Film Analysis: The Lovely Bones

I decided to analyse the film 'The Lovely Bones' as it is of the genres Thriller/Drama/Fantasy and ours is also Thriller/Drama, meaning its genres are similar to the ones in our film. The storyline is also somewhat similar to ours as it features a girl that goes missing (however, within 'The Lovely Bones', the film complies with typical Thriller conventions as the girl's capturer is a male, whereas in our film the capturer is a female), and also features a non-linear narrative. I watched the first 15 minutes of the film and analysed it in terms of cinematography, mis-en-scene, editing and sound. I have split the opening 15 minutes up into 8 different scenes, and so have analysed them all individually.

Scene 1

The scene opens with very calming music playing, and then fades to an extreme close up of a snow globe and slowly zooms out to a close up of it. The film then cuts to a medium close up of a girl, Susie, playing with her toys, an establishing 2 long shot of the room with the Susie and her dad in it, and a medium shot of her dad, all of which are interrupted by medium shots of the snow globe, displaying that it holds some sort of significance. A series of eyeline match, shot reverse shots follow as Susie looks at the snow globe, and there is then a voice over layered over the calming music of the Susie speaking while reflecting on her life as a child. The child walks up to the snow globe during the voice over and the camera pans left and zooms out from the snow globe until there is a close up of the Susie's face and the snow globe. Susie's dad then approaches her, speaks to her so diagetic sound is then layered over the music, shakes the snow globe, and puts it down onto the table where the camera then zooms from a close up of it to an extreme close up of it while the title 'The Lovely Bones' appears over the top of the shot. The scene ends on a close up of the Susie's face that zooms in slowly, cutting quickly to the next scene.

Scene 2

Scene two opens on a medium close up of a girl's face which is half hidden by a book she's reading. There is upbeat music playing which features a quirky guitar riff, and this instantly changes the mood of the film from the delicate nostalgia which is present in scene one to something a bit more youthful and fun. There is then a medium close up of a man's face who is laid in bed with her, and the camera then pans up from his face back to the medium close up of the girl. There is then an establishing 2 medium shot of them both on the bed, and as they kiss the editing pace increases as there are quick cuts of the two in different shot types such as close ups and medium shots. Match on action is demonstrated in this scene as the girl places the book onto the side and the shots change from a medium shot of the two of them and the girl's arm outstretched dropping the book to a close up of the book falling off the side and falling to the floor, and the camera tilts down with it to capture this. This then cuts to a medium close up of the girl turning the lamp on the side off, and a picture of a young Susie is in shot. The room then darkens and cuts to the same room but light once again, panning from some framed child's drawings back to the two people on the bed again, but looking older. This time difference is then indicated once again by the same shot of the woman turning the light off, but this time, Susie looks older in the picture.

Scene 3

The scene begins on a cut to an establishing long shot that zooms into the house the people live in. There is a flash in one of the windows of the house, and the film then cuts to a series of medium close ups of Susie taking photos of herself. These shots are all eyeline matches as it they reflect Susie's and the camera's point of view, and as the camera flashes, the film has been edited to flash, too. The upbeat music from the previous scene is still playing, but layered over this is a voiceover of Susie talking and audio clips of the camera flashing. The pace of this scene is very fast, and it increases all the more so as there are shots of Susie running around the house and outside. Once Susie is outside, the camera pans and follows her as she runs, therefore following the action of the scene. Once she's outside, there are over the shoulder shots of her spying on a neighbour of hers, and as she takes photos of the neighbour, the film pauses for a second or so on the object that has been photographed, therefore showing a still image and representing the photo Susie captured. The upbeat music slowly cross fades into a slower, more eerie sounding music clip, making the audience feel a sense of foreboding for the next scene.

Scene 4

While the eerie music is playing, there is an establishing extreme long shot of an old looking barn, and the camera tilts down while panning right until the camera is hovering above a big hole in the ground. While this happens, another voice over begins, with Susie referencing the big hole in her monologue, providing relation between the image on screen and the voice over. As well as the voice over and the music, there is also the natural, diagetic sound from the actual clip of film. The film then cuts to medium shots of Susie, her father and her siblings all looking very happy trying to push rubbish into the hole, and this happy atmosphere of the film contrasts with the eerie music that is playing to create yet more foreboding and indicate that there is something not quite right within the film. As the voice over continues, Susie mentions another girl, and as she does, there is a medium close up of the girl, once again giving relation to the image on screen and the voice over, but this time the girl's emotions seem to fit with the foreboding atmosphere that is created by the non-diagetic music, hinting that the girl may play a vital role in the events yet to happen within the film. The film then focuses back to the family pushing things down the hill, and the voice over contrasts with the diagetic voices this time as while the family is happy, Susie's voice sounds regretful as she starts to tell the audience of an ordeal she faced.

Scene 5

The voice over continues as the film cuts to a medium close up of a boy's face as he looks like he's in pain. Instantly the audience knows there is something wrong as the colour is very distorted as there appears to be a blue filter over the camera lens to make the scene look cold, lifeless and dull, and this represents the mood of the scene well as it follows Susie discovering her brother choking. The diagetic voices of the children screaming for help are layered over the non-diagetic music that has now took a sinister turn and sounds very dramatic and foreboding. As the children scream, the film cuts to Susie running out of the house. The editing is quickened here to increase the tension and pace of the film to represent Susie's panic as cuts between shots are very quick and even the pans are also done very quickly. As Susie discovers her brother, the music changes once again and this time becomes very intense. As Susie gets into the car, the music changes again from being intense to quite upbeat and quirky. The mood of the film then changes to quite a humorous one as the pace of the editing speeds up once again as Susie drives the car recklessly, managing to arrive at the hospital in time to save her brother, with the music then fading out, suggesting that the panic within the film is to no longer be feared as there will be a good outcome.

Scene 6

The scene opens to serene, calming music, and an extreme close up of the boy from the previous scene's eyes. The lighting within the scene is very bright and serene and so a peaceful atmosphere is created. This scene then uses a lot of close ups of the boy's mother and family to show their relieved expressions, and there is diagetic sound here of all the family speaking all breathing sighs of relief and laughing through happiness, creating a soft, happy atmosphere. A voice over begins once again while layered over the calming music, cutting to a 3 medium shot of Susie's parents speaking to a doctor, which pans left towards a glass window and zooms into a figure on the other side of it, then cutting to a medium shot on the other side of the window to show the Susie's grandmother. There is then an eyeline match as the grandmother beckons Susie over to her, the camera panning right and zooming into her as she approaches her. There is then a series of over the shoulder shot reverse shots as they speak, until the film then cuts to a long shot of the two stood opposite each other, speaking, as the camera zooms out from them speaking until the diagetic sound fades out completely so only the voice over can be heard, and until the shot fades out to white.

Scene 7

Scene seven opens on a shaky white screen with the voice over still playing, but it is distorted and sounds echoey, once again suggesting that something isn't right. The film then cuts to a medium shot of a girl and pans right as it follows her walking. There is then an establishing long shot of a mall and we're shown that there's a fashion show being held. The colours here are very vibrant and diagetic sound of the noise within the mall can be heard, creating a very lively, happy atmosphere. Another voice over then starts, yet the happy atmosphere continues to be shown as the film then focuses on the family going into shops and looking at different toys. The film then focuses on Susie's eyes in a close up, and we're shown an eye line match as it then cuts to a long shot of a boy and his parents in the mall. The music here is jittery and happy to represent the girl's emotions for the boy, and the diagetic sound of her's and her grandmother's conversation then layers over this, but as they stop speaking, another voice over is present and the music changes to sound quite sinister and again suggests foreboding as it's relating to the story Susie is telling in her voiceover. The voiceover continues as the music changes back to being jittery and happy, and the camera follows the boy as he sits down, demonstrating match on action, and the camera then pans around the boys and zooms into Susie sat in a chair behind him, and whilst this happens the focus is pulled from the boy to Susie. The girl's grandmother then joins her and the music stops as they have a conversation, which is made up of a series of over the shoulder shot reverse shots. However, one of the shots of Susie's reaction is a medium shot rather than a medium close up, and a man can be seen in the background looking and Susie, hinting to the audience that he could possibly be the man in the story to cause the chaos. At the end of the conversation, the camera follows this man as he gets up and walks away, again making an audience more suspicious of him, but as this happens, another voice over is introduced and the girl tells us that he's not to be suspected, meaning the image on screen contrasts with the voice over. As the camera follows the man during the voice over, the music becomes very eerie and tense, and we can see the ma carrying a large doll house with a red ribbon on it, and he gets closer to the camera until the ribbon takes up all the screen, the shot ending in a way that sets up a graphic match for the next scene.

Scene 8

Scene eight begins on a close up of a pink rose, and this is a graphic match as the shape and colour are similar to the ones of the ribbon in the previous shot. The eerie music is still playing, hinting to the audience that there's something not quite right in this scene, and this is also complimented by the fact that the diagetic sounds within the clip also sound echoey and distorted. We then notice the girl's parents being handed the roses, but the identity of the man handing them to them is deliberately hidden as his face is either blurred out by shallow or is hidden by another object in the setting. The girl once again is taking photos and so the film is cut into stills to represent this, but the editing is of a much quicker pace this time in an attempt to hide the man's identity all the more so. As Susie's parents walk away from the man, that clip cross fades into a clip of an extreme close up of some flowers similar to the ones before, and someone's hand tending them. There's then an establishing shot of a close up of a bowl and a man sat at a table in the background out of focus, once again having his identity concealed from the audience. The camera then follows the man around the house in a series of long shots and close ups that intentionally have him out of focus within them, and we get to see that he is decorating a doll house. While these clips are being played, they're occasionally interrupted by clips of Susie on her bike, and the brightness of these images contrast with the dark, dingy atmosphere of the house that the man's in, suggesting that the darkness of his world is soon to overshadow hers, once again creating a sense of tension and mystery as the audience anticipate that something bad will happen to her. While these shots are playing, there's eerie, tense music playing, and the sounds of his footsteps are very loud and echoey as he's walking around the house, and the diagetic sound of Susie on her bike is also very echoey and distorted. As these clips come to an end, the diagetic sounds of Susie seem to become louder, and we see a medium close up of the man holding his head, as if to be in pain, until all diagetic sound of Susie is cut out by the diagetic sound of an alarm that the man can hear in his house. This alarm then indicates for the man to close his curtains and turn the lights off in his house. He then settles down with a notebook and through a series of close ups and extreme close ups, we see that he is designing some sort of room, once again creating mystery as the audience don't know what he's doing even though it's not being hidden visually from them. After witnessing his planning, the audience then see the man building something, but from a canted angle, which suggests something isn't right and creates a sense of foreboding. While he's building, the shots are interrupted by Susie and her father also building something themselves, but once again, the lighting within their house is very bright and the atmosphere is serene, whereas the lighting in the man's house is dark, dingy and tense, presenting the different atmospheres in the two houses. The alarm sounds once again while the man is building, and a shot tilts up from his saw to his face, but still keeps his face darkened out as to not give his identity away, and once again, he draws his curtains and turns his lights off with the scene ending there on a long shot of his house.