Hanna
I’ve
studied a short action clip from the film Hanna, concentrating on
cinematography, starting with the shots and the angles.
Figure 1- mise-en-scéne
Hanna is placed in
the shot slightly to the left with her head tilted in disbelief. The camera
then zooms in to a close up on her face creating tension. When the shot cuts to
Erik, a low angle is used looking up from Hanna’s point of view, which
establishes the parallel editing.
This section of the scene is then interrupted
by the screech of tires, and Erik’s point of view is shown cutting to him
watching the car pull up. After, it cuts
to Hanna and Erik tells her to run. As Hanna turns to run there is a direct use
of mise en scéne; the
washing lines and clothing on them. They form a direct route for Hanna to
follow, implying that this is the only route left for her to travel in her
fathers eyes. There is also a use of the rule of thirds in this part because
you have the washing lines either side of Hanna and then Hanna is in the centre
of them.
This then leads
into tracking shots; these are filmed with jerky movements, which indicate that
a hand held camera was used.
Whilst Erik runs
away from the white 4x4 a tilt is used to reveal the car. The angle is cleverly
used because it follows Erik as he turns the corner. It also makes it look like the audiences are running
with him, because of the jerky movements and the tilt whilst he runs.
Figure 2- Tilt |
There are two
point of view angles in the next section of the clip. One is Erik’s point of
view, where he is looking at the white 4x4 that has now caught up with him on
the road whilst running on the path (still a tracking shot). Then it cuts to
the henchmen’s point of view looking at Erik running on the path.
The car crash in
this scene is also filmed cleverly. There is an over the shoulder shot in the
white 4x4 showing the henchmen’s point of view. A Dutch angle is used when two
cars have collided and Erik has to jump over the two bonnets. Once the cars
crashed a wide shot is used, which shows the audience Erik running away from
the incident and the cars in the background.
Another Dutch
angle is used when it cuts from Erik running into the park to one of the two
henchmen sliding out of the car window. There is then a close up on the man’s
foot, revealing one of his boots as he jumps over the car, which you see denting the car, perhaps showing that
the man is strong enough to cause large amounts of damage.
As Erik hides waiting for the henchmen, a shallow depth of focus is
used (figure 2).
Figure 3-Shallow
Focus
The shallow focus
is used to emphasise the fact that Erik is hiding from the henchmen and that we
(as the audience) are the only ones who can see him. The objects out of focus
are clearly not important in the context of what is about to happen.
The fight scene between Erik and the henchman is shot slower than the
rest of the action making the fight seem longer. The way this part of the scene
is shot makes the movements seem more exaggerated. Also, the non-diegetic sound
also emphasizes the exaggerated movements because the music is slow and
dramatic.
Parallel editing is then used,
which shows Hanna running. A low angle
is used to show her running in this scene which makes her seem like she is in
power and the one to beat.
The camera cuts to Hanna running a few times from the fight scene
between Erik and the Henchmen.
Erik is just about to kill the second henchman, who came after Erik killed
the first, when the camera cuts to Marissa who watched
Erik kill him. For this reunion an over the shoulder shot is used to show Erik’s
reaction; the angle is used to create power and tension. Erik is also in focus
in this shot which makes us concentrate on him and nothing else.
Once Erik has seen Marissa, it cuts back to her holding up a gun.
In this part of the clip, when you are shown Erik in one shot and
Marissa in another, they’re the ones in focus which makes the audience
concentrate on what is happening and what they are saying to each other. Also
Marissa is shown at a low angle (making her powerful) and Erik at a high angle
(making him inferior) which shows that Marissa is in total control and Erik is
not going to escape her this time. This type of shot is useful because it lets
you understand what is going on in the scene.
Parallel editing is
used again in this part of the clip just before Marissa shoots Erik it cuts to
Hanna running into a clearing (we know this because a wide shot is used to show
where Hanna is). It shows her slowing down. You then hear a single gunshot and
you see Hanna fall to the floor because she knows what has happened even though
she cannot see it. When Hanna falls to the floor the camera zooms into a close
up of her face to see her reaction to the gunshot. The close up makes the
audience feel more emotional towards Hanna because they know for certain what
has just happened whereas Hanna knows but can’t be completely sure.
At this part of the clip it’s all diegetic
sound, this makes the audience feel more intimate with Hanna; perhaps suggesting
that the silence is all that is left for Hanna because no-one she cares about
is alive and because Marissa has made sure that she feels alone.
Parallel editing
is then used to show the roundabout. The camera zooms into the centre of the
round-a-bout whilst it is spinning which confirms Erik’s defeat and Marissa’s
victory, because Erik is dead and Marissa is alive.
The lighting in this part of the clip seems to
change when Erik has been killed. Before, whilst they were fighting the lighting
was darker giving the impression of an overcast day and to put emphasis on the
location which is derelict and left to ruin. Then after Erik’s death the sun
begins to shine down on the surroundings and it creates more shadows, which makes
the spinning round-a-bout the main focus just like Erik was Marissa’s main
focus, because if she killed him she could kill Hanna.
