The theme that the author was trying to convey was that staying calm is the best way to be in control. When you lash out, the issue won’t go your way. At least when you stand your ground and keep the situation under control, you have a chance at it going your way.
In the first scene between the cop and Nina, there were zoom shots, high angles, close ups, and mid shots. The zoom shots were used when the cop was assessing the room. He looked at Nina then the camera, which led the viewers to believe that he might do something or make sure that Nina won’t do anything. This showed the power to be ‘in the air’ since neither of them did anything to make us believe they had power. The high angle was used when Nina was looking at the cop. This led us to believe that the cop had power, even though Nina was sitting, and it would make sense for her to be looking up, the scene could have been a wide shot to show them both in power. Then there were the close ups that were on the folder, then Nina which leads us to believe she now has the power. It makes us wonder what’s in the folder and why it seems top secret. Finally there were the mid shots, these shots were used when showing both the folder and Nina in the same shot and portrayed the character in a sense of power. There were other shots as well, including shot reverse shot, when Nina and the cop were looking and talking to each other; over the shoulder shots, when Nina was looking at the cop; two shot, when there was more than one character on the screen; and in the last scene there was a long shot, when the other men were yelling at the cop to stop choking Nina.
There was also the mis-en-scene that set the idea for the theme. The costume that the cop was wearing seemed to be really casual clothes and Nina seemed to be in a jumpsuit or uniform of some kind. This gave the impression that the cop had freedom while Nina did not, and if you don’t have the choice of freedom, you're not the one in charge, this made me question if my theme made sense at first. The other men were also wearing suits, which not only signified freedom, but power as well, which also challenged the theme but, until the last scene, they were calm, so in a sense, they did have the power, they were hoping for the problem to go their way. The lighting was dark, kind of calming. This helped with the theme because it was dark where the other men were and, to me, I’d rather be in a dark and small room watching a screen then in a bright room, it’s less nerve racking, there’s less anxiety. If the room is calm, the people in the room should be calm as well, the other men were in a dark room. If the other men were in a brighter room, they might have been more jittery or more anxious to interrupt the interrogation. The props that were used were the folder and the table. The folder was used to create mystery, what was in the folder, why was it significant? This allowed a segway for the cop to start getting angry at Nina. He started asking her about the names and a bomb. When things got heated, the table was flipped out of anger and the cop lost it. The folder was a symbol of power, it held secrets that were known by only Nina and the cop, not the audience. Since it starts off with the cop asking Nina for something, it puts Nina in a position of power, she gets to decide whether she answers the question or not. The setting, make-up, and acting were all irrelevant when looking at this theme.
The sound was dialogue between the characters. They started out talking, Nina kept a calm voice while the cop started yelling. This was the final tilt that gave me the theme. While the cop seemed to be in a position of power based on looks, Nina was the one who had the power because of sound. Now, it wasn’t just her words, but how she said them. She refused to get angry, she kept a calm tone throughout the interview. There was also the sounds of the table being flipped and the chair and Nina was sitting in being dragged across the room and thrown up against the wall when the cop got mad. This piled onto the idea that Nina was the one who really had all the power.
When I watched the extract the first time through, the saying “beggars can't be choosers” comes to mind. The cop was begging for answers but he wanted to choose what happened to Nina. He was ready to hurt her to get answers. Nina requested the same thing the entire time, and completely calm. By staying calm, she got to stay quiet while the cop didn’t get what he wanted. She wasn’t begging nor choosing, she was simply requesting. The angles and movements proved the theme by giving and taking power away during the extract. If it were to be watched without sound, it could be said that the cop won and that Nina broke, it’s hard to tell. The sound and edits really gave the theme the push it needed. The sound was the main instance, with the yelling and calm tones. The edits were another great example of the theme with the props, and types of shots.
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