the train passing in its location. Cut to a mid shot of the girl in her seat, absent-mindedly looking out of the window. Her lack of interest in the camera instantly draws our attention to piece of paper in between her fingers, the ticket inspector appears in shot to collect her ticket. As the camera remains focused on her we assume that she is the protagonist. Her body language is turned in to the window and closed off from the outside. Cut to a similar shot of the train passing on the tracks in close up, with a slight pan to see the whole way down the train. Cut to a long shot of woman walking into the camera’s focus, down the isle, naturalistic close up as she rests momentarily to address someone, ‘Excuse me is this seat taken’. This becomes a sound bridge as the camera pans down to the girl, who is centralised within shot as she moves her stuff out of shot, focus is kept on her at all times. Cut to a two shot with the window framed between them, connoting their journey. Insert to a magazine close up, ‘Dance’ girl on front, tutu connotative of ballet, romantic colours of pink. Hand comes into the corner of the frame and turns the magazine so that we are now seeing it straight on. Cut to a mid shot of the black woman and continuity editing of action reaction shots are used to reiterate their dialog. The girl is framed tilted in towards the window, closed off, where the woman is framed with the train setting behind her much more involved within the journey, smiling happy contrast to girl who looks reserved and sad. She asks the girl if she dances, to which she bluntly replies, ‘I used to’. Cut to a close up of a girl’s torso as she dances, the camera pans up and reveals that it is the same girl as is on the train. The camera used to emphasise her dancing by focusing on her hand movements. Cut to an establishing shot of a blue house in a remote, countryside area, reminiscent of a home. Sound bridge ‘I have something for you’ brings us to a two shot of a woman approaching the girl from behind. She says ‘this is for love not for luck’ and places a chain around her neck, ‘you dance like an angel’, as it inserts to a close up of her neck as she fingers the chain. Cut back to a two shot of intimate hugging and she calls her ‘mom’, the intimacy is contrasted to a cut of her all by herself, looking out the train window. She is fingering the same necklace we saw previously, presenting the necklace as being important to her dancing and her mother. Sound bridge ‘you’re the best luck I’ll ever have’. Cut to a mid shot of her dancing again but this time in a different location and black leotard, appears more serious, close up of her legs. Sound bridge ‘are you okay’ to a school corridor location, camera pans in order to follow the girl and her friend. Their dialog alludes to the fact that she has an audition for Julliard, and her growing anxiety. Sound bridge of her friend ‘praying’ as we are brought back to a close up, almost from her reflections point of view, from the train. Her down cast gaze suggests that she is upset, and the diegetic whispered praying gives it a surreal feel, to which we assume it is a painful memory. Another sound bridge is used of her mother voices ranting about how busy she is at work and a cut to a two shot of her and her mom talking. The mother appears to be cancelling on her promise to drive the girl to her audition, the girls back is turned on the camera and the camera pans to follow the mother round the shop, indicating this is where our focus should be. Action reaction shots represent a brief conversation between them, where the girl insists her mum must be there, to which she ambiguously replies ‘I know’. Representing an air of mystery and building tension around this pivotal audition. Cut as the girl is marginalized to the side before the camera pans to her again gazing thoughtfully out of the window, as a visual motif. Cut to a close up of a board, ‘Welcome to the Juliard school auditions’. Momentary wipe of a girl dancing in front of the sign out of focus but her black leotard is representative of the previous scene when we saw her dancing in the same leotard. Cut to a two shot and close up of the girl and an official looking woman, informing her that she is ‘up next’. Cut to a long shot of the hall, all the girls are stretching, connotative of Ballet. Insert to a mid shot of her checking her watch and looking back, as though waiting for something. Cut to an establishing shot of an auditorium, with a group of stern looking people, smart black suits before the camera pans to stage. Close up of her face, anxious, turns from the camera as a cut to a previous scene of Sarah and her mother walking down the street, ‘I’ll be there, I promise before you audition’. Quick insert to a close up of the train wheels on the tracks, to which the diegetic sound breaks the narrative and seems to allude to something bad. Cut to her on the train framed by the window, fingering her necklace as a reiterated theme. Ariel shot, tilted, of her dancing, cinematic shot with bold colours and very professional looking composition. Close up again to her feet and legs, emphasis on the movements. Cut to mid shot like before dancing, jus head and shoulders. Cut to the outside of the train where the diegetic sound breaks the intimacy of the narrative and seems to build tension. Quick shot of her on the train before a sound bridge takes us back to her audition as one of people in the audience, who we assume is a judge, asks her a question about her contemporary piece. Action matching is used of the mother in car checking her watch, indicating that she is late. Continuity editing I used to depict her dance movements on the stage from the judges perspective. Jump cut to an over the shoulder shot in the same street location as before, close up mum giving her a kiss on the cheek, close up of mums face suggests she is proud, Cut to the train and window, tempo of music changes and speeds up, installing a feeling of tension. Parallel editing is used of her dancing, from the judge’s point of view, to close ups of the mum inside the car. We see the tyres veering suddenly to the left and diegetic sound of screeching is heard before the car wipes out of shot. Long shot of the girl on stage, cut to a shot head on with a van, as if it is about to hit us, foreshadowing this as an accident. More diegetic screeching is heard as cuts of close up vehicles veering out of shot, are interspersed between close ups of her legs as she begins to stumble backwards. Parallel narratives ads tension, as they seem to foreshadowing each other’s demise. Mid shot as the girl falls back as a cut depicts the jus peering over the steering wheel; before making a sharp right turn and wipes out of shot. Cut to the underside of a lorry over us, low angle as if we are on the ground, connotative of an accident. Cut a close up of her on the train, she gasps as if pained by the memory as her head turns to and from the camera as if trying to shake it away. Cut to a two shot of the girl and a police officer, obscured through a glass door. Cut to a wide shot of a stretcher being taken into an ambulance but we cannot see who’s in it. Cut to close up of the mum slumped against the cracked glass, with her eyes closed and covered in blood. Cut to Sarah gasping and turning towards us before collapsing. Cut to her back on the train as we hear long drawn out violin sounds, connotative of death. The camera zooms out as we see the rest of the passengers stirring form their seats in the background, indicating that her journey has ended. Scarlet's Witch (2008) - 16 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVwu-WZ8Kc&feature=fvsr
Found on Youtube: F.C. Rabbath Creations Entertainment
In the opening credits tracking is used down a winding road in a series of sepia shots which then give into a fade of a girl sitting in a car in the same sepia tones. This instantly establishes a link of a journey between the connections in colour of the two scenes. Furthermore the sepia effect gives it antique feel as though it is a long preserved memory of some significance. The mid shot of the girl also reveals a great deal of her settings through the windows, and over exposed lighting outside the proximity of the car also draw importance to the journey she is making. A cut to a close up of a swing and an establishing shot of a park, connote that she, the little girl is the main focus point. This is reiterated as a voice over begins to unravel into a story about a little girl. A cut to wide shot of the girl (Scarlet) and the playground instantly insinuates that she is an outcast amongst this group, which is again reiterated by the running voice over "she was a very selfish girl that didn't get along with anyone". A cut to a two shot of a man and woman instantly progresses the story as Scarlet walks into the space between them in the background in a shallow focus before the focus pulls and attention is drawn upon her and the man. A series of shot reverse shots are used in close ups to assist a small dialogue between her and the man (her father) in which she states that she wants to go. This instantly brings back connotations that she has made some recent transition in her life, possibly moving there. A cut to a close up of her father in deep focus shows a look of disappointment that suggests an heir of family disagreement or a dysfunctional family.
As the car in the opening sequence connoted my idea of depicting a train journey in my own opening sequence, and I really liked the subtle way in which they highlighted the importance of the journey through lighting techniques and exposure. In addition to this I liked the way in which they incorporated the narrative voice over cinematic shots to insinuate subtle moments in the characters life that allows us to empathise with their decisions, which is something I am trying to incorporate within my own work.
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