Analysis Development

 Mind Hunter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffSwcZfqoVA

The clip i am going to analyse is a trailer for the Netflix series 'MINDHUNTER', and i am going to be analysing the short clip and discussing camera angles, editing choices and sound.

In the trailer, it follows someone slowly setting up a tape recorder and a microphone, but in this 1 minute and 30 seconds opening, there a flashes of different angles of a dead or multiple dead bodies. The genre of the series seems to be thriller and crime due to the suspence that builds while watching and getting short glimpse at the dead bodies. I am going to be discussing the camera angles, editing choices and the sound in the next paragraphs.

Camera Angles - 

It opens with a extreme close-up (ECU) of a tape recorder being opened by someone very slowly with a very quick flash of a dead body, with a close-up to the side profile of their face. It then cuts to a even closer extreme close-up of this person  twisting a disc styled object from the tape recorder, before flashing another close-up of a hand covered with bits of dirt. We then see the person twist the disc from the previous frames onto the film reel before it cuts quickly to a frame of a bug crawling into the mouth of a dead body, using a extreme close-up of the mouth from the nose to chin. Then it cuts to another extreme close-up, where they are pulling the tape around a roller.

The clip consists mostly of close-up (CU), extreme close-up (ECU) and focus shots.

This creates the effect of suspence and horror for the audience as they can start to ask questions about the dead bodies shown randomly and why the opening is someone setting up a tape recorder. 

Editing - 

The clip uses text on screen which helps show the audience who the actors are in the show. Throughout the clip also, there are jump-scares of different angles of a dead body or multiple bodies in what seems to be a grassy or mossy swamp area.  There are also uses of cutting on action, a example of this is after they twist the disc onto the film reel, it then jumps to a different angle after they grab hold of the film tape. They also use a J-Cut, using music before we see any actual action happen.

The effects used help to enhance the sequence with the short cuts and flashing images of dead bodies to heighten suspicion among the viewers.

Sound - 

The diegetic sounds used in the clip are sounds from the tape recorder while the person starts to put the tape recorder together. Non-diegetic sounds used i the clip are the music playing over the whole clip, which is very suspenseful and eery music. Plus the short sounds played when clips of dead bodies flash on the screen.

The effect for the sequence given by the sounds make it seem more eery and suspenseful than it would be if it was just the sounds of the tape recorder with no music and only the audio of the person moving around.

Te effect on the audience is somewhat the same as what it gives the sequence, making it more eery and suspenseful, making it more enjoyable and creepy for the audience.

Conclusion - 

The camera angles used in the clip are extreme close-ups (ECU), close-ups(CU) and focus shots. The editing choices sued are J-cuts, text on screen to establish actors involved and jump cuts with jump scares also of dead bodies scattered around the clip.The sound used is diegetic and non-diegetic, the diegetic sounds used are those of the person and the sounds from the tape recorder while it is being put together, with non-diegetic sounds played over the top, being the eery and suspenseful music.

This is effective to the viewer and also the sequence as it turns what could have been a very boring and dull clip into a very suspenseful and interesting clip with the use of sound and the editing choices made.

I have developed on my skill in analysis by going over a short clip and working on picking out little parts of different aspects, Sound, Editing and Camera Angles.

I feel like my skill is better by structuring my evaluation and picking out key points.