Analysis of The Dissappearance Of Alice Creed (J Blakeson 2009)-By Connor Hilton

Analysis

The sequence opens with a fade from black to a dolly from a low angle of a car park. This is followed by other dolly shots separated by simple cut which starts to create suspense.

Figure 1:

After the initial dolly shots we pan/tilt from a low angle to a high angle to see two male characters who appear to be breaking into a van. There is non-diegetic music playing and it is fast paced to match the editing and speed that the dolly shots are moving at. 

There is then a dolly shot moving towards the van with the two men driving out of the car park in the stolen van. The music continues at a steady pace and does not speed up indicating that nothing is going to happen right away.

We then cut to an establishing shot of a new area that appears to be a dump or old construction yard. One of the male characters is shown taking the licence plate off of the van indicating that the two men don't want to be identified 

Figure 2:

We then cut to a very low angle tracking shot of the two characters walking down a shop aisle. We then cut to the other side of the two men to a close up of the shopping carts front wheels, shallow depth of field is used here to focus on the shopping carts wheels. There is a clear foley sound of the shopping cart wheels rolling and squeaking which emphasizes the shot. The music's pace begins to speed up indicating a build up to an event.

Figure 3:

There is a close up shot of a hand saw where the front end of the saw is in focus and then when the male character reaches into focus the focus shifts to the mans hand and the back end of the saw. This effect is very impactful because it first makes us focus on the hand saw itself and then makes us change our attention to the man picking up the hand saw.







This effect is then repeated for a few other items such as a rope and a drill.
We then cut to a sequence of dolly and pan shots of an old apartment with broken tables and the head of the old bed still attached to the wall and the wallpaper is peeling.

Figure 4:

We then cut to dolly shot that approaches a dark metal door. The fact that the door is made of metal indicates that the location is hard to get out of and is very secure. This is iconic for the thriller genre as it is used in other thrillers in locations where a crime or something containing action is committed. The background music also introduced high pitched constant noise of a string instrument. There is a build up in the music and the sound of a key unlocking the door can be heard, as the camera approaches the door and this creates suspense and enigma as we are left to question what is going to come through the door. When the door opens the two men who stole the van walk into the room in sync with each other. 

The two characters then begin to sort out the apartment, completing each task together and in sync with each other. 

Figure 5:

We then cut to a close up of the two characters unrolling a sheet of soundproofing material. The material rolls out to a close up of the material and acts as a transition to the next shot like a fade to black. This is very effective and clever and fits into the sequence very well. There is then a few shots with close ups of the characters stapling the material to the walls.

Figure 6:

There is then a close up from the side of the two men showing them sitting down and eating their lunch. This shot is designed to confuse and create enigma, as the two men are clearly preparing to commit a crime so they should be seen as bad men, but, when we take a break from the preparation for lunch they just seem like two friendly guys eating their lunch together. Although they don't share any dialogue throughout the sequence it is clear that they are partners and possibly friends so this shot really has an impact on the viewer as the men just look like normal people and so this is very effective. The lighting on the two characters faces also adds to the confusion as it also makes them seem friendly.

Figure 7:

The sequence ends with the two men admiring their work. They stop to take a look at the dark and soundproofed dungeon that they have created as the camera does a slight pan around them. The lighting in this shot is very low-key which adds to the dark meaning that is behind the whole sequence.



Overall, I feel that the whole sequence is very effective, confusing and mysterious due to the use of restricted narration and the way the characters are depicted. The non-diegetic background music is also very effective as it builds up and slows down throughout the sequence so, it keeps the audience questioning what is going to happen and then builds to a small event but then slows down when the event is over. The way the characters are depicted really confuses the audience as it is very different to the usual style, instead of having a clear protagonist and a clear antagonist it has two men who could be either. When you look at them they just seem like two normal men but their actions suggest that they are antagonists.