Alien

Alien is a classic film that lends itself to three genres; Film Noir, sci-fi & horror. It fulfils the necessary conventions of both as well as throwing in random shocks to keep you gripped. One of the most infamous scenes is the ‘chestburster scene’. This is a very rare scene in the sense it has a very clear beginning, middle & end. In the beginning we see Kane, who we think has recovered from his incident with the ‘alien’, happily laughing and chatting with other members of the crew around the dinner table. There are a lot of mid shots at eye level allowing the audience to feel apart of the banter, it is a relaxed shot which adds to the relief for the audience allowing them to think that the crew have averted disaster, this adds to the tension later on because what happens is even more unexpected and shocks the relaxed audience. The framing in these shots is also very clever we often see Ash on his own and the crew on the other side of the shot, subtly showing us as an audience something isn’t quite right with Ash, he is somehow different from the rest of the crew. As Kane begins to choke we see a sort of high shot of the back of his which moves us into the middle of the scene. He his writhing around in pain making a lot of screaming noises, something this scene is famous for his having music. There are however the diegetic sounds of the ship which sound like a human heartbeat adding a lot of tension to the scene, it builds up the mood and reflects the sense of life which is ironic as Kane may be loosing his. This also allows the screams of Kane to be a lot more piercing and almost hard for the audience to listen too. Part of the mise-en-scene of this scene is Kane’s brilliant white top, so as his chest bursts and the pool of blood, a typical horror convention, appears it is all the more noticeable and prominent. The director uses a lot of close up and mid shots in this scene but from various angles, this could be because there is a lot going on and it allows us to see the scene from various points of view as regards the whole crew. The close ups also show the emotions on the crews face, which is obvious surprise, horror and distress! The cuts used are quite jumpy and this part of the scene is quite fast paces, making the audience feel the distress and mayhem going on. Something that again is also quite heavily focused is Ash’s cold response; a cold hearted science fanatic who is generally quite unethical is quite typical of the sci-fi genre. It just gives the audience more fuel to believe there isn’t something quite right about him. The end of this scene is the appearance of the alien and it running off. Again the high key lighting makes the Alien very exposed. This is the moment from when the audience knows that the action will truly begin. Although at the time of the films release the directors’ aim would have to shock and scare audiences with this scene, it can now be found quite amusing, the special effects aren’t anywhere near as advanced as they are now. Although I think first time viewers would still be ultimately shocked, as it’s an excellent piece of film.

The Here Kitty scene isn’t quite as gruesomely shocking, it starts with Brett in the centre of the shot framed by the ship (obeying the rule of thirds) shouting ‘here kitty, here Jonesy’ this sounds echoes around the ship showing us he is alone. Brett remains the focus of the shot as the camera follows him from behind as he wanders through the ship trying to find Jonsey. The dark low key lighting of the shot really helps add to the tension and plays on the audiences fear of the unknown, the close up shot of the Aliens shredded skin also helps this as it’s suggesting the Alien has grown. What looks like rain adds to the mise-en-scene of this scene, rain is often associated with negativity and horror the sound also echoes around and resembles the noise that the Alien makes earlier on in the film. Once again this scene has no non-diegetic music, the heartbeat of the ship remains and the sound increases as the tension builds. As Brett finds the cat, he walks towards it and the cat screeches, telling us that something bad is about to happen, the camera then flits to Brett, this shot is in shallow focus and you can vaguely see the outline of what is now a massive alien, a close up of Brett’s face tells us he knows what about to happen. He turns around and for a split second makes eye contact with the alien, it’s a very slow process and it leaves the audience on the edge of the seat because they know what’s about to happen but the eerie silence and long wait means that when it happens, despite expecting it they will still jump. Then after a very slow, elongated scene everything speeds up and in a matter of seconds Brett’s been got by the alien there is a flash of red and he’s gone, leaving nothing but a very scared cat. This scene is the first time we see the Alien in all it’s glory, close ups of it ‘face’ and saliva dripping down it’s mouth really shows us just how grim the Alien is and what the rest of the crew are dealing with. This to audiences now would be scarier than the Alien we see in the chest burster scene. Although I still think that it wouldn’t be ‘scary’ to a modern day audience as advances in technology mean it doesn’t look as realistic as films that are now released. Alien still however remains a classic horror film and especially for it’s time a very advanced piece of film.

Black Swan - Final Scene Analysis

Straight away in the final scene of Black Swan we see Portman dressed in black descending down the stairs in contrast to the many white swans ascending up the stairs. This tells the audience that Portman's mental state is destabilising. This fits into all the conventions of a modern psychological thriller, showing the main characters poor, negative state of mind through miss-en-scene. The use of a handheld camera down the stairs obscures the shot, it allows the audience to feel like they are there with Portman, it gives a sense that she doesn't want to go, she's confused, distressed. As she enters her dressing room the camera slowly pans around the floor showing a broken mirror and a seeping pool of blood, again adding to the sense that something negative has happened in that room, as Portman isn't shocked we assume she knows what happened adding to the sense of her psychological state being unstable. The cut then fades out and she is dressed in white and applying white face make-up, this represents innocence and purity, she is trying to cover up the negative and evil inside her and the act that she has committed. A knock on the door from Mila Kunis and a series of close up shots throughout the conversation show the raw emotion on the actress’s faces.  The rough, raw grey bricked wall gives the audience an uneasy feeling of unwelcomness in the room. The rule of thirds is also used with Portman’s head in the door and then the door and frame either side, making a perfect, even shot. The blackness of the door and frame makes it look like the darkness is consuming Portman, representing the storyline of the film, the role of the black swan taking over a dancer. Whilst Portman is in her dressing room, a black crown is always in the shot, this use of mise-en-scene expresses to the audience that what Portman is after is success, she wants to win, she needs to be the best but as the crown is black that colour comes with negative connotations just like her success will has come with negative after effects. When Portman realises she has stabbed herself & not her opposition the camera zooms in on a small blood stain on her white costume, the wound pulsates like a heart, this could be related to passion, it mimics the pain Portman is feeling both physically and emotionally. Something else that adds to the mise-en-scene of this scene is the fact that her white tutu looks like bandages, especially when zoomed in on the wound.2.
The next shot is the big finale dance, a variety of shots are used here including low angle wide shots to show the technicalities of the ballet dancers feet. We then see the camera follow Portman up the stairs, as she runs up towards the sun the lights go up to, this could represent her going up to heaven allowing the audience to assume the inevitable; her death.  The camera gradually zooms in onto her and then further onto her wound, as the camera zooms in the blood stain increases, showing the severity of the situations increasing. The sun behind her head makes her look angelic, like a halo and the a close up shows the raw emotion on her face, using the shot reverse shot technique between Portman and Hershey (her on screen mother) they pull the exact same facial expression, allows the audience to realise both characters are aware of what’s about to happen this adds to the tension of the scene. As Portman falls to the mat the choreographer runs over to her, as he leans over to congratulate her, the camera goes up into a high angle shot; he is covering the blood stain and all the other dancers are surrounding her. This looks like the choreographer is protecting her but his black suit in contrast to her white tutu could suggest to the audience that it’s the negativity consuming her, like he is to blame for what she has done. We then see the stage lights get brighter and fade out to the end credits, allowing the audience to assume she has died, but telling us she has done what she set out to be ‘perfect’.
All the way through the clip the non diegetic music follows the action, so when things get intense the music goes into a crescendo and builds tension for the audience, it then turns into diegetic music as she goes on stage and dances. It then fades out and leaves the audience with the soft tinkling melody as she dies.  The diegetic sounds of applause and cheering contrasts to what’s actually happening off stage and her last breath is then heard in time with the final cut of the scene finishing the clip beautifully.