Scene:
1h 24m 47s – 1h 29m 0s
The film extract that I have chosen to breakdown is
from the film Sleeping with the Enemy. It was directed by Joseph Ruben and
written by Ronald Bass. The genre of the film is a thriller with the themes of
love, determination and freedom. It is about an abused woman who attempts to
escape and start a new life without her husband. The scene from this film I
have chosen to analyse is when Laura Burney (Julia Roberts) thinks that her
husband Martin Burney (Patrick Bergin) has found her and is somewhere in her
house. Throughout the majority of the scene we are inside Laura’s house but the
scene is also situated outside in one part. The scene is solely based in the
late evening so it is very dark outside. This uses the genre conventions of a
thriller because the dark scene creates a tenser atmosphere.
At the very start of the scene Laura Burney notices
her window is open and the wind is blowing causing it to constantly hit the
wall behind it. The sound of the window banging and the pan towards the window
causes you to focus on the window so you are not expecting anything else. When
she goes to close the window, the window creaks and a reflection of a man is
seen behind her so the creak becomes high pitched music. The music is used just
as the reflection appears giving it a dramatic effect, causing the audience to
react; this music is effective because it is tense and unexpected. The camera
shot that is used when she closes the window is a close up of her back so that
when she turns around and screams you can see the emotion in her face. Although
her emotions are not shown for long because the camera quickly turns to face
the person in the reflection. Rather than being her husband it is Ben Woodward
(Kevin Anderson). When it returns to the close up of Roberts her emotion is
made obvious as the relief can be seen in her now relaxed facial expression. This
scene employs the theme of freedom because her relief is shown very clearly as
she realises she escaped from her husband. A jump cut is used between these two
scenes, but I don’t think it gives the effect of bad editing instead I think it
was used to emphasise the transition in time rather than showing everything
that happened in between the two separate moments.
The couple (Anderson and Roberts) are seen having a
picnic outside the house. In this part of the scene is when the theme of love
is mainly shown as the scene is very romantic and plays to the conventions of a
romance rather than a thriller, for example they are having a candle lit meal. The
camera is behind the bushes and is panning across. In this part of the scene
the 360 degree rule is used which allows the audience to see what is happening
around the couple. The camera being behind the bushes is a very effective
technique because although we do not know if anyone is watching them the camera
use implies that they are and it hints at where they could be by having leaves
across the camera. The sound of crickets can be heard and a dog barking. Both
these sounds are usual. This may be to show how normal her life is since she
left her husband. When the couple kiss sudden dramatic music starts to
play. The music is used to make the audience feel on edge and to change the
atmosphere from the romantic atmosphere that just ended. The camera continues
to pan through the bushes and follows Laura as she walks into the house
signifying that it wasn't both people that were being watched and implies
heavily that it is someone that is looking for her.
The same music plays when she enters her house and
again the camera frame looks as if someone is watching her. The camera is down
the hallway and tracks to the side as she comes further into the room almost as
if it’s hiding from her. The camera returns back outside where again it is in
the bushes, but this time it is looking at her through the window. It pans
forward and the camera pans right to keep her in clear view as she leaves the
room. This makes it seem like someone is watching her to find a way in. The
camera is now placed in the living room where a close up of a tape player is
shown which implies that the tape player will have something to add to the
suspenseful scene. The music that plays links to one of the other characters
and foreshadows a later event. After pressing play Roberts walks up the stairs
and the camera is placed in front of her. The camera is placed here to
highlight her surprised facial expression.
When she walks into her bedroom handheld camera is
used this may show that she is slightly scared and confused. The sound of
running water can be heard and a close up of an overflowing bath is shown to
emphasise what she is walking towards and make it clearer to the audience what
is happening because when it first shows the bath it is quite difficult to
understand what is happening. I really like the next shot because it is used
with very interesting angle. The view is from under the water in the bath and
the water ripples as she pulls out the plug.
The music hits the
highest pitch when she turns round to find a door slightly open, this was used
because in thrillers they usually use high music when something tense is going
to happen or has just happened. However her fire alarm goes off before she is
able to open the door. This is when the music stops playing. The fire alarm is
used because fire alarms warn people and signify danger, but in this case the
danger is not a fire it is instead her husband who is in her house. Roberts’s
stops the alarm and a cracking sound is heard when she hits it with the mop.
The cracking and smashing sounds may connote how her life is going to break or
it may perhaps connote how she is feeling because perhaps she feels like
breaking down.
.png)
View from under the bath water.
Water ripples as she pulls the plug.
Handheld camera is again used when she runs down the
stairs. When she pulls out the plug for the toaster it sparks will signifies
danger. After stopping the alarm she notices all the towels lined up neatly
which reminds her of her husband who had OCD. When she looks towards the towels
eye-line matching is used because when she looks over the audience is first
unaware as too what she’s looking at so it cuts to a shot of the towels. The
camera changes perspective from looking at her facial expressions to looking
and the towels and back to her. It’s effective that they used a subjective
camera because it suggests the point of view from her character and they have
made it obvious whose point of view it’s from by flashing back to her to inform
the audience. From watching the rest of the film I can tell this is used to
make the audience feel anxious because they will also be reminded of the
husband.
Tense music once again starts to play creating
suspense and a shadow is shown on one side of her face the Black shadow implies
the way she is turning or where she is going is unsafe. A wide shot of the
cupboards is shown to inform the audience about where she is looking. When the
first shot of the cupboards is shown and she has not yet come into view the
camera is shaking which implies she is worried as too what she might find but
it continues to shake as Laura comes into view to continue the element of fear.
The music hits the climax and the volume is loudest as soon as she opens the
cupboards.
A Handheld camera follows her back and she slowly
walks into the shadows. This gives the audience a frantic feel. The camera then
follows Laura as she runs from the room towards the front door in order to
escape. This shows her desperation to escape and so includes the theme of
determination. A close up of the same
tape player shown earlier is in front of the front door to let the viewers know
what to expect. As a close up of Laura is shown the camera moves towards the
right to show an out of focus Martin Burney (Husband) walk into the room. As Martin
gets closer he moves further into the dark shadows and becomes focused. The
idea that Martin walks into the dark shadows suggests that he is quite
threatening and dangerous.
