Brick -Analysis

Cinematography
The sequence in ‘Brick’ at the beginning has many extreme close-ups that fade into each other so the audience can get a view of the different characters. The first shot which appears on the screen after the titles have appeared is a close up of the concrete floor; this is a pan shot which slowly pans across the left hand side of the screen. The next shot which appears is an extreme close up, of a pair of male brown shoes. This then dissolves into a extreme close up of a boys glasses this shot it particularly blurry, this is not a still shot, it is moving around a little and the boy is looking direct at the camera. This is because he is looking into a prop of his which is an actual still camera. The shot of the character may be not very clear so he is not identified straight away. The use of establishing shot where the boy is leaning on the floor with his camera taking a still picture of the dead body is effective because the rule of third has been used. This is also low angle shot to express the feelings and also set the scene which is the cannel and the small river flowing through the tunnel .This makes the frame more interesting to watch. There are close ups which resemble POV shots of the boy with his camera looking at the dead body.

There is also extreme close ups of the brown heels and the hands of the dead body. These extreme close ups have a great affect on the character; it makes them feel uncomfortable because they assume it is a dead body. The camera is very still which is because it emphasises the atmosphere a little more because the audience are not too sure the body is dead, or the girl may have passed out. The shot after the establishing shot is a very slow panning, mid shot of the boy who is looking into the camera, as if it is the dead body. The same type of shots repeats however the subject is different, where the moving panning shot zooms very slowly into the girl’s hair.


When the boy is looking at the girl there is a close up of her legs. There is a mid shot used on focusing on the girl’s bracelet, which goes into a close up of the dead looking girls face. There is another mid shot which reconstructs a scene that seems to be before she died where she is putting a note into the locker. After the mid shot of the bracelet on the girls arm, there are many extreme and close ups. These close ups are used to emphasise the expression on the death of the girl; it allows the audience to investigate themselves into what may have happened. For example some may think and believe that the boy had killed the girl accidently by drowning her, because there is no blood in the scene, the body is very close to the shallow water. The next scene is after the titles have appeared in the screen, which is ‘BRICK’ the type of font is bold and in white this straight away condones the feeling of power because it contrasts against the black background, the titles moves away into the screen. This affects the audience, very much informs them that this is a thriller movie.


Mise-en-scene
When the boy is introduced, he is wearing brown shoes, this links back to the first shot where the audience see them and now they are aware that they belong to him. They also link to the girl’s heels which are also brown. As an audience they feel this movie maybe set maybe a decade or more ago, due to the costume used the looks like it’s the type of fashion for that time. The type of props used use are a major key to this opening sequence because when the opening sequence starts, the props indicate what it may be about and the expressions that may be expressed for example a shot of a knife will indicate danger and my even be death. The prop used is the bracelet which the dead girl is wearing and this links back to the shots of the flash back where she is wearing it also. The shoes are also are one of the main props because they are shown many times and this shoes what type of character the boy may be, it seems to be smart brown shoes which indicate, a smart, obedient character as a stereotype. The clothes he is wearing is not fashioned, big named clothes its simple and without any logos. This may represent the type of person he is for example he may be a person who is not into fashion. The girl is also wearing old fashioned type of clothes which is old looking, brown, long skirts, that come down to the knee and a grey knitted jumper.


The opening sequence clearly indicates that the movie is an opening sequence because the sound that is used it slow paced and the instruments that are used is piano, metal triangles. This non- diegetic sound sets of a calm start however it then plays an echo type sound in the background which expresses a little unstable tone. Also the audience will be aware that the film is a thriller due to the way the titles appear on the screen, it is very slow and moves towards the screen.