Inspiration/Deconstruction

The Child in Time

In the opening scene of 'The child in time', there is evidence of clever manipulation of sound and post production to create a very powerful opening. This worked perfectly to isolate the male, making him appear excluded and very alone, despite being in a crowd. This was very fitting for our trailer as we are focusing on the theme of masculinity, so this has inspired our initial ideas greatly.

SHOT 1

The first shot we see is of the male walking in slow motion. This creates an essence of ambiguity as this is an unusual first shot to see, and it seems to disorientate the reality of the situation. As well as this, the background is entirely blurred and he is seen clearly in the foreground. This diverts all the focus to him, the main character, and puts an emphasis on his actions. 

At this point, there is no diegetic sound however the simple non-diegetic sound works well. The sound used is single piano notes played at a very slow pace with silent gaps in between. This silence creates and sense of emptiness putting a mundane effect onto the scene. The simpleness of this is so effective as it is synchronous to his lack of emotion due to overwhelming despare of loosing his child. 

SHOT 2

The contrast to the second shot continues to disorientate the audience as is a change of sound and framing. The non-diegetic sound silences and is replaced with overwhelming chatter of diegetic sound. The hustle of people is hug lighted by them being positioned in the extreme foreground and all surrounding the main character, however the focus is still completely on him as the rest of the shot is blurred and the camera follows him.  The slow motion effect has now ceased and it is in normal time speed. This immediate jump from a slow pace to normal gives the perspective that the audience are seeing the switch between the main characters point of view and then the view of everyone else. 

SHOT 3

This opening is seen to have type of cyclical structure as the shot then returns to a similar format to shot 1 and resumes to slow motion. The immediate focus is back on the male and here the audience can really grasp the fact that they are viewing his idea of reality at the time. Due to his dramatic situation, he must feel like everything is happening in slow motion which is how we, the audience, are viewing it. This continues to isolate him from the other characters in the scene as it is intended that the audience are sympathise with him.

-This short sequence was very useful to me when searching for inspiration for my own teaser trailer. Our group decided upon a theme related to masculinity and the isolation of some males in society and these shots shown have excellently executed a similar idea but focusing on one individual. We may take inspiration from some of the techniques used such as a slow motion effect and a blurred background as these harmoniously worked together to create a powerful impact, which I really appreciate.