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.
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