Macro and micro features of a film help explain the context. Macro being big ‘ideas’ like narrative and genre and micro being smaller ideas like sound, editing, cinematography, and mise-en-scene.

In this scene, the sound used, specifically in the beginning where the young boy is going under then coming back out of the water is useful for the audience to know which perspective is being used. This indicates that the perspective is of the boys but also shows the confusion of the whole scene and the characters within the scene, like the boy’s mother.

For other non-diegetic sound, the music in most of the scene’s background is a mix between Indian sounds and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s theme. This mixes the two locations of India’s streets and the WWTBAM studio and shows that the main character may have been subconsciously thinking about the incident while answering the questions.

Top London policeman, Nicholas Angel is sent to a quiet country village as punishment for being too good. But the village is not all it seems! Numerous deaths lead Angel into a final showdown with the villagers in ‘God’s Country’. The sequence is from the end of the film – the final shoot out between Angel, his sidekick Danny and the villainous villagers.

Analyse the editing techniques and meaning of Hot Fuzz (2007) Wright

Top London policeman, Nicholas Angel is sent to a quiet country village as punishment for being too good. But the village is not all it seems! Numerous deaths lead Angel into a final showdown with the villagers in ‘God’s Country’. The sequence is from the end of the film – the final shoot out between Angel, his sidekick Danny and the villainous villagers.

Continuity of screen space

The scene begins with an establishing shot, this follows the convention of shot sequences. This opening shot, ”Welcome to Stanford”, sets the scene for the audience telling us where we are. The audience needs its spatial awareness in order to not feel jarring. 

Continuity of time

The scene begins with a fade into the establishing shot, this is a gentle transition into the scene and implies a passing of time.

When the school children get out the cans, there is a jump cut between the other cuts to create the craziness of the children grabbing at the cans. 

Montage

At 01:13, there is a montage where Angel gets suited up for battle, it gives us a quick visual representation of the character and his motives, also implying a passage of time. The music playing also excites the audience and increases tension and expectations for the battle. 

Rhythm & Style

The majority of the action sequences in the scene use a rhythmic 4/4 beat to cut in time with the music which keeps the audience in sync and keeps up the pace in the scene. A couple of hidden wipes by people walking through the frame also keep rhythm and passes time easily without having to spell out everything to the audience. A wipe when it cuts from the police station to the protagonist on his horse shows the time passing best. 

These are my notes on TEAS for our main essay and the scene I focused on.

In class we discussed the mise-en-scene and micro features of Pan’s Labyrinth and focused on one character/s or the feast to analyse in a slide. Me and Ben were given The Captain.

The Captain’s Feast establishes the nature of the fascist ruling class in rural Spain and the attitudes and values of Captain Vidal, the villain in the film. The feast is a scene of indulgence, greed and power. Vidal is a fascist brute, he is proud of his reputation and dominates the scene. The guests are hypocrites and prove to be arrogant, patronising and snobbish. Carmen, seems out of place and is represented as fragile, elegant and intimidated by the other guests, we also get the impression that Vidal does not care for her.

Some of the mise-en-scene that relates to The Captain specifically we decided was, firstly, that he was wearing medals on his chest. This communicates that he was given them for his skill in war and conveys that he is the Captain like is mentioned in the film. This may also indicate that he would do anything to achieve those medals, especially with him being the rank of Captain, suggesting he’s ruthless and ambitious.

Secondly, Vidal is seated at the top of the table. This is an example of proxemics due to the placement of him at the end. Seating him at the top end of the table  shows the power imbalance between him and the other guests, making him appear important. As the camera moves back, him sitting at the top of the table could also show loneliness and reveal that he is fighting his own battle, even with his comrades on the same table. It shows that even with his friends by his side, because of the position he is in he is struggling with his own thoughts.

Another example of mise-en-scene is that the lighting is dark and bland. Within the scene the colour is kept minimum conveying that Vidal is a man of little taste and structure. He like to be in charge and take order of things, keeping everything minimal and tactical; only used for its purpose and nothing else. The lighting being this dark also shows how sinister Vidal is and how dark and life-taking his own world is. He has invited them to his feast, into his world, only to show them a decrepit dining hall, a metaphor for what he is trying to convince them to join. His hellish dictatorship.

Overall Vidal’s mise-en-scene shows that he is ambitious, dark, sinister, and cruel. It shows he is an ugly man with an ugly heart, full of selfishness, trying to conquer its own battles.