Brick, 2005 Rian Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrnDZ8DDL9o Here you can see the opening sequence (Until 3:20)

Cinematography & Performance This is an extreme close up shot. This shot is often used to show the emotion of the character, in this shot I can see that the character is probably thinking and he looks a bit upset, which makes sense as in the next shot we see him next to a dead body. Also in this image, the character is wearing glasses. Glasses usually have the connotation that he is quite smart and quite often weak and geeky. This is used a lot in films but especially Thriller films as it makes the character look vulnerable. It is quite strange that this first shot is not an establishing shot as that’s common in film

Editing These two shots are very similar and they are known as a graphic match shot. This lets the viewer know that they have gone back in time as in the first shot the girl in frame is dead. Also, this shows that it’s following the life of the same person. In this shot you can see how the girl is wearing quite a childish bright blue bracelet. This shows her youth and this is proven by the second shot as you can see by the lockers that she is probably in a high school. The clothes that the girl are wearing also indicate youth as it looks like a white knitted jumper and that’s usually associated with teenagers (knitted jumpers). During the crossover for these shots there is music (in the top scene) that stops and is changed to the diegetic sound of the high school that they are in. This tells me that the director definitely wants the viewer to know they are in a school as you hear a school bell in this scene and you hear a lot of people talking. This is also effective as there are a lot of people talking in the school scene but when the boy comes to check his locker all the sound has stopped.

Editing This is very similar to the previous two shots that I showed. On the bottom image you can see the boys shoes from earlier when he was crouching near the body and the sewers. You can see that in the top frame he is wearing the same shoes. This might imply that all of this was on the same day as he hasn’t changed his shoes and the clothing of the girl has not changed either. Also, the fact that the top image is in the same place as the image with the girl, you can see that the story definitely follows them two. The audience can also imply that because this young boy wears shoes like this that he is quite smart, traditional and mature. Which links back to the fact he was wearing glasses in the first shot I showed.

Cinematography In this shot you can see that a wide camera angle is used. This is to, first, show the setting (establishing shot) even though it is not used at the beginning of the scene as before this all you saw was the girls arm and the boys shoes. So this shows the audience that this scene is set in a school it looks like. Also in this scene you can see how the boy is very isolated. There aren’t many people about but usually there should be near the lockers. In this scene the boy in frame sees a note in his locker (that we saw earlier the girl put in) and you can see in this frame he looks around to see who gave him the note. This could tell the viewer that either the girl has put the note there a lot earlier or it could tell the viewer that the girl is hiding and he can’t see her.

Cinematography & Mise-en-scene In this scene a high camera angle is used. This could be used because it helps us to see the character in a better way. You can see that this is the boy we saw earlier. He is wearing glasses which again, suggests intelligence however it can suggest weakness and vulnerability. This could also link with the fact that a high camera angle is used as it makes it look like the viewer is looking down on him because he is less powerful then us. The fact that this character has quite messy hair could suggest that his lifestyle is quite messy and he doesn’t really have everything together. It could also suggest he doesn’t care much about his appearance. Also, this character is wearing quite smart clothing and this could show social status and could mean he is quite wealthy. You can also see a small part of the setting in the background, you can see that he is possibly on the side of a road which could suggest he is waiting for someone.

Cinematography This is the scene where the boy we saw earlier is on the phone. He is speaking to a girl (probably the one we saw at the start dead). She says that it’s good to see him. We then see the boy franticly look around and the camera moves with him. This means this shot is a POV shot. This gives the viewer a sense of how the boy is feeling. It shows that he’s very panicky and looking for whoever is watching him. Also in this scene the audience gets a feel of where he is. We see that near him is a motel and a very long road. This town is very quiet and there aren’t many people there. This gives the viewer a sense of isolation.

Sound & Mise-en-scene In this scene we see a car that comes up to the boy and stops and then drops a cigarette and drives away again. At the same time as this happening, the girl on the phone starts panicking and hangs up. This makes the audience confused as to what is happening and will make them want to watch more. The cigarette in this scene suggests that whoever in the car is a bad person/antagonist. This is because cigarettes are usually associated with the villain in the film as they are seen as quite a bad thing. The sound used in this scene is effective as whilst the boy is on the phone everything around him is quiet. However, when the car pulls up beside him and drops the cigarette the diegetic sound of the car is very loud. This could be the director telling you that it is a cut in peacefulness and it’s not an equilibrium state.