Practice question 1
Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs meaning through the following:
• camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• editing
• sound
• mise-en-scène
Clip = Suits- episode 1 time 19-23
Before the scene begins, the audience is presented with a series of bridging shots presenting a busy city landscape, connoting fast-paced and active life with broken framing due to the buildings creating vertical disruption. A specific shot of a building, featuring reflections, has many vertical and horizontal lines and creates a distorted reflection which provides a sense of unease. This tension is further emphasized by the use of non-diegetic sound, minor key music that features an intense and repetitive beat which represents footprints of a person walking with a sense of urgency. This then cuts to a mid shot of Michael Ross, who is wearing a suit, representing him as professional although the actors use of facial expression presents him as more nervous which breaks the stereotypes of a strong and calm male that is supported by hegemony, as he walks down the corridor of a hotel which immediately allows the audience to build a connection with him. We see a sequence of close ups featuring varying props when he passes something that could potentially be relevant including the prop of a job interview from Pearson Hardman which gives the audience a slight indication and foreshadows what may happen, which engages the audience as they would like to know if their prediction comes true.
A cross cut is then utilised, along with a shift to major key music which acts as a sound motif to portray this particular shot as more lighthearted, to show a mid shot of Donna with an interviewee. This sudden shift also causes the audience to become unnerved as they are still unaware of the potentially negative occurrences that may happen to Mike Ross, foreshadowed by the minor key music. The mid shot of Donna allows the audience to focus on her facial expression of disappointment and sports a suit which represents her job and professionalism. She also has red hair which builds on the stereotype of a fiery personality (gives an indication to her personality) and suggests that she is a strong female character, further suggested by the diegetic sound of her authoritative statement saying, “Why should I let the whitest man that I have ever seen interview for this firm?” with Chip, the interviewee, standing in front of a doorframe which creates closed framing and suggests that the interview will be unsuccessful for him due to the sense of entrapment. The interviewees we see are mainly men which supports the representation of males dominating the workplace and perpetuates the hegemonic beliefs that they are suited for more professional jobs involving law.
There is then another cross cut to a dark bathroom with low key lighting and a close up shot, captured through the mirror, of Mike Ross washing his face with a wrinkled forehead and a tense facial expression, the use of a close up shot further allows the audience to grow attached and intrigued by this character. The use of an over the shoulder shot along with the prop of a mirror constructs meaning as it suggests the theme of duality and fraud, as if he is living two separate lives, generating a sense of confusion among the audience which is then subverted by the use of the diegetic sound of dialogue where Mike states, “I can do this” which fills the audience a sense of bravery despite the doubt, suffering and stress etched on his forehead, represented by his wrinkles which causes the audience to feel empathetic and hopeful for his future as his current state of determination can be seen as a turning point for the character.
After a jump cut to where Mike Ross walks to and enters an elevator, a glass screen disrupts the frame and creates broken framing which suggests that he is heading towards a tense scene and the audience is then further concerned. After another short cross cut back to Donna with another interviewee, we then see a close up shot of Mike Ross walking in slow motion to suggest that he is walking towards danger. Match on action editing is utilised to increase the pace of the scene as he walks towards what seems like a bellboy and a man in a suit, inturn causing the tensions of the scene to rise. We then see a zoom in on the bellboy trying to enter the room with a card and we hear the diegetic sound of hushed talking between the two, providing a sense of secrecy. A flash back to an earlier scene of a real bellboy wearing gloves, symbolising the real hotel staff, and a close up of Mikes face to indicate his thought process links back to the earlier shot of this certain bellboy who isn't wearing gloves. This incomplete attire symbolises that the bellboy is rather an undercover cop and elevates the interest of the audience as they grow curious and want to know how the events will unravel. This may also cause confusion to arise as the audience would normally be on the side of good and the law but, in this case, we would be rooting for Mike Ross as we developed a connection through the use of close up shots. Diegetic sound is then used through a dialogue exchange where Mike Ross asks about the pool and the ‘bellboy’ states “We have the best facilities” which is then met by another cutaway shot forming a flashback featuring a shot we had seen earlier of a sign stating the closure of a pool. This creates meaning as it further presents his intelligence as he utilizes images and props that we would normally dismiss as irrelevant to solve his problems and therefore impresses the audience.
As he begins to walk away, we see a close up of Mike with a tense facial expression with the two men still visible in the background hear the diegetic sound of dialogue being exchanged between the two men along as if we are standing next to them despite the camera tracking Mike Ross and moving away which is unnatural, causing the audience to feel unsettled and tense which creates meaning as it provides a character background as we can infer that he is intelligent because, from his thought process, almost as if he has a super power like super-hearing. He then begins to run down the stairwell with the camera positioned at a high angle and tracking his movement in a shaky manner which conveys Mike Ross as vulnerable and afraid, causing the audience to grow concerned. The Bellboy soon follows after but this time the camera doesn't track his movement and remains behind the bars of the railing which creates disruption due to the broken framing which suggests that he will not be successful in his attempt to catch Mike Ross.
There is a final crosscut back to the interview room where Harvey has the facial expression of annoyance on his face (is looking annoyed) and walking away whilst the diegetic sound of Donna’s voice is calling for a man named Rick Sorkin as Mike Ross quickly walks into the frame, obviously tired and flustered from running with the costume of his suit is slightly messed up, showing that he is not as professional as the other and yet Donna immediately seems intrigued and, rather than sitting like earlier where there were multiple different objects including a laptop creating disruption between donna and the interviewee like before, they are standing in close-proximity to each other and no disruption can be seen on screen, suggesting that they would have a closer relationship. The audience then hears the diegetic sound of dialogue where Mike Ross says, “I’m just trying to ditch the cops, I don't care whether you let me in or not” which is a very direct statement that perhaps the audience wouldn’t expect. What surprises the audience even more is Donna’s reaction shown in an over the shoulder, shot reverse shot sequence of Harvey Spectre and Donna looking at each other. Donna winks at Harvey with a much more light facial expression than before. This constructs meaning as the lack of dialogue between the two explicitly conveys a deeper personal connection between them, along with the fact that neither is alone on screen, because of the over the shoulder shot, we can further identify that they have a close relationship.
