Notes: Camera angles constantly change to show scene. Machine was shaking and making noises. Dark. Clothes changed after he killed her. The editing shows association between two things and to show emotion. Lighting is dark when the man is freaking out. Baby? Hidden objects. Suspenseful music, shotgun shot.
Student response Comparison: For similarities, both mine and the student's responses note the constant camera angle changes and how the washing machine is making noises and the center of attention. Both mention background music and the clattering of the machine. Both also mention how the lighting is low and how the man's clothes changed into darker clothes after he killed her. The student response is much more detailed than mine. They mentioned specific times where the camera angle changed, different sounds, different editing techniques, and how the music is a slow tempo. Next time, I will have to make my notes more detailed. The one thing that I mentioned that they didn't was the possibility of a baby in the house.
My response: The camera shows the entire house when the woman is walking around. It also shows her putting a coat away. When we are led down to the basement, everything seems normal-no shaking, just showing. The dryer is in the frame by itself, shaking. The camera is going back and forth to the couple to show what their reactions are. When the couple starts to fight, both of their body languages are shown, but as they continue to fight, they have close-ups of what they are saying and the reactions they have to what the other person is saying. When the husband gets angry, the camera shows his toolbag with the hammer on the top to show what he’s about to grab. The angle changed when the husband hit the wife on the head. Then it switched back to show her start to bleed. When he keeps hitting her, they show her feet go lifeless. The camera shows a poster after he kills her, which makes us believe that his actions were justified from the saying on it. The camera also shows the hidden gun on top of the cabinet. The end of the scene goes back to where the wife was in the beginning, showing the coats she was adjusting. The sounds of the husband fixing the machine echoed across the house in the beginning. The machine was shaking and making abnormal noises to indicate that it was broken. There is no music when the husband is hitting the wife, only the sounds of him freaking out and the noise of the hammer on her skull. Immediately after he stops, music starts playing until the end. The music is inspirational, positive, and somewhat normal, opposite of the event that just occurred. The mise-en-scène of this scene was a normal house, with nothing suspicious. But as the scene goes on, hidden objects are revealed such as the poster and gun. After the man kills the husband he changes from a white shirt, symbolizing innocence, to a dark color, symbolizing guiltiness. Also, before the crime, the house is well lit and you can see everything, but after, the house is lit in a way where you can’t see much, especially his face at times. Also, in the beginning, a stuffed bear and blanket are shown and the end shows a baby basket in the bathroom, which means that there may be a baby in the house. The editing cuts scenes to go back and forth two things to show the association between them. During the phone scene, the shots are edited so that sometimes the man is in the light and sometimes in the dark. It symbolizes how he feels and the situation he is in, but also his restlessness to get his answer from the person on the phone. The editing shows what you need to know at that certain time, such as the poster, broken machine, or the gun.Â
Comparison: For similarities, both responses describe the scene to be dark and gloomy. They also mention the washing machine shaking and making noises. Both describe the actions of the main character and his wife as well as their conversation and how certain angles are used to express the character's emotions. However, there are many differences. The student response describes the types of camera angles like high shot, medium shot but I described the actual scene and when the angles changed. They also described different highlights throughout and how some parts were lit up and others were dark. They described the scene as a whole and connected different places in the house with where they were at that moment. They dived into the meaning behind certain things, for example the wife's speech and the washing machine's noises blend together, insinuating that they both are dull but have an impact on him. They mentioned how soundtrack is dull. On the other hand, I described different things such as how the camera angles show objects, like the hammer in his toolbag, that weren't there before or how the man changed his clothes to darker clothes after he killed her. I also described different sounds, like the hammer hitting her head. In conclusion, I could improve on describing the specific types of angles that are used to show different things. I could also connect actions or symbols in different scenes to a deeper meaning. I went more into the detail of the scene and the specifics rather than connect them to each other.