Sunday 4 January 2009

Analysis of Swimfan

I have analysed Swimfan as it is a pychological thriller and as we are making a horror movie we need to be able to create the same type of tension to make it believable. I think the movie does this very well as the shots along with the music can make the audience feel part of the action and feel the same emotions as the characters do; uncomfortable, scared.

Swimfan opens with a soundtrack playing eerie music to set the mood and create a high tension as they introduce the characters and the settings of the film, (non-diagetic sound). There is a close-up shot of a cello being played by a girl. It then cuts to a different location showing two more of the main characters at night in a car in the middle of a valley. There is yet another cut back to the cello showing lots of medals and tropheys with some pictures of teenagers stuck on the wall. All of a sudden the soundtrack changes into happier music and the boy is in his house eating breakfast and gives some to his dog. There is dialogue over the top of the soundtrack as the boy and his mother talk about feeding the dog. The camera then tracks with the boy when he is driving in his car and has a mid-shot of him so the audience can see his relaxed movements (dancing along to music) and his facial expressions.
Once he is at school the camera tracks along with him showing the interaction between him and his friends he passes in the corridor. There is then a cut to the swimming pool with shots of people diving in a swimming and we then have a long shot of the boy walking to meet his coach. There is then close-ups of their face expressions throughout their conversation and a series of shot/reverse, shots and over the shoulder shots to show the interaction between the characters.
Then once again, in the corridor two characters are talking whilst sitting next to eachother and as the camera cuts to different shots it uses the 180 degree rule so the audience doesn't get confused about which side they are on. It works very effectively so we can see the conversation between them.

1 comment:

abbie&cat said...

This is a really good blog. You go in to such depth!