Scene Analysis

Over Reading Week we had to do a scene analysis for 'Film Language' so that the lecturers can see what our skills in analysis are like. As I have no skills in this field, it was a rather daunting prospect. The analysis was done in a grid, which was apparantly unusual but I wouldn't know as it was my first attempt. The table had different columns for each aspect of the film: shot description and edit, cinematography, sound, dialogue, music and meaning/dramatic effect.

Choosing a film was one of the hardest parts of this task. Being the uncultured person I am, I haven't really seen many of the supposedly "good" films such as Pulp Fiction, The Shining, The Godfather etc. The only films I have are comedies and crap films, such as "The Hannah Montana Movie" - I probably shouldn't admit to that one, but I'm not gonna lie, it is actually a good film, trust me! I was going to do "Donnie Darko" but the rabbit in the film scares me, there's no need for a massive rabbit. So instead I chose "E.T.". Odd choice I know but I found that in the opening scene of the film, there was a lot that I could say.

Here's the clip that I analysed:

I found the task quite challenging but not too hard because it was my first time analysing a film so was unsure on what to say. It was extremely time consuming too, even though I only had 9 shot sequences to do.

This Friday we have a written test, to write an essay in an hour analysing a 10 minute clip of a film of their choice so will spend tomorrow revising in some way. Wish me luck!