'Law Abiding Citizen' Micro Analysis

In order to produce a successful film it is essential of the different micro elements to help meet the criteria of attracting the target audience. Particularly mise-en-scene which is one of the micro features that can generate different meanings, the terms mise-en-scene literally means all the elements/objects that have been placed in front of the camera in that freeze-frame/shot which can offer information connected to a character. Costume, for example, can identify a characters personality (black clothing can imply that a character is a villain). Another micro element is cinematography which plays an important role to enhance the creation of meaning within the film; Shot type used, camera position and camera movement all function well together to create meaning. One more micro feature is sound; plays an important role to enhance the creation of meaning within a film. Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds both function together to produce meaning in these four key areas: character, narrative, genre and setting. In this essay I will be analyzing how cinematography, sound and mise-en-scene develop meaning and response in a 3 minutes sequence (opening scene) of the film Law Abiding Citizen directed by Felix Gray, released in 2009.

The opening scene occurs just as Clyde’s daughter is playing with her beads. The camera pans from left to right almost like a point of view shot and a close up of her hands is used, though the viewers cannot see her face the audience is able to acknowledge that she is a little girl as the camera is framed tightly to emphasize her delicate hands. The film then cuts into a close up of Clyde’s engineering machine this gives information to the viewers that he is an engineer (the audience find out later on in the film that Clyde uses his engineering skills to help him seek revenge) the camera also does the same movements as it did before to represent the fatherly relationship he has with his daughter. The conversational camera techniques used in this scene reinforces their relationship e.g. over the shoulder and shot reverse shot.

This scene is set inside the house, the room in which Clyde and his daughter are in appears to be a spare room because it’s fairly untidy and everything is all over the place. However giving the benefits of the doubts this part of the scene is framed rather tightly meaning that the rest of the room is not seen so it’s hard to tell

When the door knocks a mid shot of Clyde walking down the bright passage is used which is significant because the audience gets to see a glimpse of the house – the walls is painted yellow and white which connote happiness and joy. The light coming from the lamp on the left hand side and the light from the kitchen’s light bulb hanging down also increase the joyful atmosphere. But when Clyde opens the door the medium close up of Clyde is used to allow the audience to see his tensed facial expression which indicated that the person who knocked has brought trouble. Unexpectedly a huge baseball bat whacks him in the face continuously as he collapsed on the floor.

 Darby’s cohort turns of the main passage which creates shadows especially when Darby runs to attack Clyde’s wife – this makes the audience sit on the edge of their seat anxiously.

 The kitchen is seen from the long shot of Clyde’s wife running from the kitchen to him but she fails miserably as Darby dives and slams her into the glass cabinet. Through this the theme of violence is being portrayed.                                                                                           


The bat and the knife are really important as they are only used by Darby to harm Clyde and his family throughout the scene. Additionally when each tool is used a close up shot occurs so that the viewer can see it in full details. The camera is positioned on the ground level to show Clyde’s vulnerability and that Darby has authority and is more superior, it also allows the audience to feel as if they are the victims. This meaning is also enhanced with the light lit up on Darby’s face and his shadow over Clyde (status).

As I was analyzing I noticed that Clyde’s daughter, his wife and himself were all wearing white and cream; Clyde is wearing a creamy white jumper, his daughter is wearing cream jacket and his wife is wearing cream sweater. The fact that they are all wearing the same colour that connotes innocence, positivity and purity it symbolizes the united relationship they have and how much Clyde loves his family. So therefore when they get attacked the audience is able to develop sympathy as the symbolic message gets in their heads that ‘life is so unfair’, even the good and innocent, the law abiding citizen experiences injustice. In contrast Darby and his ‘so called’ partner in crime are both wearing black clothing. The director deliberately choose them to wear black clothing and not any other colour for obvious reasons, one of the main reason is for the audience to identify what type of character he is. The colour black connotes negativity so therefore wearing black automatically implies that they are villains. The colour black also connotes authority and power which they seem to have from the moment they entered the scene.

Meaning is also created through the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. For example when the scene stars the sound of the radio music and the sound of Clyde’s daughter playing with her beads create peaceful happy mood. However the mood of the film completely changes the moment the sudden terrifying sound commences. (The intensity sound of the door knocking and the footsteps introduce Darby as a villain). The non diegetic horrifying sound increases to build tension making the audience uncomfortable, the echo sound effect of Clyde’s wife screaming amplifies the anxiety, the audiences almost feel the same pain Clyde is going through having to see his wife being rap and murdered along with his daughter (telling the audience that Clyde seeks justice but the system let him down by telling Darby get way with it which is why he then  seeks revenge).                                                                                                                                      When Darby says ‘you can’t fight fate’ he is telling Clyde that this is meant to happen, and that it’s impossible to fight the inevitable.

In the 3 minuet sequence each micro element successfully helped create meaning of the message the director is portraying. The three micro elements enable the views with important information to understand the film and keep them interested at the same time.

‘superman’ Micro analysis

The film ‘Superman Returns’ is about; Superman also known as Man of steel, returns to earth to become the peoples saviour once again and reclaim the love of Lois Lane. The director and editor collaborate to create a meaningful message; through the micro elements they are able to make the audience feel as if they were living that situation.

In the beginning of the scene the couple were in the kitchen this showed the viewers that they have an intimate relationship. The props helped indicate that they were in a kitchen e.g. worktop, plates chairs, glass etc. The fact that they were in the kitchen it brought out an element of romance (typical husband and wife in the kitchen having a conversation/disagreement).                                                                                                                           Having the characters opposite each other this immediately gave the impression that their relationship was disconnecting. An over the shoulder shot was shown to indicate that both Louis and her partner were having a conversation, a mid shot was also use to enhance that.  The viewers were then able to see from Superman’s point of view of the couples in the kitchen showing that he was concerned with something. An establishing shot was used to see the city buildings like a picture frame highlighting that they live in the suburbs. As superman flew the tilt technique was use to emphasize how slow he was flying at first so the audience can tell that he was disappointed and angry.                                                                           

In the same scene the natural moonlight is lit up on superman’s direction to emphasize the time of the day. Inside the house; the lights are toned down so that it reinforces the atmosphere of a nuclear family (if it was an extended family the lights would have been lit up brighter) the colours used in this scene are vague and dark to give a cold and pessimistic vibe.

Lois’s son plays the piano whilst her and Richard were having a conversation. This sound is diegenetic because the characters can hear as well as the audience; the slow melody enhances the romantic tension between the love triangle of Lois being stuck in between Superman and Richard. When Superman flies wretchedly into the sky the voice of his father emerged significantly to enlighten the viewers of Superman’s history as his father stated ‘even though you’ve been raised like a human being, you need to remember that you’re not  of them’. This highlights his importance and his mission on earth but it also shows that he has a human side (emotions).  

When Superman looks down to the planet Earth a close up of his hears was shown as the sounds of; bell ring, people panicking,  babies crying and police/ambulance sirens all reminded him of how much the world needs him, when he finally recovered from that emotional brake down the famous well known Superman theme song played.

Superman has a distinguished costume in comparison to the other characters to make him stand out. Superman wears a blue costume complemented by red trunks, red boots, and a long, flowing red cape.  A yellow belt encircles his waist, and there is a highly stylized Superman insignia - consisting of a large red letter "S" inscribed within a yellow shield, which is bordered in red - emblazoned on his chest. From this the viewer are able to see that he is a superhuman/superhero.    

 Lois Lane, and Richard white her husband to be, wore sophisticated clothing, Lois wore a shirt alone with a pencil skirt, Richard on the other hand wore a shirt and smart trousers – this gave the impression that they come from upper working class/middle class background.   Later on in the scene when the action starts we see the police officers –they wore the police uniform so that the viewer new that they are policeman. The main villain in that scene is wearing all black e.g. black gloves and black built proof jacket. The director deliberately choose him to wear black clothing and not any other colour for obvious reasons, one of the main reason is for the audience to identify what type of character he is. The colour black connotes negativity so therefore wearing black automatically implies that he is a villain and not very friendly.

The editors use slow motion to mark the moment of superman making his decision to return to the Earth, this glues the view’s eyes making then wonder of what choice he is going to make. When Superman dashes back to Earth the fast motion effect makes the audience excited, acknowledging that he hasn’t let them down. The continuity editing smoothens the scene which is used when action gets tenser and the cuts are quicker to make the audience anxious. When the police get to the villain’s location a shot reverse shot of the police and villain is used to build up the anxiety, as the slow motion bullets fire towards the police mans direction, using continuity editing Superman flies in front of the bullets to save the police officers. Superman continues walking at a normal paste toward the villain- as the bullets hit his cheat but rebound and drops on the floor, the last bullet hit his eyes, but it rebounds again as slowly falls on the floor.

'Halloween' Micro Analysis

The movie 'Halloween' is first shown to the audience in a house in the middle of the forest (establishing shot-the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place this can also help the audience engage with the type of atmosphere they’re expecting) in this case the audience already sense tragedy.

Both diegenetic and non-diegenetic Sound elements provide a key indicator to audience of the genre also help create information concerning the different setting, safe or not safe, modern-day or present-day etc.                                   

The movie is introduced with a pumpkin that was zooming in slowly as the clock ticking sound got faster which indicated that the film is getting more serious but then is fades away and the sound of children singing a nursery rhyme started this made the audience feel awkward because children singing is meant to create a happy atmosphere – this is known as contrapuntal sound where it doesn’t fit in with the visual. As the camera got closer to the house a sound of owls howling, once or twice to contributed to the horrific atmosphere.

When the point of view character noticed the lights go off upstairs from the window an ongoing high pitch melody played which was non-diegenetic. This symbolized the emotion of what the point of view character was feeling. Then when he finally got to the kitchen the tapping piano keyboard systematically played this showed the build up of the characters emotion and that something bad was going to happen. (Also non-diegenetic) But the sound following sounds were diegenetic; the talking of the girl and her boyfriend, the killer opening the draws to get the knife, the girl screaming and finally the mum and dad talking at the end of the scene.

The low key light was used all the way through the open scene, the moon light, for example it is one of the traditional horror elements that helped build the suspense.

The dark vague colours hide that clues of what was going to happen next. When the point of view character looks up in the window and the lights turn off it simulate that they are going to have sex and that’s when the terror starts, dragging in that traditional horror movie idea that sex equals death and that virginity saves you.

Director John Carpenter deliberately set the scene in the following places to tell the story better.

Outside the House:  by starting out sideshows a clear procedure of how the mysterious killer got inside the house, it built tension because the audience established that the point of view character has an objective.

Font & side porch: enhances the mystery of the killer stalking the two people inside the house.

Kitchen:  important setting because that is where the character picks up a tool to point out that his ready to hurt someone but the audience doesn’t know who.

Passage: shows the boyfriend getting out of the house leaving just the young girl and the killer in the house.

Bedroom: where all the action happens. Her little brother stabs her.

Little boy is dressed like a clown

The little boy’s sister is wear a vest and short skirt (easy access)

The young man is wearing jeans and top (when he was coming down the stairs his was putting his top on to emphasize that they just had sex)

Dad is wearing a suite and mum a long jacket (upper working class)

The main characters in this scene are the young girl, her boyfriend and the little boy (murderer) along with his parents. Each character has a clear symbolism.

The main props are the knife, mask and the hairbrush.

The knife was first seen in the kitchen being taken out by the character that the audience can see their point of view; the reason being was to tell the audience that someone was going to die. The mask was seen twice, the first time was with the girl’s boyfriend and the second time was when the killer saw it on the floor and put it on which made it clearer that it was a point of view shot. The hairbrush was also important because it represented her vanity. (Brushing her hair in the mirror naked)  

When the young man looked back towards the young girl with a smirk implying that his had a good time but he isn’t going to contact her again (message for girls to be careful who they trust). When the girl was brushing her hair she happy but then when she notices her little brother standing by the door she suddenly shock then starts screaming.

First cut was when the mask was put on, the viewer fully knows by then that they are seeing through the eyes of a killer. The killer looks at the knife as he is stabbing which represents his though process and that he is emotionally disconnected from his actions. This enables the audience to acknowledge what sort of character they are dealing with (no morals must be a child) then it ends with an extreme long shot of the child and parents outside the house.

‘Gladiator’ Micro Analysis

The movie Gladiator is about a Roman citizen who has been betrayed and his family murdered by a corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. The director and editor collaborate to create a meaningful message; through the micro elements they are able to make the audience feel as if they were living that situation.                         

From the scene that we watched in class I was able to analyse the different methods and technique used by the director and editor to make the scene realistic and vivid as possible:

 That Gladiator scene that we watched was set in Italy at Rome in the Colosseum. From this basic information I acknowledge that the film is not in a modern day era.                                            The props create a significant meaning in the film. The scene was introduced with drams and horns. The Barbarian’s enter the Colosseum assertively on chariots as an advantage of winning the battle, whilst the Romanians gathered together in the centre of the Colosseum holding shields and surds guarding themselves. The fact that the Barbarians are on horses it emphasizes the vulnerability of the Romanians as they are looking up on them. The audience is able to distinguish who is who in the battle because the Barbarians are in gold armor and the Romanians are wearing silver armor.                                                                                                    

Caesar wore gold and purple clothing, in those day gold was a royal colour, this suggests that in high status then other character.  The natural light from the sun give emphasis to the hot sticky weather, the way in which the sun poisoned it creates shadow underlining the negative vibe. The overall colours used are vague and dark. 

The diegenetic sounds of drams and horns being played is to let the audience know that the battle is about to start, the horses galloping toward the centre of the Colosseum emphasizes how defenceless the Romanians were compared to the Barbarians on the actual horses.             The combatants falling on the hard surface, Cracking scales and the sounds of surds digging into their bodies draw attention to the cruelty and the harsh deaths, making the audience cringe. Towards the end of the scene the people in the stadium were shouting and cheering, idolizing the victorious moment.

                                                                                                                                                                        The once they entered the Colosseum an Establishing shot of the inside of the Colosseum was used to indicate where the action is going to take place. When the Romanian stood in the middle of the Colosseum a High angle shot was use - camera is looking down at them to emphasize how big the Colosseum is in comparison to the competitors who were fighting.                                                                                                                                                       Before the fight started many close up shots and mid shots were used on mainly the empire and Maximus so that the audience is able to see their facial expression in details and to show their importance as they were the only characters making speeches. As Caesar was making his speech Maximus made a hand movement and a shot reverse shot of him and the little boy Lucius was uses to tell us that they are communicating via eye contact. The fight then begun and more mid shots were use of to get hold of the action, they were close enough to see it in details.  A Point of view shot of the woman in the chariot aiming at her enemies helps build tension- the eye line match of her aiming for the enemy automatically glues the viewers eye to the movie as they question them self whether she will hit her target or not .  later on in that scene the Romanians follow Maximus’s command to work together as a team so they gathered together and they managed to make the Barbarian’s chariot buckle- the editor uses the slow motion technique to ‘mark that moment’, showing that the roll of who is winning the battle has reversed.                                                                                                                          During the battle panning was use so that the views are able to see from the crowd’s point of view, drawing our attention of what they are watching. As the scene got more violent   Continuity editing was used to smoothen the action and to make it look realistic. I am estimating that 400 to 600 cuts were used.

Both the director and editor succeed to create meaning to this scene using the micro elements. The art of editing keeps the viewers entertained the editing of this scene is done so smoothly that it makes it unpredictable and mystery but interesting to watch, allowing the audience  to participate bringing their imagination to life.