In the scene where the bride is buried alive, we can here the continuous diegetic sound of her deep, fast breathing. Although for some time the screen is completely dark, this clear noise allows us to feel her terror without actually seeing it visually.
The non-diegetic, asynchronous, sad, sympathetic music at the beginning of this scene brings a grim and sombre aura which corresponds to what is happening and enables us to understand her suffering slightly.
While the coffin is being secured with the bride inside it, the diegetic, synchronous hammering of the nails is amplified to increase the fear and discomfort of the audience. This also helps to create an atmosphere that is almost equivalent to the bride’s as the hammering would be raucous from her point of view.
When the earth is being tipped on the coffin, the diegetic thundering noise gives us a sensation of being crushed. Additionally, there are pauses in this noise when we can only hear the bride breathing, only to cause a shock when the noise suddenly returns. These pauses build tension and suspense as the character and the audience probably both thought it was over.
The diegetic sound of her cries and screams of agony show the bride’s desperation to escape from the coffin but also display her hopelessness at this point. As we hear the car drive away which is also diegetic sound, she stops breathing as heavily as it appears that she has finally lost all hope of her escape. The silence except for her emphasises this as it shows that she is in a remote location where no-one is likely to find her.
The costumes worn are Texan as this is where the event is taking place. The bride’s clothes are duller and scruffier that the men who put her in the coffin, perhaps reflecting the dreariness of earth and foreboding her burial underground.
The lighting is very dim and gets darker as the coffin closes until the screen is completely black, only lit sometimes by her torch. This makes it more believable as it would not be light in a sealed coffin many feet underground. However, the fact that this part is in black and white makes it less believable, but it does produce a serious tone. The torch is shone round the coffin and shows how confined the space is which creates a uncomfortable, claustrophobic feeling. The torch is also shone at her face which allows us to see what she is feeling other than just hearing.
We can see the fear, pain and anguish on her face, but also her eagerness to escape. Although she cannot move much because she is limited to the restrictions of a small coffin, she tries to push and hit the coffin in order to get out, this further highlights her keenness to break free of her imprisonment.
The make-up used is mainly just the wounds on the bride’s face that we can see before she is put in the coffin which show that she is a risky woman. The lack of any other make-up may be because it is easier to see her fear without it.
The coffin creates a very simple setting, but a very enthralling one too. There is nothing going on in the background and nothing else to focus on except the bride herself. This allows us to keep our attention on what is important.
In the bride’s confrontation with Bill’s brother, a low angle shot is used on him which gives him power an authority in this scene, and a high angle shot is used on the bride which makes her look weak and vulnerable and like she is in his control. When she is in the coffin, the camera pans once with the torch to show the space of the coffin, but otherwise the camera is very still by the side of her face so we can very clearly see her actions and expressions.
In the bride’s escape scene there is the diegetic, synchronous sound of her punching the wood where we can hear the effort and determination in her voice. As the earth pours into the coffin, it isn’t as loud as it was in the first scene as it was supposed to be more frightening then.
However, the main sound that we hear is the non-diegetic, heroic music which contrasts greatly with the sad music used for the other scene. This music is much more hopeful and shows that she will actually manage to escape. Although the music itself is asynchronous, the non-diegetic drum kick in the music is synchronous to her heart beat. As her hand arises from the ground, the music stops and clearly shows that she is saved.
This scene is not in black and white which it was before. This makes the scene happier and less dismal. The lighting is also a lot brighter so we can see what she is doing which also affects the mood of the scene in the same way. Additionally, the lighting here makes the coffin look a lot bigger than it seemed before.
The bride’s facial expression is a lot more cheerful as she is smiling. This shows that she is optimistic and confident that she will escape, compared to before where it looked like she had given up.
The props in this scene include the torch which she had previously, a rope which she has around her hands and we couldn’t see before because it was too dark, and a knife which she uses to cut off the rope.
A graveyard is the second setting to this scene as this is where the bride emerges from the ground after she has escaped from the coffin. This is ironic as it is a place where many people are buried underground and creates a feeling of relief that she didn’t end up like these people.
The camera pans across her body and makes her seem a lot bigger than she did before in correlation to the size of the coffin. There are close ups of her face which show her persistence, like in the other scene. However, the camera is also shown from her point of view, giving her perspective and making the audience connect to her situation. There is also a low angle shot from her feet as she is lying down which gives her dominance and status in comparison to the high angle shot before which made her seem feeble. But this scene allows us to see that this is not the case.
No comments:
Post a Comment