Analysis on an interesting scene

This is a clip from you tube from the coming of age film Thirteen.

This is a clip from you tube from the coming of age film Thirteen.

The main reason why I love this certain clip, is the colours Jessica Hardwicke has used to maximize intensity and tension. She has uses a yellow tint, leaving the hole house with long, dark shadows. I feel this represents the paranoia Tracey is suffering from as she is currently on strong drugs, the yellow is a dark horrific yellow which I feel represents the colour of sick and illness which is strongly referenced when Mariana asks Tracey 'Have you even had anything to eat today?'

Tracey is constantly moving her head, resulting is her face constantly being covered within the shadows, I feel this reflects the idea the real Tracey does not wish to be seen and has been replaced by a dark new persona.

The colour represents the illness and sickness involved within this house, reflecting the relationship between family and also Tracey's mental and physical state, I feel using this colour is uneasy and unpleasant on the eye and the darkness creates the idea that there are skeletons within the closet, reflects Tracey's paranoia and also the idea this is a sick and dark household. I also feel the idea of the colour of dark Yellow is reinstated by the way the house is also painted with a dark green pallet which is also a colour which can connote sick and illness.

Besides the colours within this sequence, I also feel the editing and cinematography is strongly put together as well. The majority of the cinematography is hand held; creating an uneasy, rocky and realistic approach to the sequence, also the majority of the sequence sees Tracey in close up, creating a sympathetic and personal relationship to the main character that is obviously going through a tough time. By seeing her constantly in close up, we automatically connect with her, rather than the rest of her family who within this scene we see most of the time, through a medium close up. By doing this I feel it represents a distance between Tracey and the rest of her family and creates a sense of isolation and loneliness which is a key theme within my piece. It is only once Tracey walks away from the confrontation we begin to see her mother, Mariana in close up as the camera follows her rather than Tracey, for the audience to view how a mother mentally deals with this aggressive confrontation with her daughter.

The use of extreme close ups not only establish a connection between the audience and the characters, but it draws the audience physically into the film it places the audience in the middle of the aggressive confrontation which can be quite controversial and uncomfortable for the audience to view however it is an extremely personal moment as we are spectating on a strong personal family confrontation.

When the camera switches to the long shot of the action, we see the screen tilt lower depending on which side of the room Tracey is on. I feel this strongly resembles the weight of troubles Tracey has inside. I also feel it represents the idea of the house being a very un-easy territory, and a very sickly place to be, as it visually looks like they are on a boat swinging side to side, this reinstates the sickly feeling which is apparent within this scene.

I also feel it shows how dominant Tracey is within this scene with how she weighs the house and the overall mood, it's stating how she is dominant on the mood of the house therefore she is making the house sway from side to side

This is the type of editing I love, the interesting type which can mean many things, it's ambiguity which I strive to use as the main theme within my drama, however I am not filming an explicit scene as this one I’ve just highlighted a few pointes about, however it's the idea of independent, creative directing which is what I hope mine will look like. My scene is a strongly softer scene however if I was to film the whole film, this is the type of editing I would hope to create; I also love the colour pallet which has been used within this scene. I feel colour is also a strongly important theme within my product to as I feel colour can reflect anything, from the characters emotion, it can reflect the emotion of the future of the film, it can reflect the genre.