Analysis of Romantic Comedy Scene

This is a scene from the film 'Sex And The City' 2008 Directed by Michael Patrick King. This film sees four middle aged female characters all being best friends, helping each other through rough and hard times either with their relationships or work. It's mainly a film about friendship and romance which all four different characters each having their own personal ideology and personality. Sex And The City was originally a television series which ran for six years and consisted of ninety four episodes.

In this scene we see two main characters having a phone call with one another discussing marriage. From this clip using the mise-en-scene we find characteristics which clash within the two characters, Samantha Jones and Carrie Bradshaw.

The Cinematography

The cinematography starts the scene from Samantha reacting to a phone call from Carrie by using a high angle upon Samantha as she's walking up the stairs, which then converts to the oppositional character in a medium close up shot at eye level. Perhaps this is suggesting that Samantha will always be underneath Carrie for support, love and care, or perhaps it's suggesting the idea that Carrie is not going to back down about her decision to get married, even though it's bluntly clear Samantha doesn't agree with the idea.

The camera then tracks Samantha, following her into her office. The audience is now entering her world of work, this creates voyeuristic pleasure for the audience who are allowed to enter her private working life without an invitation.

The camera then shows both characters in an eye level medium close up, perhaps this is suggesting Samantha is on the same 'gossip' level as Carrie, now Carrie is about to tell her important news about her engagement. Mean while, the camera is contstantly tracking Carrie around a high fashion clothes store in medium close up, this again creates voyeuristic pleasure for the audience as the character 'does not know' the audience is listening in on a very personal phone call. As soon as Carrie declares the news 'Big and I, well... We've decided to get married' the camera tracking Carrie stops still, this may suggest Samantha will not take the news well and possibly be shocked.

When Samantha reacts to this news, she, like the camera did on Carrie, stops walking and just stands still. With Samantha's bad reaction to the news, the camera becomes closer to Carries face which may suggest the idea of this news being very personal and with the camera invading her personal space the audience are being 'drawn into' the story some more, they're being drawn into Carrie Bradshaw's personal problems and dilemma's. Once again this is giving the audience voyeuristic pleasure with being able to be 'face to face' with this characters personal problems and the character not even noticing. This shot also allows us to see her personal reaction to Samantha's sarcastic comment 'Oh, that's just... great!' in more detail than you would do if this was shot in a long shot.

The shot then goes back to Samantha, who is also being filmed in a Close Up, as she's trying to explain her 'view' on marriage. The shot allows the audience become close to this character, who at the time seems 'cold' and heartless to her friend. It allows the audience to see her in a different light and resulting in sympathising with Samantha and accepting her point of view on the subject.

The following shot is just after Samantha has put down the phone on Carrie, the camera goes from Close ups, to a long shot. This could possibly suggests Carrie at the moment is alone, and confused. She's positioned in the clothes shop to the far right, which may suggest some thing's missing from the left hand side. From her point of view her 'right hand man' is possibly missing, a.k.a Samantha.

The following shot is a pan arising to a close up of Carrie, who is at the cash desk of the fashion store. Perhaps the camera movement could reflect how Samantha is about come around and apologize to Carrie. From a shot which sees the iconic Chanel logo and designer sunglasses, to a close up of carries face could suggest Samantha's beginning to view the situation in a selfless, materialistic light and see it from Carries 'level' as the camera becomes eye level as it pans up onto Carrie.

The following shot sees Samantha apologizing whilst circling the room as the camera pans. This suggests Samantha is 'coming round' about the situation, how she's over the shock and is now being a friend about this situation. The camera on Samantha is a Medium Long Shot, which may suggest she's more alone then now her friend is engaged, which initially informs the audience on a personal level why she first reacted the way she did. As she's explaining why she reacted the way she did to Carrie, the camera becomes closer to the character by shooting her in Medium Close Up. This allows the audience to warm to the character, as she begins to show an emotion to the character Carrie, her best friend, as she's pleased and also obviously has an element of fear in her about loosing a best friend. The shot then captures Samantha in a medium long shot which suggests the idea of she's composed her self from any emotional feelings, and gets back to work. This suggests her character for being more of a working / laid back woman, rather than a marriage and family kind of woman.

As Samantha sits down on her chair, the camera become a high angle upon her. This once again suggests the idea that either she is beneath Carrie for emotional support as a loving friend, or the fact that she's not dominant in this situation for trying to make Carrie change her mind about the engagement. Where Carrie suggests the idea of Samantha possibly being her Bridesmaid there is a close up on Samantha as she strongly declines the idea, this again is drawing the audience into Samantha's 'world' and basically her 'ideology' thus drawing the audience into the story and characters lives.

A sound analysis of the scene

Diagetic sound is mostly dominant within this scene. Interestingly, the scene opens with a narration from the main character Carrie Bradshaw informing the audience on what is about to happen within the scene. It's obvious Samantha is in a rushed, busy work place as soon as she walks through the door as you can hear phones ringing and a people rushing around; both walking and talking. Throughout the conversation on the phone, you can hear the full conversation, the sound of one characters voice may be edited to make it sound like we're hearing their private and personal conversation.

The contrast between the places the characters are at the time is strong. Carrie's in this high fashion clothes store which supports the laid back, fun atmosphere by the upbeat, trendy music which is so softly played in the background of the store. Whereas the sound where Samantha is, is a lot more calm but with the stereotypical office sounds, printers and phones are 'beeping' and 'ringing' etc, which does suggest she's at work in an office.

There is a moment when Samantha puts the phone down on Carrie where we can hear traffic from outside the store. This suggests the idea of Carrie not being in the same mind and place as Samantha, as traffic suggests business, stress and fastness. These diagetic sounds could reflect how Carrie is thinking at the moment in time about her engagement being fast and stressful.

The only non-diagetic sound within this scene is the voice over narration from Carrie at the beginning of the scene. With no non-diagetic sound, this makes the scene seem much more personal for the audience. It also creates realism which adds to the voyeuristic feel for the audience, giving them a sense of watching the characters without them realising.

Mise- en- Scene Analysis of the scene

This scene is very dependant and dominant of the use of mise-en-scene, especially with the character performance and the props. The items placed in the scene are there to introduce the characters to the audience in more of a personal way, introducing the audience to these characters lives, not just their personal story's, especially focusing on Samantha Jones' characteristics.

The opening to the scene is when you see Samantha Jones walking up the stairs, in the background you can just make out her name in silver across the wall behind her. The whole layout of the place seems very sophisticated and expensive, this suggests the idea of this character being very self indulgent, materialistic, business woman. From a first glance we could possibly suggest that this character could be a selfish one in a way, not necessarily in a negative way but be a strong independent woman who doesn't see a husband or family as the most important thing in the world to look for, as she's happy with the status she has and her life. The costume suggests the idea of wealth, through the 'gold' skirt, and the rest of her outfit does not, in anyway look cheap. This backs up my estimations about the character being a strong independent materialistic women who likes to take care of herself.

This is where Carrie is having the conversation with Samantha Jones who is on the other end of the phone. This is a very interesting shot, as although she's in a high fashion clothes store when she's discussing her engagement with Samantha she is places next to a mirror, this results in there being a reflection of Carrie thus suggesting the idea of there being two sides to Carrie Bradshaw, possibly the idea that she likes the fashion world and to buy clothes for herself however but at the same time she is also a strong working woman, like Samantha. There is also another suggestion which we could suggest, and it's the idea of Samantha and her fiance are going to both be part of her life now hence the blue curtain behind carries reflection, could connote gender, in specifically Male, however with the clothes and the fun and enjoyment of the store also behind Carrie, this can suggest that Samantha will still be the large majority or Carrie's life, regardless of an engagement to her fiance. This idea can also be backed up with the idea Carrie is wearing a pink dress which can gender connote to the idea of her being female and the curtain behind her reflection in the mirror being a male character who's in her life at the moment.

As we follow Samantha into her offices, the Mise-en-scene is a strong identifier of her

characteristics which seem to dominate a

round men. However the same man which

is all over her work place, looks like a

young, well

groomed celebrity, hence the idea of his picture being the main images on the magazine's 'Los Angeles' and 'Entertainment.' This could suggest that her ideas are as suggest before, she's more interested in becoming successful in work than successful in having a conventional family involving children and a husband. It also draws the audience into her world, allowing them to personally see the area of work she works in, which seems to be involving the representing and management of models or actors, something within the media. The audience can sort of gather the characteristics of Samantha just through these images, which basically all connote sex, business and possibly partying and having a fun time.

As the conversation then reverses back to Carrie in the clothes store, and as she's about to break the news to Samantha about the engagement to her finance she's seen playing with a string on a dress worn by a mannequin. This could be an indication of Carrie knowing full well how Samantha will react to this news thus using the clothes as a way to comfort herself by touching and playing with it as she feels anxious and nervous about telling her. It seems to be away of fidgeting which we all do if we become nervous or anxious in one way or another. Carries dress is the colour pink, at this moment in time the Pink could connote how in love she is with this man she's engaged to.


This is another shot where the mise-en-scene of items within the scene strongly reflect Samantha's personality and the kind of woman she is. The idea of her wearing a white top and this reoccurring motif male model who is also wearing all white within the photograph behind her. It's interesting to note the idea of him wearing all white, and her only wearing half white and half gold. This can suggest the idea of her only dedicating half her life to him, whereas he's possibly willing to devote his all to her, the whites link both characters together in someway. However, this idea could be contrasted with the idea of the male character being 'a big part' in Samantha's life either through romance or work, or both!

This is once again a strong example of the director using mise-en-scene to introduce the kind of characer Samantha is. A strong business woman, as well as a character who likes young men, rather then becoming engaged and the idea of having a conventional family doesn't interest her, as she's too rapped up within her media business world involving young, good looking men.



The Editing
There is a lot of editing within the scene, basically because the both characters are having a phone conversation. This was an important clip to analyse because for my film production work i would like to start my scene off with a phone conversation between two people. The editing was cleverly done here, to not make it confusing for the audience which could have possibly happened. The director uses strong continuity in order for the audience not to become confused, he does this by instead of showing an eye-line match which is used within a face to face conversation in order to show the audience the other characters reactions, instead they use the sound from the conversation to cross cut, linking both different scenes in with the same phone call. Its dependant on smooth editing and cause and effects with the characters reactions so the audience are not to become confused with who the characters are actually talking to etc. There are lots of fast cuts within this scene which link in with the idea of both characters having a conversation with eachother over the phone.

Overall this was a very worthwhile scene to analyse basically due to the idea of taking inspiration from the editing which has been performed in this scene to make the phone call in my short film make as much sence using strong continuity editing and sound. The cleaver mise-en-scene to identify my character is definatley what i'll be using within my short film, as 3-5 minutes is not a long time for the audience to become engage and involved emotionally with the characters therefore by explaining their personality through the use of mise-en-scene, such as character performance, costume and scenery and props this is a strong way to persue the main goal in trapping in the audience to the story, and making them become emotionally involved within the characters. I also like the idea of using the mise-en-scene somehow to tell the audience how the characters are feeling deep down with the use of colours and character performance and props.