ESSAY

Essay.

Essay.

In this film the adjustment Bureau directed by George Nolfi. There is a scene near the end that I will be aniyising for you today this scene uses 3 techniques in particular I would like to talk about, these techniques being sound, camera angles and lighting. George Nolfi uses these 3 techniques to show the main characters David and Alise as they run into a dead end they are stuck on a  balcony as they are surrounded by the A.O’s they share a dramatic kiss as they look up they are no longer surrounded but left with one man whos then told that they are to be left to control their own fate. In this scene In all the dramaticness of thinking their away then being trapped and then somehow being freed. I think that George Nolfi is trying to say that your fate shouldn’t just be decided and just left to be played out, that people’s fate shouldnt be written by some guy that they don’t even know its that it should be written by yourself but you have to go through the obstacles and fight for the right to decide your fate.

This scene is quite intense and really tries to show how close they think they are to the chairman, and how close the adjustment bureau are to them. This section of the scene is made so nail biting and intense by the way the director uses sound. Firstly as David and Alise sprint up the stairs there footsteps are very heavy which would could be indicating that they are starting to get tired but they’re still moving quickly showing that they are really pushing themselves and this shows the importance of the moment. As all of these footstep sounds are happening there is non diegetic drum beat this drum beat rumbles up and get quite loud as they reach the door as if its some type of base drop to them running into the chairman’s office but instead the doors swing open onto the same balcony as they music goes silent for a quick second as they slow mo step out onto the balcony then as it shows their defeated faces and body language some dim slow and light but loud piano starts to play as they look around with lost faces.

In this scene Nolfi uses camera angles very well. Firstly they finish the kiss to look up and see well we don’t know yet, it does a pan shot quite close up circling around their heads then zooms out to show that what they are looking at which is no one they are confused it was like their kiss had magicly saved them and everyone was gone. This theory was then made more possible as the camera then cuts to an establishing shot of the sun shining through the dark and gloomy clouds and brightening NYC like some type of sign that they were safe and everything was fixed. Then that all gets thrown out the window as when it cuts back to a close up of David and Alise we all of a sudden hear a non diegetic voice who starts to say “Did you really think you could reach the chairmen.” Their head spin straight around to see Thompson who is the voice we first see him in between their shoulders but it quickly moves to being an over the shoulder shot going back and forth from David’s shoulder to Tompsons, and when it’s over Thompson’s shoulder it’s kind of made to look like hes standing over them and that he’s the big bad guy made even more so as we see the very worried looks on David and Alises faces. These angles really lift this section of the scene because it makes it seem like yay they’ve won true love sealed by a kiss as the sun shines down all heavenly but then BAM outta no where the bad guys are bad and saying that it’s all over. This swinging back and forth is very mind boggling and causes you confusion making you want to really focus on the film. 

As David and Alise run out onto the balcony, it’s dark gloomy clouds are very big and grey and consume the sky. The whole city including the balcony seems quite dark it stays this way as they are surrounded by the A.O’s. Nolfi uses lighting techniques like the grey gloomy clouds to really make a moment that would only see in a movie. Because as they get surrounded and it’s all dark, like sky is sad and that it’s showing this by cloaking the city with darkness and despair. But then they share the kiss and everyone disappears. And so follows the sad dark clouds as the sun breaks through the clouds and shines sometype of heavenly light down like everything in their lives has been fixed by this one kiss, very movie classic scene. And then of course the party crasher Tomson comes out and tries to ruin it all. It flicks back and forth between faces while they talk. There is the big bright shining light shining down over and behind the parts of the city where David and Alise stand. Where as when it flicks to Tomson it still quite dark and the sky has more clouds and is less open really pushing the type of bad guy, good guy thing. Like when they control their fate the world will have balance.

In paragraph 1 I told you about how the music inteceafiyed an already intense scene, it picked up the pace it went from going so well to everything thave been running for seeming so out of reach this music/sound made us feel like there was hope and like it was all over. In paragraph 2 where they point the camera and the sometimes sudden changes really make you feel like you have to focus to keep up and makes you feel attached to the scene in a way. And in paragraph 3 It showed that the lighting really had a big role in telling who was in the right and who was in the wrong and showed that they deserved to decide their own fate. This scene really shows the big overall picture that maybe everything does happen for a reason but not every is or should be decided by someone or something else  it shows that your fate is what you make it but you’ve gotta push the boundaries to get there. So I think in the bigger picture it’s not just a film its a message don’t give in to the fate they’ve written you, try had to want you want cause if you don’t try how do you know what could happen.