Tara Miller Film essay

Snow White and the Huntsman 1hr 40- 1hr 44:48

The sequence i have chosen is close the the end of the film, it shows the good
going to fight the evil queen to win back the kingdom, this i felt was a good part to
pick as i could write about cinematography, Mise-en-scène, sound and a small bit
about editing with ease.

The scene begins with a close up side shot of a young woman, actor Kristen
Stewart. There are various features of cinematography in this shot; the woman is
wearing white which represents purity. There are blurred lights in the background.
Mise-en-scène like this is used to cause curiosity for the viewer and in order to
make them want to carry on watching to ultimately find out what the blurred object
is. There are both diagetic and non-diagetic sound in this; firstly, you can hear her
heavy breathing this is to build up tension for the viewer as something is clearly
happening but is sketchy, tension drags in the viewer. Secondly, there is dramatic
music playing.

The camera then flicks to a high angle shot, almost a birds eye view of the
characters upper half. The for the audience becomes aware that she is laying on the
floor. This indicates the time period in which this would have been filmed as this shot
type has rarely been used for such things in any recent decadeds. The audience is
then left on a cliff hanger as it flicks to a new setting and scene of two main that
appear to be at a disagreement. The room is dark, representing a shady character in
the film. It is merely lit by candle light of which one of the candles has gone out and
is releasing smoke. This smoke is used as Mise-en-scène to predict something
that will happen in the film; smoke stereotypically represents fire which represents
danger. This all portrays a bad happening for the film or scene to come.

The music is now less noticeable or dramatic but still encouraging and almost brave
sounding. This all also predicts a courageous battle or act of some sort. The camera
then rotates around the characters to keep the viewer interested and awake and
also brings more attention to the knight/guard in the background. A place in which a
knight or guard is necessary is usually a dangerous place. All of these danger
symbols and clues are fed to the audience by the director to allow awareness of the
situation in which the characters are in.

The camera stops rotating just as bustling men come in to shot, this shines a light
on the commotion of the scene between the sensible conversation as inevitably,
some sort of fight is going to happen. We are then re-introduced to the female
character from the start of this section of the film. She is gracefully walking through
the entrance of a grand building, drawing the attention of both an old man and the
two men from the previous aggressive discussion. The sound in this scene is almost
entirely music, an almost ear piercing violin sound which gives the emotion and feel
of hope. Continuity editing allows the camera to continuously flick from the girl to
the people who’s attention she has grabbed to show the importance of her role in
the scene. Her centre placing in the doorway also gives the effect of her being
‘centre of attention’ announcing to the audience that she will have a main part in the
coming scenes.

Still a medium long shot of the woman and a man steps in to shot, making it a two
person shot, to fully show the distance between each of them, which can often
indicate their feelings towards one another. The camera then tracks along with the
woman as she walks from the front to show her face on her walk rather than where
she is going. This draws attention to her performance and physical expressions to
define the mood of her future actions.

The characters white costume is now even more prominent, as it contrasts with the
dimly candle lit street, and represents the danger for an innocent young woman, in
being out on those exact streets.

The camera switches from person to person in the following conversation between
the woman and the other man to let the audience keep up with the upbeat flow of
the dialogue. Also, a harp is introduced to the music as she begins to speak. As this
is the first speech we hear from the woman, we automatically link up the angelic
sound of the harp with the woman, making her seem even more innocent than her
vulnerable position alone in the bed and now in the dark streets.

When the camera suddenly switches to a half high angle and long distance shot of
the whole scenery, we are unexpectedly shown a huge crowd surrounding the
woman, all wearing dark clothing, representing the bad and making her even more
vulnerable to everything around her. This type of Mise-en-scène, costume,
camera and actor placement all creates a sympathetic relationship between the
character of the woman and the audience making viewers intrigued to find out the
characters future and also root for them on a personal level.

The actress’s courageous performance when she then increases the volume of her
voice brightens the hope for her future and the crowd surrounding her then throw
their fists into the air and bow down to her as they agree to go to war with her. This
gives a sense of satisfaction for the audience because of the connection they have
built with her through this scene. Both sound and editing amplify this, sound non-
diagetic fills in the viewers senses, keeping them hooked with the was its perfectly
matches up to the quick cut editing and close up to, actress Kristen's face.

When the camera flicks to a different setting/scene, the audience is abruptly

presented with what appear to be corpses on the floor, and then fire as the camera
pans along the scene. This causes a subconscious link for the viewer between the
smoke from the candle in the previous scene and the fire in this scene, making the
audience make a mental note of the meeting this new character is about to have
with the characters from the previous scene, and what type of meeting it shall be;
dangerous. To stress this even more the camera ultimately and finally pans straight
into a close up mirror shot of this new character with the fire directly behind her,
making her seem literally on fire and subsequently either extremely dangerous or
evil and a true obstacle for the previous female character when she goes to battle
with her.

The camera then flicks back to her opponent, but not straight onto her; what
appears to be a castle door is lowered to emphasise her sudden change in
appearance. The character is now wearing a silver armour, which stereotypically
represents a brave and courageous warrior, which is ultimately what she has
become. Her hair is now tied back causing her to appear male and therefore more
dangerous for the apparent era this film is set in. The camera quickly switches to a
long distant shot of the woman on her horse along with the rest of her army. The
horses aggressively gallop forwards in time to the now rushing and threatening
music to create excitement for the audience.

The close up shot then shown of a man with the horses riding past him makes the
threatening speed that the horses are going at more apparent and relatable for the
audience as they are going straight past the camera. A long distance shot of the
army riding across a vast landscape is then shown to portray the vulnerability of the
army by using an open space.

As we are re-introduced to the evil female character, her costume includes a spikey
crown to represent the danger she beholds. The actress’s performance make her
and her two male companions seem calm and consequently prepared for what is
about to come by her leisurely walk to her balcony, making the opposing army seem
unprepared and in danger in comparison.

In a the next low angle shot of the woman on her balcony we are shown fire at
either side of her once again in an effort to remind the audience of her danger and
uneasy relationship with the opposing side. The fact that it is a low angle shot also
makes her look superior and threatening to the audience. This fear makes something
in common between the audience and the good female character and therefore they
emphasise with her even more so than before.

All of this cinematography is in a constant build up to the battle about to come.