Production research

Twilight

 

The opening scene to Twilight uses a crane shot, hovering above ground in a forest. We see a dear which looks like it’s been highlighted with a white glow around it. This connotes the dear may be special and could be symbol further on in the narrative. There is a voice over at the beginning which is non-diegetic sound. There are also diegetic sounds which are the noises of general nature, birds and the forest animals. There is then a point of view shot, the camera is almost hiding behind branches and acts as a predator that has spotted its prey (the dear). This tells us the dear is being watched.  A camera movement used is the tilt shot where the camera faces up at the sky and then tilts downwards. At this point a steadicam is then used which shows us that someone/something is chasing the dear from the point of view of the predator. A tracking shot is used to film the dear running through the woods. This is a very fast paced sequence which shows trees and branches passing the shot which connotes that the dear is running really fast as it may be in danger. We then see a glimpse of the dear being caught by what looks like a human. There is then a bright white glow as the dear gets caught which connotes death in a positive light, meaning heaven. The music is very fast paced at this moment which is parallel sound as it links in with the chase scene.

The setting is in a forest which could lead to the audience having an idea of what the movie will be about; some sort of animal maybe? The setting also makes everything seem so lonely and isolated. After this glow, the next shot is a fade in. We then see a girls face, she seems very pale due to the makeup she is wearing. There is a close up of her face, showing us her facial expressions, she seems quite upset and is just taking everything in. A tracking shot is used again as she walks forward and the camera is in front of her moving back, almost getting out of her way. There is a panning shot when she is telling the audience of her memories by using a voice over which is non-diegetic. The panning shot shows her mother and father as if it was being filmed as a home video because it was shaky. This connotes they might have been close to each other as they used their video camera to capture memories.  

The next shot shows the car being driven and music starts playing, we think it is diegetic but happens to be non-diegetic after there is a straight cut from the scene. As part of editing a montage sequence has been used as they show the car being driven, then an aeroplane in the air and another car being driven with jump cuts in between these. This all tells the audience that they have travelled somewhere else and are reaching their destination without showing the whole journey. There is a crane shot of the car being driven over a bridge; this is an extreme long shot. There is then a low angle of the car driving on the bridge showing the bridge is high. After another straight cut, there was a medium shot which showed the windshield of the car with a panning shot across it to view the people in the car.

The voice over of the girl telling the story is effective because we as the audience learn a bit about her while watching what else is going on in the narrative. As she gets out of the car we can see her costume, she is wearing everyday casual clothes as we learn she is a student later in the narrative. She states facts as part of her dialogue which connotes she could be clever as she is a student and doesn’t care about how she looks because of what she is wearing and her makeup is very subtle, she looks rather pale. Her father’s costume is a police outfit which connotes he has authority around where they live. He is also driving a police car which is an effective prop because it shows power.

The setting is in a neighbourhood which is stereotyped to be friendly. The area seems very dull and gloomy, the sky is all grey which gives a cold vibe. The atmosphere doesn’t appear to be pleasant, this connotes something terrible could happen as the setting makes it seem that way. There is very high key lighting, this makes it more realistic, also because there is top lighting, back lighting and filler lights to make the image in the camera frame to be more rounded and genuine.  

There is a long shot as they pull up in front of the house, there is still non-diegetic sound playing in the background that is contrapuntal because it doesn’t match with what is happening in the scene. The music is too loud and happy however the girl in the scene seems very troubled and unhappy as we can tell by her facial expressions when there is a close up. 

 

Target audience: Twilight is about vampires and wolves, it would appeal to people around the ages of 12 to 25. The audience is mainly female for this film. It falls under the fantasy/thriller genre.