the title is the name of the film in white
TRANSCRIPT
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The title is the name of the film in white
appearing against a black background.
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The scene begins with a voiceover and a
sequence of 12 establishing shots. The setting is
in Texas judging from the accent from the sheriff inthe voice over and the semi-arid landscape.
The first shot is pitch black and the following shots
are progressively getting lighter and thus revealing
more and more though we do not see very much
except the isolation of the area is emphasized.
Each shot lasts for approximately 5 seconds and
the total sequence of establishing shots from the
start of the voiceover lasts about 1 Min 10
seconds.
None of the shots show any animals or humans
emphasizing the remoteness of the area and also
the seemingly slow life in the area which seems tocontrast what the sheriff is saying about crime in
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Other the wind the only digetic sound we hear during the
establishing shots is a squeaking coming from this is isolated
looking wind driven pump. The wind and a slight squeaking are
not usually a sound you would take notice of since they are not
aggressive and are actually quite subtle. The fact that we can
hear them at all emphasizes the isolation of the area and thelack of excitement that goes on.
The sheriff is talking about how times has changed and he
presumable needs to wear a gun now “None of the old timers
wore guns.” This heavily contrasts the image we get from the
mis-en-scene because it appears to be such an empty area you
wonder what could possibly go on that would demand the needfor a gun.
The existence of this wind
pump helps to remind us
that there actually is life
around otherwise it would
not be there. This also helps
to show that the community
is quite small as there is no
settlement built up around it.
This fence is important as it
shows us there actually are
people living around.
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After the establishing shots we
have a shot that starts of like it
is going to be another
establishing shot but pans left to
reveal a parked police car and a
mid-long shot of a deputy or
sheriff escorting a handcuffedman into the car. The sheriff in
the voice over then says “It’s not
that I ‘aint afraid of it, always
knew you had to be willing to die
to do this job” this makes us
wonder what the man
handcuffed could have done.
We have a mid-shot of the man who
has just been arrested but do not see
his face. This helps to draw attention to
him and also build some suspense as to
his identity and make us wonder if he
has something to do with what the
voiceover is referring to.
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This close-up shot of the cattle gun shows the
gun is important and further builds suspicion of
the of the character who has been arrested as
we wonder what kind of man is arrested with a
cattle gun. He is clearly not a farmer by the way
he is dressed and someone with his dressing
style wouldn’t normally have one as he isdressed as a city person. The voice over also
says “I don’t wanna push my chips forward and
go out and meet something I don’t understand.”
This further builds tension as it makes the viewer
wonder what the cattle gun is doing there.
This mid-sho
t of the sheriff quite
clearly shows the identity of the
sheriff/deputy but due to the
shallow depth of field we cannot
see the face of the arrested man.
The arrested man also seems tobe very calm and compliant giving
him the air of someone who is self
confident or knows something we
don’t.
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The scene ends with this longshot of the police car driving of. The camera zooms out slightly to
follow the car a little and to once again show just how empty the landscape is. The camera doesnot track the car and the voiceover ends with the scene. This also adds to the mystery
surrounding the unknown person as he has been arrested in a very remote play and there does
not seem to be any evidence of a second vehicle.
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Again we have a mid-shot of the
detective with the detective and
the arrested man in the
background. This time the
arrested man is a bit clearer but
again his appearance remainsvague due to the shallow depth
of field and the soft lighting that
appears to be coming from the
desk lamp.
The officer then reports to someone on the
phone and describes the cattle gun as some
sort of ‘oxygen canister’. This seems to be a
flaw in the creation of the character since the
setting is in Texas, a predominantly cattle
farming state, a deputy really should know
what a cattle gun is.
The officer says he has it under control which
is a typical thriller line that indicates he hasn’t
really.
When the arrested man walks up to the deputy
he walks confidently and almost casuallybefore slipping the cuffs around his throat.
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As the deputy is being garroted we
do not hear any sound from thearrested man. All we hear is the
sound of the officer being strangled
and struggling for his life. As well as
the digetic sound of him kicking at
the floor trying to get free.
The arrested man has clearly
done this before as he remains
calm and seems to know exactly
what he is doing and how to goabout doing it.
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This is the first time we can clearly see the arrested man’s expression and features. It is
a look of determination yet confidence. His eyes say only one thing though. Psychopath. The birds eye view camera angle helps to depict a feeling of dominance and
helplessness. This makes the officer seem like a trapped, helpless victim.
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The expression of relief on the arrested man’s face is quite clear and yet it is not one of finally being
free. More like one of sexual pleasure. The shadows created by the chiaroscuro lighting also help
put him ‘in a dark light’ and seem even more like a psychopath.
Finally he seems to be in no hurry to leave and thus again showing he knows what he is doing and
is probably a psychopath as most normal people would be very quick to detach themselves from
physical contact with a dead body.