Genre Research: Level 16

Common Camera Angles/Movements:

This movie had many close ups and two or three shots. These shots were prevalent because a close up could show detail that the setting generally lacked and there were many characters in the film so having multiple in a scene at a time would be unavoidable. There was also use of high angles that exaggerated the size and number of young girls in the film.

Common Mise-en-scence:

The costumes, makeup, and setting could all be described as uniform. From all of the girls and guards wearing specific outfits to the identical walls of each corridor. Another thing of note would be the lighting. It was mostly normal from white artificial light, but there were a few scenes using blue light in a dark room that created a unique affect.

Common Editing:

This film used shot-reverse-shots, cutaways, and jump cuts. The shot-reverse-shots were most used and were included in almost every conversation. The cutaways and jump cuts were more rare, but there none the less. This provided a good variety of editing techniques without too much going on.

Common Sound:

The sound in this film was mostly ambient and diegetic. The ambience of the artificial light and the PA system in the building made a tense atmosphere. This was aided by other diegetic noises such as the glitching television and the guards footsteps. There was some non-diegetic sound that enhanced the mood, but it wasn't as affective as the diegetic sound.

Thriller elements in the movie:

This movie followed fairly close to classic thriller tropes such as close ups, ambient noise, shot-reverse-shots and cutaways. There was also subtle acting cues despite the irregular setting.

The Good Elements:

I liked the close ups and high angles that showed the balance of power in the movie. The use of blue lighting in the dark room added a nice touch of variety and set the mood to be secretive and quiet. Finally the mostly ambient sound was balanced well with intervals of non-diegetic sound to quickly grow drama and tension but never let the tension go completely.

The Bad Elements:

The things I dislike about this movie are the setting and costumes. I understand the necessity for the plot of the movie, although there are small changes that can be made to add more variety. The repetitiveness of the building had me bored and the uniforms would leave me confused as to who was who through the movie.