The brick;
(Johnson, 2005 us)
(1.34)
Mise-en-scene;
We are first shown a shot of someones feet. They are dressed quite casually and are knealing/bending down over what looks like a curb. This first shot automatically causes the audience to ask questions such as who is this person? Why are they here? What are they doing? It then fades and focuses on a closeup of a boys face, whos wearing glasses and appears to be focused on watching something. We are given more of whats going on when it shows a long shot of the boy knealing to the side and watching an object. The surrounding area is quiet and dull. We are in what seems to be a river bank or possible sewers. This automatically creates an atmosphere and makes you feel nervous or on edge because you dont feel safe and know its not somewhere that is associated with comfort or safety. Even when we are quite clearly shown the boy he still remains hidden/covered because he has his hands cupped infront of his face. This could be to prolong the identification of who he exactly is, or he himself might want to remain unknown or he could be innocently lost in thought.We are first shown the boy and then we are given closeups of what appears to be a young girl with blonde hair laying on the side. Because she is not moving and laying in an uncomftable position we know she is unconcious, possibly hurt or even dead. This again raises questions such as who she is? Whats happened to her? And if the boy we are being shown too is in any way involved. Raising such questions makes it more exciting and intriguing to the audience because they want to know whats happening and ultimately feel more involved. The use of going back in time is really effective because it shows the situation from an interesting way and gets you thinking instead of all the answers and picture being easy to work out. There is a sudden change in atmosphere, making a sudden change in mood.When we are shown lockers we get the feeling of a school atmosphere making us question how old these characters are and if they hold a more young/innocent role. At first it often tries to avoid showing the boys face maybe to keep him unknown as it yet again only shows his shoes when he walks up to the locker. Maybe he doesnt hold any relevance or importance at the moment and therefore doesnt need to be shown just yet. When we see the note we already know it was left there by a female character and most likely to be the same one as shown at the start (because of the use of showing the same braclets) we know these two characters have a connection in some way because they clearly know eachother, its just not obvious what it is yet. By showing small personal aspects of each character we learn to know of them without knowing who they actually are. We know the boy has glasses and often wears these type of smart shoes and we know the girl has blonde hair and wears blue braclets. Therefore we can identify them as time goes on even though we dont know their actual name.
Editing;
At first the clip is quite slow paced remaining on each shot for roughly 10 seconds. It switches between each character first the boy then the girl and back again. This shows us theres a bond/link between two characters as the use of this somewhat binds them together. When the girls hand in the water is shown, the use of a graphic match is really effective as it switches and changes scene reversing back in time to a couple days before using her hand as a change. We are then given a title 'brick' in big, old fashioned capital letters. The lettering is white and the background black making it plain and simple but also stand out. The writing zooms out making it look like its moving away from you becoming distant. It then says '2 days previous'. To give a clear indication of the time change and make it understandable for the audience as to when this is.
Sound/music;
The music is very much there at all times right from the start untill the end of the opening. It sounds like a high and low pitch melody/tinkling sound. It remains there untill the bell of the school fades in ringing acting as a sudden stop/break in the sound. Then sudden silence and the continuing average, normal noise of the school comes into role and continues in the background even when the title appears.
Camerawork;
The camerawork varies and changes throughout starting off quite random and shaky for effect and pans up when it fades into and focuses on his face. It then shows a long shot to give the atmosphere and feel of the surrounding area and to show roughly where they are. It slowly zooms into the shots when showing both characters and pans down towards to boys feet when hes walking towards the lockers coming to a sudden halt when reaching the floor. It also uses the effect of a long shot (yet again to show the surrounding area making the change in atmosphere) to a closeup of the bit of paper hes reading.