AW : Technical Analysis

 

Technical Analysis of 'The Departed'

• Duration - Camera - Mise-en-Scene - Connotations

• 2 seconds - Black Screen with text setting the time and place of the events of the film 'BOSTON Some years ago'
• 7 seconds - MS High angle - Handheld camera footage of a street fight - Grainy look with urban attitudes reflected by this - Male narrators voice 'I dont want to be a product of my environment...'
• 5 seconds - LS Eye level - More handheld camera footage of school buses being driven out of a school guarded by police men in uniform - Typical American yellow buses, blue police officer uniform - Voiceover continues '...I want my environment to be a product of me', conveys characters ideologies and beliefs, audience also getting idea the film may involve police / criminality from fights and police officers
• 3 Seconds -  MS High angle - More handheld street fighting footage, people shouting in the background - Connoted unorganised chaos - Clothing suggests poor / lower class people involved in the fights
• 1 Second - ECU High angle - The word 'NO' printed onto a black mettalic cannister ECU - People want an end to the violence seen in the previous clips
• 3 seconds - MS Low angle - Black school children waving off a bus as if they are going on a school trip, not just anormal day - Voiceover continues 'Years ago we had the church...', man is obviously old/wise/experienced and has recollections of the past.
• 3 seconds - MS Low Angle - Same bus is seen, this time a black child is exposed through a smashed glass window, still handheld camera videos, shows children may be exposed to this violence  -Voiceover : '...That was only a way of saying we had eachother' - Towards the end of the shot 'Gimmie Shelter' by The Rolling Stones begins to fade in

• 2 seconds - LS Flat angle pan - Crowd of protesters shouting at a line of riot police, shows unrest and unhappiness of the people
• 4 seconds - MCU Eye Level - Interview with black male, still all handheld camera footage saying 'they put hate in your heart' close up shot of his face
• 8 seconds - ELS establishing - low quality establishing shot of Boston, zooming in on a particular area, used to show the location of the film
• 20 seconds - Low angle tracking shot - long slow tracking shot from the side, showing silhouette of main villain expressing his belief about 'niggers' and if you want something you have to 'take it' showing his ideologies and beliefs, showing the man in the shadows shows his criminal / underground nature.
• 21 seconds - Tracking shot Low angle - The camera moves from a long shot of a cafe, bringing the audience into the cafe and then into an over the shoulder the shot of a man at the counter. The Rolling Stones still plays
• 2 seconds - CU High angle close up of cafe owner handing the man cash over the counter, shows the man is powerful to take money from shopkeepers without forcefully taking it
• 5 seconds - MLS Eye level - Man is revealed to be 'Mr C' the same man from the shadowing scene earlier, and says 'don't make me have to come down for this again' this threatens the shopkeeper showing there may be some blackmail or criminal activity going on involving corruption in local businesses. 
• 3 seconds - MS Low Angle - Mr C comments on the mans daughter working behind the counter, we also see children in the cafe now, re-enforcing that children are exposed to the criminal activity
• 1 seconds - MS Low Angle -Mr C beckons the woman over with a flick of his wrist in a mid-long shot of his body, enforcing his power and status over the woman
• 6 seconds - MS Eye Level - The woman timidly walks over as Mr C begins counting money out into his hand
• 1 second - MS Eye Level - Mid shot of the child in the shop, looking directly at Mr C now doing his business
• 5 seconds - MS Low Angle - Mr C hand the money to the woman, the mise-en-scene of the shot shows him darkened by shadows around him as he remarks 'you get your period yet Carmen?'
• 1 second - MS Eye Level - Mid shot of the cafe owner / father witnessing this event and being to scared to say anything again emphasizing his power
• 2 seconds - MS Eye Level - The woman hands the money back to Mr C
• 2 seconds - MCU High Angle - Same mid shot of the young boy watching the transaction, he wears a worried expression
• 9 seconds - MS Low Angle - Mr C whispers something un-audible to the girl, then steps back into the shadows and smiles at the young child