Aob3 - Film Language & Mode of Adress

Night Mail

Q's 1

In the opening of "Night Mail", the graphics used for the titles are very bold. they are formal, implying the subject content is a serious buisness, delivering englands mail. All the writing is in BLOCKED CAPITALS, echoing the importance, the postal-printed stamp type font.

the shots used in the opening few minutes of the clip vary. The first, is a mid shot. it establishes who is in the room and what they are doing. once this has been accomplished, the camera zooms in to the man on the phone. The next shot is that of a birds-eye view. it would have been filmed from an aircraft, flying in sync with the train over head. it films directly along the trains journey as the voiceover goes on to explain about the journy.

the next shot is an outdoor establishing shot - depicting a small railway station, showing us in the next shot we are inside it. this shot inside is a high-angled shot, filming from an angle over the the man as he works the leavers. Similarly, the next shot has an establishing-style shot as the last message is sent along the overhead wires. the camera pans along the wires, leading us into the next shot. this is inside the next station.

In terms of editing, the shot lengths depend on what is going on within them. the longest length shots are that of the train on its journey from over head, showing us how long it takes to travel from either destination. the shortest edited shot is that of the railway-station from outdoors, establishing where they are before they go indoors.

The function of the voiceover is simply to inform. it is said in an extremely sturn voice, implying the statements are fact. (" FOUR MILLION MILES EVERY YEAR, FIVE HUNDRED-MILLION LETTERS, EVERY YEAR." - at 2:59 duration )

Other sounds consist of diagetic sound - the train bouncing and screaching along. there is music at the beggining, fitting for a rail-themed film, with an four-note ostinato implying a train rolling on its journy.

Q's 2

Aob1

Lumiere Brothers

In the early film 'Exiting the Factory',there are no edits and the camera is stationary. there is a single shot used - an establishing shot, and this does not change throughout. There is no sound what so ever - the technology wasnt this advanced at that time. The camera would have been on a large tripod as it would not have been possible to hold it due to its weight. The clip is in greyscale as this was the only method of filming in that era.

Nanook of the North

'Nanook of the North', was an early documentory about the living in the Artic conditions. Shots used in this film generaly consist of establishing shots, and mid shots. There are no closeups. The is no voiceover or dieagenic sound, only the use of added music of an associated style to the region. There are Subtitles guiding us throughout to what is happening in the shots, with clip transitions, between the different scenes. It is now thought that in some shots what it shows is "fake", as the igloo would have been cut in half inorder to fit the camera insdide.

Etre et Avoir

In Etre et Avoir, there are a varied selection of shots used. The establishing shots are generally outside, mid shots and close-ups are used indoors for scenes with people and pets. Extreme Close-ups are used when we need to understand what is happening between the teacher and the pupils reactions.

The content of the shots consist of scene-setting landscapes, to empty classrooms with turtles wandering round. The dominant shots are mainly classmates and teachers learning or messing around,as that is what the film structure is based on.

There is Diagenic Sound, and the occasional featured piece of music, generally when clips are used of outside.

There are generally around 45 second long shots (or just shorter than a minute) , but there are many variations.

Dog-town and Z-boys

This documentary, in comparison to 'Etre et Avoir', is generally aimed at a younger, or at least a 'faster moving' audience, interested in surfing and skating.

The shots depict fast moving surfers, spinning skaters and a younger social niche. (although those being interviewed are of a later age, they were in their younger years the founders of these activities - as the documentary is aimed to illustrate how these sports evolved.)

Aileen - Life and Death of a Serial Killer

The documentary consists of two films, the first - 'The Selling Of a Serial Killer', and the second, which we study, 'Aileen - Life and Death of a Serial Killer' - which incorporates what happens in the what happens in the first film. The documentary is created by the same filmmaker who created 'Kurt and Courtney', Nick Broomfield. because of this,we can see similarities in the style of filmmaking. The film included archive footage of his first film, news flashes, and photographs from the case Nick's voice over explaining throughout.

The shots used throughout the opening 30 minutes film consist of mid close-ups during interviews, point of view shots when Nick is on the road, and finally extreme close-ups with Aileen herself, when he interviews her in the prison. These close-ups allow the audience to really stare into the eyes of the subject serial killer herself. The shots of Aileen include archived footage, or photos, until Nick finally meets her in the court room and interviews her afterwards.

The sound track Includes voice-over narration by nick Broomfield himself, and diagetic sound when Nick meets the various characters. Musical Soundtracks include ambient electronically-created A-tonal music that creates a discorded atmosphere, suitable for a documentary about serial killing. The ironically mis-fitting 'jolly' music played in the car with marijuana-smoking "Doctor Legal" shows just how twisted the case is as the documentory unfolds.

There are many variations in shot length, but generally the shots are left to the real-length of the interviews to show that they are un-edited when Aileen appears.