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Semester Exam - Film Opening Analysis of Black Mirror (season3, episode 4, San Junipero)

 

The “Black Mirror” clip opens with a logo and a glass cracking, creating an unsettling feeling as the logo fades into the ocean. This unsettling feeling is contrasted by the first few minutes, however. An establishing shot shows a city overlooking an ocean, this is followed by a more dense and smaller establishing shot that shows the setting of the rest of the scene, the nightclub.

Mise-en-scene is used heavily throughout the clip, mainly to keep reminding the audience of the setting and atmosphere. In the establishing shot of the nightclub, we see a poster of the film “the lost boys”, educated viewers would know that this is a movie from 1987, which establishes the time period. Then we see our main character, Yorkie, who is walking in the street. She passes by a car where a radio can be heard saying that the year is 1987, for viewers who missed “the lost boys” poster. At this point, its clear that the clip takes place in the 80’s, mainly due to the outfits and vocabulary of the characters. Our 3 main characters are also all stereotypical 80’s teenagers, Yorkie the nerdy quiet girl, Wes the jock, and Kelly the cool girl who takes the nerd under her wing. All 3 actors are playing their parts so well that its obvious what type of person they are by their first line. The scene exemplifies how to use mise-en-scene expertly to properly create a sense of nostalgia for the viewer.

The scene is loaded with types of sound as well. The first sound heard is waves crashing, a quiet and lonely feeling is conveyed. Which is the perfect feeling for the viewer to have as the main character is established, a quiet and lonely girl. The sound of the waves is used so the audience can relate to the girl, Yorkie. Once we get in the club, the soundtrack is mainly digetic sound, the nightclub music. Many different types of shots are used in the scene as well. Two establishing shots open the scene, exploding in 80’s nostalgia. After this, Yorkie walks into the club and a long 30 second dolly shot is used. The camera is following Yorkie while showing off the setting of the club at the same time. Once Yorkie meets with Kelly, their shots together are solely two shots, establishing their friendship to the viewer. Finally, editing is used sparingly in the scene, but to its advantage. The lack of editing and the long length of its shots strengthen its 80s setting and throwbacks. Movies in the 80’s were simplistic in terms of editing, so that’s exactly what this scene is doing as well, appealing to that nostalgia.

The scene expertly utilizes mise-en-scene and the way it can convey a certain time period. The shots are long and use that length to their advantage by conveying the setting or emotion of the characters. Nondigetic sound is used mainly to convey the loneliness of the main character, and editing is used sparingly to strengthen the 80’s nostalgia. Overall, the clip uses the 4 main elements of film to convey the characters and setting in the most appealing and nostalgic way possible.