-x- Film Language Essay .. *LIFE* -x-

*..LIFE...*

Martin Lawrence
Eddie Murphy

The film I have chosen to analyse is a film called *LIFE*, with actors staring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. This automatically tells the audience that the film is going to be humour based, due to their stand up comedies and their other roles in films are usually humorous. Throughout this extract there are many film aspects used. Firstly I will be focusing on the opening shot used in the scene and how it attracts the audience’s attention.

The opening shot of this extract is a medium shot, this therefore automatically shows the audience the characters facial expressions and the type of clothing, this specific character is wearing. In this case the character is wearing a shirt tucked into smart trousers, this connotes that he is a wealthy man and his occupational status is very high. His facial expressions used in this particular shot are happy; due to the reason that he has just found out that his daughter has had a baby boy. However the camera movement then zooms out to a long shot, focusing upon the people he was talking to. The audience then realise the sudden change of emotions within the scene, as his wife and butler are not sharing the same joy that he was. This therefore enables the audience to think what is wrong in the household and what could be possibly be wrong with the baby or daughter. This brings up tension within the scene as the viewers are eager to know what is wrong.

After the male character walks off the audience then get to see a point of view shot, as if they were the new born baby. The male character then has a smile on his face but suddenly drop faces his facial expressions into a shocked and terrified moment. The audience therefore captures the sense of idea that something is wrong with the baby, and enables suspense and tension upon the audience as they don not know the reason behind his dramatic sense of negativity.
The shot also used for this specific scene in the extract is a close up. This is done so that the audience can relate to the characters facial expressions and see or feel what he is feeling.

In the next part of the extract the editing used is a jump cut. The reason why this is done is so that the audience doesn’t expect it. In this particular moment of the extract the audience is determined to know what has happened to the baby or what is wrong with the baby, therefore the quick and sudden jump cut to the male character shouting and showing anger and frustration towards the police officer shows that he has a high advantage and control over the police officer and is determined to find out the reason behind his troubles. In this particular case the reason being that his grandson is black. The jump cut therefore gains the audiences attention due to the reason that they are forced to focus on something very suddenly and unexpected.

The setting used in this extract is particularly based in an old century country type placed atmosphere. When the male character calls out every man, the audience then automatically gains the idea that he is at a local prison full of black men. Therefore the setting is shown to be at a prison full of men, who have committed crimes. Also the setting is seen in a very hot area, which can connote to the audience that the men work very hard in the heat, due to the amount of men that were sweating. This can also be seen as some kind of punishment. However, the male character portrayed in this part of the extract is wearing a full piece suit during the hot season, this can also tell the audience that his house and car may be wealthy, due him not feeling the heat as much as them due to the use of cool conditioning.

The lighting used in this extract differs quite variable. Firstly there is high key lighting used when the male character is filled with joyful emotions that his daughter has just had a baby girl. The high key lighting therefore symbolises his happiness and emotion. However when he goes to take a look at the baby the lighting suddenly goes into a back lighting and low key lighting. The reason for this is because there is something strange or wrong with the baby, or just a personal dislike about the baby. The low key lighting therefore emphasises the dramatic tensions and shadows used to connote something bad within the scene.

The sound used in this extract is mostly diegetic sound. This particular scene focuses on the dialogue used by the characters which can be known as diegetic sound. Also sounds such as birds singing and the car door closing comes across as diegetic sound as it comes from a source we as the audience would naturally expect that sound to come from. Also parallel sound is used within this extract towards the end as the music being played is gospel/romantic type of music, when the scene focuses on the real father looking at the mother. This connotes their love and affection towards one another.

There are close ups used in this extract when the father puts the baby up towards the prisoners faces. This is done so that the audience and father can see if there are any resemblances towards the baby and men. Also their facial expressions show whether or not they are guilty or suspicious.

The camera movement mostly used in this extract is the tracking shot. The tracking shot is where the camera follows the action along tracks laid for the purpose; this is done when the father goes to each man one by one to see if the baby looks like any of the prisoners. This also gains a point of view shot as the prisoners are looking straight at the father and so are the audience.

Overall the director has used a wide range of media aspects. Mainly mise-en-scene, lighting, sound, cinematography and editing. This has therefore leaded to the film being a successful film due to the history life behind it and the changes in society compared to modern day today.