The director uses mise en scene
strategically to inform the audience of the characters emotional and physical
state. Costume has been carefully selected to indicate the state of torment
that this particular character has endured, she wears a long scruffy coat, it
displays ambiguous stains possibly indicating blood or dirt. This costume was
specifically chosen to display her previous state of mistreatment and the
unsanitary conditions of that environment. There is also dirt or blood across
her face and hands, subtly placed under the nailed, merely staining her,
implies it is not fresh, this connotes
that she has been running for a long time and the kind of site she has escaped
from. This makes the audience question where she’s come from, there is also a
sense of ambiguity as her identity is covered by her hair, used to make the
audience question her innocence or whether she links to the faces on the poster.
Her body language has been directed to portray fear and insanity, she makes
fast breaths of exhaustion and panic which gives the impression that she is
afraid or running from something. This is also indicated to us through the use
of props, for example the ‘missing’ posters being displayed imply that her
state has a link with the missing person problem, leads the audience to conclude
she is running from someone and has escaped.
The director uses camera shots skillfully at
the exposition of the film, using an out of focus point of view shot that is
unsteady to indicate the weak and unstable state of the character, this builds
tension as the audience is waiting for more to be revealed by the clarity of
the shot and it shows her strain. Low camera angles are also used to film the
character as she limps to refuge; this displays her hunched posture and
instability, also creating an ambiance of fear towards this character for the
audience. There is a contrast of fast and slow panning of the filming, fast
panning to display her panicking and stress to get to refuge and slower shots
to display her emotion and desperation, used to receive emotive impact from the
audience. A long shot is demonstrated when she gets into the school it makes
the place of desire seem far away from her, building tension from the audience
as they a routing for her to get to this place of safety, and the long shot exaggerates
her distance from safety. When she is on the phone a close up shot to show her
panic and desperation, it makes sure all the focus is on the emotion in her
face, the shot is prolonged here to build tension on her expression and finally
on her scream for a shocked impact on the audience.
Sound is used
cleverly to create tension in this scene through non-diegetic sound and
pleonastic sound especially at the exposition where the soundtrack represents
the beat of a heart; this builds tension because an increase in tempo would
imply panic which would build tension for the audience. The use of pleonastic
sound like her heavy breathing, implies stress and exhaustion, it puts the
audience on edge because they are concerned for her survival and it makes them
question what she is afraid of. The non-diegetic soundtrack of this heart beat
reflecting tempo becomes louder while run towards the phone, then there is a
strategic pause of prolonged silence before all the emphasis is on her scream,
accentuated through selective sound for impact, this creates a shock on the
audience and makes them question her sanity creating a fearful atmosphere. The music gets quieter before she screams for
a more traumatizing impact.
LINK TO THE HOLE INTRODUCTION:
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