S.T.A.L.K.E.R

Key messages:

In this clip there are not many key messages, although I would say it shows that war and conflict is wrong, it also opens the question if there is a spiritual realm and if things can be done beyond human comprehension.  You could also take that if you have bad intensions, these intensions can take it’s against yourself.

The filmmakers got there message across through many aspects such as character, narrative, location, cinematography, camera, sound, mise en scene and editing. In this clip there are only three characters and all of there faces are covered but, from the dialogue of the two men we can assume they are white Americans. The minimal use of characters helped the piece; it almost made us feel that in the world of this film these three men were the only ones alive. This played with our emotions because we felt sorry for the man in the army costume even though he had a gun. The clip has a complex narrative in the sense that all the men are killed by something or someone the viewers can’t see, although it is portrayed as a spirit. Although is basically about a man from some sort of army trying to find something or someone presumably safety, he counters to men in overalls and follows them in search of help. The locations were very good they helped us gather some sort of storyline in our heads. The place was very derelict and isolated which creates fear and makes us ask ourselves, ‘if you were in this position what would you do?’ It also reflects the reality of war and how dirty and scary it is. The location fit the narrative very well because there was a lot of places where people could appear, or jump out from so we the viewers was intent in spotting anything out, almost to save him due to our fear. A lot of the building were vandalized and had smashed windows, doors etc. which suggests that some kind of conflict took place, and conflict is associated with evil and negativity this sums up the clip.

The world of this film is bright in comparison to most films of this genre, which I feel works really well because light represents hope and so for most of the clip we believe there is hope for the army man, although the narrative contradicts this by his death. This challenges the codes and conventions of this genre of film.  Although the overall look of the film is bright, there are no bright colures except for the danger sign above the two men in overalls which is very smart because this sums up war, and this clip. The film had a industrial look to it. There is a pan shot to show the setting and the derelict environment, the reflection in the mirror is his way to prepare himself for his mission. The low angle shot shows his power with his gun, although it shows his weakness with how open he is for attack. The camera at times moves with the character this makes the viewers feel we are actually in film and with him, which creates fear the viewer. The through the window shot creates an effect  that were following him, which adds to the story and fits in with what someone in war would be going through. The zoom in shot of the men in overalls makes them look like the enemy and evil especially because there is to of the, which makes the other man look weak. The low angled long shot of the men entering, the shot enabled us to see the new location, and the puddle shows a reflection it almost represents there future dirty and unclear; there death. The men were very close in the first 2-shot, although in the second after they heard a noise there distance widened this shows lack of fear and experience, because maybe they have been in this position before which tells a lot about the background of these characters. The close up shot of his foot kicking the can shows the detail and what his life depended on; it also creates tension for the viewers because we don’t want him to get caught. The handheld running shot leads us to fear something is going to happen; it left us on the edge of our seats due to the sudden pace change which built the intensity. We hear the constant breathing of the army man which continues throughout the clip, this represents the pace and intensity of the story ascending and descending. The parallel music represented the mood of the character but not necessarily the world of the film. The single pair of footsteps represents his isolation from society, which shows his vulnerability. The mise en scene of the aircrafts and the digetic sound creates anxiety especially as he was beginning to relax, also has military reference which is related to war and conflict. The screams lead us to think someone is being, we create a visual image which is better then if we saw it. The transitions were really good they were slow and helped build tension.