Misery scene analysis

In this scene, there were many techniques used that contributed to the feeling of suspense in the film. A few of the close-ups were effectively used towards the creation of suspense. When Paul gets out of his room for the first time, he wanders into a sitting room where everything is neat, and everything has a place. Moments later, there's an extreme close-up shot of a penguin that he nearly knocks over. This creates a feeling of relief and uneasiness, because if anything is out of order, it's obvious that Annie will get suspicious and do something extreme, based on what is already known about her. Another very shocking close-up is when Annie returns to the house. The close-up is used on Paul's face, and he looks very afraid. You're hoping that Paul will make it back to his room, but you have no idea if he'll make it on time. The moment makes you excited and afraid at the same time. At several points in this scene there are ground angles used on Annie. One being when she is trudging through the snow on the way to her house. She's coming closer and closer, and you're hoping that this will give enough time for Paul to pretend like nothing has happened. It's almost as if she were a monster. It emphasizes the fact that this is what Paul is scared of, this human beast. The canted angles in this scene proved to very useful in the creation of suspense. One example is when Paul finally abandons his wheelchair so that he can get into the kitchen. The canted angle shows how helpless he is. He can barely crawl on the floor. It makes you wonder if he'll even make it out alive.

It's no secret that Paul is a prisonner in Annie's home, and the mise en scène in this scene captures that. In one still, Paul is just sitting in Annie's house, in the wheelchair, without hope. He is framed by a window, which happens to have bars. It's almost as if Annie prepared her home for Paul's arrival. At another point, Paul discovers a shrine of himself in Annie's house. It looks very organized, and contains all of the misery books. There is even a framed picture of Paul that's signed best wishes. The picture proves to be a very clever technique, because it's wishing Annie all the best, but all Annie has done for Paul is make him completly miserable. When Paul is in the kitchen, he tries to find any weapon he can use against Annie. His eyes fall on a collection of knives. The knives are shiny and delicate, like it's almost too easy. Next to the knives, is a stork holding a baby. It's scary because it looks very unreal. It's as if Annie lives in a fictional world.

This scene played an important part in the film Misery. It demonstrated how certain techniques can really help to develop suspense. It gives the audience a better understanding about just how trapped Paul really was. It's as if you were in his situation yourself.

Jaws

Before I saw the movie Jaws, I was under the impression that it was just one of those scary movies that are really lame. I thought that it was just a movie about some shark that was constantly killing people all the time. That it was one big blood bath with no suspense. I also believed that since it was made in the mid seventies, the shark would probably look like a cardboard figurine, and that the blood would just look like cherry jello. I had so many ideas about the movie but... oh boy was I ever wrong.

In my opinion, the movie Jaws had a beginning that is stereotypical to most horror films. A girl goes swimming, it's dark, the water is clear and everything is just too quite. You know right then and there, as she goes for her little midnight dip, that something is definitely off. There are some techniques used to emphasize the fact that this girl is dead meat. When she is in the water, you see the girl from the shark's point of view. This works well in the film because you can see just how helpless this poor girl is. I found this scene to be quite frightening because you can't see the shark. It is very suspenseful because you know the shark is heading towards the girl but you have no idea when he might decide to attack her. I almost felt like saying out loud, "get out of the water stupid! You're going to be eaten in like 2 seconds!!!!!"

There is no way I can imagine this movie without it's music. In Jaws, whenever the shark goes ahead and decides to gobble up another innocent victim, the music is always right there along with him. It's amazing how scared you can get from two simple notes. The music in this film was very well chosen because of the fact that whenever I heard it, I knew that the soulless shark was after yet another victim, and it really caught my attention. You just know when you hear that music that's he's creeping up on someone new. It's very fast and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

In Jaws, you could say that Chief Brody is a real killjoy when it comes to having fun at the beach. He hates the water, but he lives on an island... yeah that really makes sense. He is constantly looking out for that shark. Honestly, Brody should have just stayed in New York. Anyways, at one point in the film, he's just sitting on his bench, alone, and there are people just walking in front of him when he is trying to look out at the water. When these people walk in front of Chief Brody, it's an example of a wipe. It's a good wipe because it shows that Chief Brody seems to be the only one concerned about the shark. Everyone else seems to be ignoring the warning signals.

Ahhh.. the famous Zolly, there is no way I would have gotten through this blog without talking about that little number. When Chief Brody is sitting on the beach checking to see if Jaws is out there, after a few moments, a Zolly is used on his face. The Zolly is used because Chief Brody notices that the shark is eating another person, in this case a little boy. When it happens, you can just feel what Chief Brody is feeling. The shot captures all of the emotions on his face in a split second, and to me, it was very shocking.

Jump cuts are used to create uneasiness and can make you afraid, which is exactly what they do in Jaws. When the kids are playing in the water at the beach, there are constant jump cuts. You just know that something is going to happen. The kids are so helpless, their just splashing around, and they have no idea what could happen to them. Their are also jump cuts during a part in the film when there is a "false alarm". People think that there is a shark, so they run out of the water. There is cuts from kids to adults, and it's just plain chaos. Old people are falling over, little kids are screeching loudly..... well I think you get the picture. It's so hectic that you'd think, well there must be a shark in the water!

Well, what can I say, I enjoyed Jaws after all. Before viewing this film, I would never have believed that some seventies-ish horror movie could be so great. It truly exceeded my expectations.