Prisoners Analysis

Prisoners Analysis

The scene begins with an establishing shot of a diner with a car parked in front of it dead centre to bring the main focus to the car, using the rule of thirds. There is low key lighting used outside whereas there is a glow coming from the diner, as it is lit up, emphasising the fact that this scene takes place at night. The only sound heard is the diegetic sound of the thunder and rain, which is a common convention in drama/thriller films. The use of the establishing shot gives a sense of location and time for the audience, whereas the attention brought towards the car gives me the implication that it may have a sense of use and meaning within the sequence. The shot cuts to a long shot of the diner from a high angle, showing a man sat at a table by himself with his back towards the camera. This could suggest that this character, Detective Loki, is a lonely character; which could also be interpreted through the pathetic fallacy of the diegetic thunder and rain coming from outside. There is bright lighting within the diner as you see the detective eating, with the diegetic sound of cutlery clinking together over the sound of the diegetic rain as the camera very slowly and gradually zooms in on the detective, as a waitress comes around to serve him coffee. This long shot slowly zooming in may be to reinforce the fact that he is the only customer in the dimer, the camera zooming in could perhaps be used to create gradual suspension. As the waitress talks to the detective, the camera does not focus on her but stays focused upon the detective, even though he has his back towards the camera, meaning that hat he says must be of importance as the rest of the background, including the waitress, is slightly blurred. There is a slight eyeline match as you see the waitress looking down at the detective, then cuts to the detective looking down at the piece of paper he is looking at, then looking at the waitress which is done with handheld camera movement which makes the scene more life like.

The shot cuts to another long shot but this time from a high angle to the left of the detective where a diegetic radio buzzes, but then the sound of the actual radio announcement becomes non diegetic as the edit cuts to the first establishing shot as the detective gets into his car. The shot cuts again to a close up of the detective's face as he listens to the now diegetic radio announcement, picks up his radio and replies to the announcement. This close up on the detective’s face allows me to see the reaction he has to the announcement, and to also grasp on whether they are close to the climax of the film or not - reaction shots like this are often used in the drama genre as it creates more tension and suspense. There is low key lighting used here to create a shadowy effect on everything in the car, including the detective, apart from his face which is lit up by the light from the dimer directly in front of him. This could have been done to create an eerie tone to the scene and to build tension.

Parallel editing is used here as we are now taken to the man in the RV who has supposedly committed a crime, and then back to Detective Loki who is now at this new destination, shown by an establishing tracking shot as he drives through a petrol station, just in front of the woods where the RV is also parked. The editor will have done this to show that whilst the detective was driving to this new destination, the man in the RV had been found. The detective stays in the car and the shot cuts to an over the shoulder perspective shot of the RV; here, the first non diegetic music is used to begin building suspense and tension. It is a very slow song which immediately indicates to me that this action sequence will also be very slow, however, it also could reflect the thoughts and feelings of the man sat in the RV. There is another eyeline match used as you see the detective looking at the man in the RV from the over the shoulder shot, which is reciprocated as it cuts to the wind mirror of the RV, where the detective in his car is in pure sight. When we see the car in the wing mirror, the backlight created from the petrol station behind the detective's car could represent the fact that he is bringing justice, the light behind him could portray the ‘light in all evil’ or a clear differentiation between good and bad.

As the non diegetic music intensifies, we are shown a medium shot within the RV where the man sat in the driver's seat looks both left and right at both the police officers and the detective, building the tension for me as an audience member, as it is unclear of what he will do next. There is backlight used here in a more subtle way, as the headlights shine onto the trees, all that can be seen is the silhouette of the man in the RV, which gives a much more eerie and creepy tone to the scene. Using a silhouette is a common convention within drama/thriller films as it builds to the suspense of what the silhouette actually is, and if they will ever be revealed. A little later on within the scene, the man in the RV crashes into the trees in the woods in an attempts to kill himself or escape. As he does this, the non diegetic music stops and you can hear and see the detective shouting loudly and aggressively, much different to how he was acting at the beginning of the scene.