The genre of this film has been seen to be described as a Gothic mystery and a psychological thriller. Knowing this and realising it would include many elements and techniques in which we may find useful i found the following task very interesting.
Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of young people using the following; camera angles, movement, composition, editing, sound, mise en scene etc.
When looking at the representation of young people conveyed to us through this piece we can see a real difference in the reaction from both teenage boys and girls. We can also see evidence of Proppians theory, who believed that characters tend to be representing a type of person, rather than a fully rounded character.
We are first introduced to Mr Hyde crashing into a boy and girl in an alley way. The mise en scene is particularly effective here, in which bins and rusty bricks can be seen, a typical assumption of an alley way itself. The boy named Billy can be seen in a hoody and loose jeans; he uses bad language and acts tough, aiming to threaten Hyde using a knife, providing a stereotype of what teenage boys are seen to be like at the moment. The girl seen stays quiet and asks Billy to leave the man alone, already showing us a binary opposition between the two teenagers. She, again, is dressed in a way that we would find typical of a girl her age, having straight long blond hair and big earrings. The alley way in which they were found in is also a representation of young people in itself.
Using a series of cuts we are shown Billy placing a knife to Hyde's neck. Reaction shots are conveyed to us through close ups here and low key lighting is used. As this is happening, the camera is seen to cut from a long shot, to a close up, back to a long shot before returning to a tighter close up. Using fast cuts like this causes us to feel involved and conveys the action and seriousness of the event. We are also taken back to the same shot three times, making us feel much like a third person, drawing us in and making us feel as though we are in the alley witnessing this event. Through these close ups we see Hyde looking worried and he is apologetic to Billy. Having Hyde fall when crashing into the teenagers and placing him on the floor at the beginning of the scene is cleverly done, this places him in a venerable position, making the following events more effective than they may have been otherwise. The lighting is very dark throughout the scene, causing us to concentrate clearly and can be used to also add a sense of fear to the situation.
With the use of the voice recorder, the writer causes us to become concerned and adds confusion to the event. We see Hyde talking into this as he begins to act strangely. The voice recorder is also used as a cut away, cutting away from the action to show that it is on the floor. Non-diagetic music begins here and there is a close up of the side o0f Hyde's face. The lighting now changes dramatically and a zoom is used, there is a rapid tightening of the shot as a blur takes place, distorting us as we move towards Hyde's face very quickly. These special effects are cleverly used adding fear to the situation and building up to the change Hyde is about to experience. There is also a green filter used here, giving us the idea of a monster perhaps. We are made to zoom into Hyde's eye, showing us the exact moment of when he turns into Jekyll.
Jekyll turns and we are shown a close up of him burning a cigarette into his hand, helping to show us the extent of the power he now feels he is under and the absolute lack of fear he now has. His voice now sounds calm and relaxed as the camera tilts, adding a sense of distortion and causing us to feel uneasy. The cigarette may also be seen as symbolic, relating to danger and death. Again, there is a strong binary opposition seen between Jekyll and Hyde as well as between the two youths, typical of Levi-staus's theory.
Jekyll is seen to get Billy in a headlock, a complete twist of events. We are now shown with the use of close ups the change in how they are both feeling. Billy is seen looking up at the camera whilst Jekyll looks down into it, this shown who is in control with Jekyll being placed as the one in the taller and over powering position. There is none diagetic music used here giving off a clicking sound, building up tension as Jekyll explains how he is going to break Billy's neck. Over the shoulder shots are used here, showing the girls reactions to this and we are also placed in her point of view at one point, using the position of the camera. When doing this her voice is also heard in the background, using an audio bridge which proved to be very effective.
Showing Billy in a position with no control enables us to see a different side to him. He looks scared and breaths heavily, showing us that although he acts tough, he is in fact not as big as he first thought, again, using him as a stereotype for teenage boys. The narrative has clearly been cleverly written , playing an important role in this scene. Jekyll talks about playing a game named 'lions' with the girl, this shows a grown man acting childishly, which can be seen to be particularly scary in itself.
The lighting on Dr Jekyll's face is darker on one side than it is on the other throughout the majority of the scene, this could be deliberate in showing us that there are two sides to him. When he is Jekyll rather than Hyde he is also placed in the dark more than the teenagers are, this makes him difficult to see sometimes, creating a sense of confusion and also shows that he is more evil than Billy with the Knife. There is a change in the smiles used between the two personalities, Jekyll and Hyde in which has been done through the actor throughout, however intertexuality is also evident in the scene when a close up of this mouth is done at one point, this could be said to be a relation to the famous Joker.
We finish seeing Jekyll step on Billy who is now lying on the floor. Using the camera we are situated looking down on the boy, in Jekyll's view point, making us feel as though we are there and also causing us to feel a sense of guilt. The narrative finishes with the lines 'i do have a good side, but you just missed it', being very cleverly written.
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