Imagine

Imagine being told that your mum is dying. That at any moment she could go down hill and never recover from it. Knowing that every other week she has to go to hospital for a day of chemotherapy followed by two days of carrying around her pump and a week of having no energy. How is anyone meant to process that information whether it’s your mum, dad, brother, sister, nan, grandad or friend, it’s never going to be easy. I know that there are many people around who have situations way worse than anything that I am going through and have been through, but even so there are those moments in time where I get selfish and thoughts surrounding my mum’s health get a bit too much for me to handle. 

There are certain trigger points that I have that are known to get me thinking like mad about every possibility I could face with mum, one being weddings. I know that the likeliness of my mum being around for my wedding is extremely low, I'm not just saying it, my mum has said it as well, she has opened up to me about it and obviously was very upset about it. From such a young age all girls dream about is their ideal wedding and mine has always and will always include my mum. Going to other peoples weddings and seeing the brides with their mothers  there makes me ridiculously jealous. I know I shouldn't feel like that, but i do, i cant stop that. Imagine the thought that your own mum could never meet the man that you spend the rest of your life with, the man who loves you for you and looks after you in every possible way he can, the man who is the reason you smile. 

Another big trigger point that should be the last thing on my mind right now is getting pregnant and having children. Every girl is supposed to have their mum there to support them through all of those things. Mum’s are supposed to come out with all of the pregnancy advice and most importantly be there in the room when their daughter gives birth, but I know I’m not going to get that. My mum will never meet her grandchildren. My grandchildren will never meet there Nana Pye. She’ll never be able to spoil them in the way she spoiled me. Never be able to teach them what she knows or tell them any of her little stories. They will never truly understand what an amazing woman she was and there’s not much I can do about that. 

Ever since I can remember my mum has always visited her mum, they always have catch ups over tea and always phone each other up every morning or if something interesting has happened during the day. Knowing that I probably wouldn't even have moved out by the time everything progresses with mum means that her reaching the age where we phone up each other every morning to check how we both are is highly unlikely. However, it is something that i thought would naturally happen because it is what i had grown up with seeing with both of them. Its the little details like these that do really start to weigh down on me after a while, especially when mum makes little comments like ‘at least you wont have to deal with me when I'm this age’.  I’m lucky to have had my mum and to have her now but I already miss her and that’s not okay. 

How does the director use Mise En Scene and sound to establish meaning and provoke the audience’s response in the opening scenes of Finding Nemo?

How does the director use Mise En Scene and sound to establish meaning and provoke the audience’s response in the opening scenes of Finding Nemo? – Grace Pye

Mise en scene is a French phrase that means ‘placing on stage’; this guides the director with everything from props, costumes, makeup and set design that is used to manipulate an audience response. In film studies mise en scene is used to build up and create the scene so that the audience gain a better understanding for a certain character by the costume they are wearing and makeup that they have on, even the props they are using and environment that they are in.

Sound is a key feature to films as it provokes certain emotions by setting the scene, introducing a character, emphasising on key moments by using a technique called ‘sound sting’. There are two types of sound which are diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic is the most common form of sound, it is basically the sound that exists inside of the film. Non-diegetic sound is the sound of a clip which can only be heard outside of the film world to enhance the audiences’ experiences of the film, for example the non-diegetic voice narrator of Bridget Jones in the Bridget Jones Diary.

The scene begins with a tranquil non diegetic soundtrack playing which immediately creates a calm setting for what looks like a relaxed scene. A spacious ocean, which enhances the tranquil feel of the soundtrack, can be seen through high key lighting, as the diegetic verbal communication between Marlin and Coral develops. Marlin is feeling quite proud because he is proud of the home that he has found for his wife and future family, this is evident through his tone of voice as he uses diegetic dialogue to say ‘‘So Coral when you said you wanted an ocean view you didn’t think you would get the whole ocean.’’ This is a key feature throughout this scene and especially the film to bring in the common sounds of their natural environment which does include the sound that is created by the water when the sea creatures swim.

Coral uses diegetic dialogue to say “the neighbourhood is awesome” which is a trigger for the non-diegetic soundtrack as it changes to a more upbeat accompaniment for the new busy environment that is being shown. The change in the soundtrack has faster rhythms and a high major melodic tone which creates a happy mood for the audience as they watch the busy neighbourhood rushing around doing their daily chores. There are many soundscapes that can be heard that you would likely hear in any other human neighbourhood, such as children laughing and mumbling of different conversations taking place which almost humanises the sea creatures living in this environment.

Both Coral and Marlin swim down to the area where they are keeping their eggs. There is low key lighting on the surrounding area of the eggs, but the actual eggs themselves are well lit and glowing which exaggerates their importance in the film. The non-diegetic soundtrack changes the mood as well as it becomes calmer, slower and more gentle, showing us that this is a key moment for both of them as they are both with each other looking at their multiple eggs.

 Marlin exits the anemone exclaiming ‘cuties here’ to Coral which is part of an inside joke they both share, his tone of voice is very playful and jokey which is a complete contrast to the new mood of the reef. The soundtrack cuts out which shows a dramatic change in mood as we are shown a darker deserted neighbourhood giving the impression that there is some form of danger. There is a zoom out from Marlin which shows Coral in front of him staring straight forwards a Barracuda. When the Barracuda is shown to the audience an eerie non-diegetic soundtrack picks up giving an added feel of danger to the action that is beginning to unfold. A growl like noise can be heard from the Barracuda as he eyes up Coral and Marlin’s eggs. The growl implies that he is an evil character as connotations with growls are predator like animals. This evil fish is also shown through darker colours and a low key lighting compared to Marlin and Coral. Marlin says ‘‘Coral get inside the house’’ in a much more serious and desperate tone compared to the previous speech they have shared with each other, while saying this he barely moves which shows that his body language has changed from moving around playfully to actually being quite playful with Coral to acting a lot more afraid.

There is a suspension used in the soundtrack as Coral makes her move towards her eggs. This builds up a tense atmosphere at the beginning of what looks like it could be a dramatic one, with lots of action. As the barracuda battles with Marlin there are many pleonastic sounds exaggerating the fishes’ evil qualities such as his sharp teeth that we can hear clamp down like swords as a close up of his pointy teeth are shown on the screen, and also his sharp tail fin which we can hear batting Marlin about with before he blacks out. The last thing that we can hear before the screen blacks out and the sounds die down completely, is a last growl from the Barracuda which fades out into silence once again highlighting the element of danger that both the fish are in as well as their eggs. This also leaves the audience with a built up level of suspense because they do not know what has actually happened to Coral and her eggs.

The blackout fades revealing dark blue colours as it is now night in the ocean, and low key lighting which sets up the mood for being quite dark. The non-diegetic soundtrack that also picks up is still quite tense with high notes being played on violins. Marlin shouts out in desperation for his wife with facial expressions which clearly display desperation and panic. The eggs which could once be seen poking out of the rock cave in their glowing glory have now disappeared causing a minor tonality for the soundtrack as the realisation of what has happened hits Marlin whose body language becomes a lot slower and heavier with sadness. He repeats his wife’s name each time with a more upset tone eventually reducing to barely being able to speak because he is so choked up in emotion. This gives the audience a clear understanding of the thoughts going through Marlin’s mind as he goes from being kind of hopeful that Coral will still be alive, to the realisation that she probably hasn’t actually survived the attack.

A more hopeful non-diegetic soundtrack picks up as soon as Marlin spots the last egg remaining which reflects the emotion of hope that he is experiencing. The egg is red which stands out from the dark blues which are surrounding it in the scenery and darkness of the ocean. This highlights how important the egg is at this moment in time as it can clearly be seen and has impacted the mood of Marlin. Marlin uses diegetic dialogue to say “there there there, it’s okay daddy’s got you” which is said in a calm reassuring tone, contrasting his previous panic and devastation showing that he has now stepped up to care for his child.  

In conclusion Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, the directors of Finding Nemo, have used sound and mise on scene to set the tonality of the emotions up for the audience. The non-diegetic soundtracks set the tone of the scenes, emphasising the emotions that the audience are meant to be feeling, while the use of mise en scene focus on the more obvious things such as body language to help the audience understand how the characters are feeling.  

Don't Forget Me - Reflective Analysis

My screenplay is called ‘Don’t Forget About Me’ and takes place in New York, 2001. Georgie has just got back from a morning shop and is about to take a pregnancy test as her boyfriend, Jacob, phones her unexpectedly as his plane has been hijacked. My screenplay is titled ‘Don’t Forget About Me’ because Georgie will end up having his child and as the viewer we don’t know if Jacob heard Georgie tell him that she was pregnant. Either way, he doesn’t want to be forgotten which is a line mentioned in the screenplay as he says ‘Don’t you all go forgetting me too quickly will you?’

My screenplay has been inspired by films such as The Impossible and United 93. The Impossible tells the story of a family separated by a natural disaster who fight the odds to find each other again, it is based on real events. The United 93 is a film about the plane that was hijacked, but the passengers on the plane fought back and redirected the plane away from the building it was originally meant to hit, this is also based on real life events and the historical event that Don’t Forget About Me is based on, however the characters are fictional.

The location of my screenplay is New York because it helps to show all angles of the 9/11 attacks, enabling me to show Georgie’s reaction in her apartment as well as the general public’s reaction as the action takes place outside of her apartment. I also decided to include Jacob’s view point from the inside of the plane so that the audience could really see the drama building up and the effect that it was having on the people inside of the plane. This was highly inspired by the previously mentioned film The United 93. Having both locations of the apartment and the plane made the last conversation that Georgie and Jacob a lot harder hitting because as an audience we would be able to see the other people on the plane as well as how Jacob is coping with what is going on, while we would intercut with Georgie to see her ever growing emotions.

I decided that Georgie shouldn’t get the chance to tell Jacob that she is pregnant because it creates a more painful outcome for the audience who already know that she is pregnant and they would want Jacob to know before anything bad may happen to him. As the line cuts out midsentence and all she is able to say is ‘I’m preg-’this will cause the audience to question whether Jacob may have heard any of the sentence or none at all. I also thought that for Georgie to actually be able to hear the impact of the plane on the World Trade Centre would make the whole situation feel a lot more real to her as well as the audience who would be watching in anticipation.

The main message of my screenplay is ‘living life in the moment,’ this is because most people do take the people in their everyday lives for granted. Like the saying ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone’ a real life message that the main character of the film Georgie will feel the effects of. This message can be seen when Georgie realises she is losing Jacob, her boyfriend, who she has previously spoken highly of saying that he would support her through a pregnancy if need be, but then things take a turn for the worst when he phones up saying that his planes been hijacked and he doesn’t know if he will make it home.

My primary target audience would be young adults who are starting to make their own ways in the world, whether this is through further education or starting their careers. This is because they would be able to relate to the main character a lot more as they would be roughly in the same age group as her and may even be able to put themselves in her situation. My secondary target audience would be people who enjoy heart breaking romantic films due to the painful storyline that occurs though out the screenplay. This film may also appeal to a more serious audience who are interested in real life events due to the context of the screenplay. The final product may be shown as film festivals.

I believe that the audience of my screenplay would be able to relate to this message because in this day and age where terrorism is a current threat, where no one really truly knows when the last goodbye will be. The fact that the two main characters in this film are both young with bright happy futures ahead of them who have their lives mapped out, will really put into perspective to the audience about how quickly certain things can change. Georgie and Jacob aren’t special people, they are the average couple that you may see around on a daily basis making the story between them a lot harder hitting and realistic for the audience so that they can feel the emotions of the characters with a lot more detail.