Film Analysis Part 2

The movie I chose to analyze a scene from is The Matrix. The scene opens on a very fast paced speed, with a close up shot of a man in a helicopter saying "We're under attack!" This sets the tone for the audience, to prepare them for a fighting scene. Loud, exciting music is playing, which is non diegetic. This helps to support the events happening in the clip, and to match the tone of intensity. The setting is in a large city on the roof a tall building, which correlates with the genre of action. The duration of shots is very quick, to encapsulate the extent of  the high paced fighting occurring. The costumes of the protagonists and antagonists are very similar, which are dressed in an all black, mysterious attire. The majority of the characters have shades on their face, which adds to the mysterious mood and feel of the movie. We then see a dissolve/ fade out transition of the man in the helicopter morphing into a different character dressed in a suit and shades. The use of this transition helps to create a seamless cut between introducing characters. After the two protagonists defeat the minor enemies on the rooftop, we see a low angle close up shot of the man in the helicopter stepping out of his vehicle onto the roof. The affect of this angle creates suspense and draws attention to the feet of whoever is stepping out. This allows the audience to wonder what is about to happen next, and if the man is good or evil. As the man appears of the screen, the the music switches from high pitched and exciting to a much lower, eerie sound. This supports the idea that this man is in fact a threat to our two protagonists. The man pulls out his gun, and we then see a shot reverse shot between the antagonist with the gun, and our protagonist who is attempting to dodge the bullets. We then see an effect of slow motion editing utilized, to accentuate how fast our protagonist is moving to dodge these bullets. A high angle shot of our protagonist on the floor, followed by a shot reverse high angle shot of our antagonist hovering above him with a gun is shown, to show that the antagonist currently has superiority over the man on the floor. This adds suspense and worry for the man on the floor, as the audience knows that in any second he could be shot. However, we second protagonist is able to help save the man on the floor, by shooting the antagonist in the head. We see this in a long shot, where we can see all three characters fully in frame. Through blocking, we can see that the two protagonists feel comfort around each other, and are relived that they have finally won.

Comparison:

This film compares to the project I have been working on in many ways. In this film, there are clear protagonists and antagonists, which will be the same with my film. Just as music is used in The Matric, I will incorporate the use of suspenseful music in my film, which will help to convey intense feelings and moments for my audience. This clip includes a good length of dialogue, which will also correlate with the amount of dialogue in my own film. With both my film and The Matrix being action movies, the similarities of good vs evil, fast paced clips, and high suspension will all add to the theme and genre.