Case 39 Film Deconstruction

Case 39 

Camera Angles:

• High angle looking down on the social worker, usually she’d have more dominance in a situation but from this camera angle looking down on her she is looking as if she’s smaller/insignificant and the others are more in control
• Close up of the young girl’s emotions looking scared and uncomfortable
• Camera shots cut between the tired mum showing her pale face, dark sunken eyes, the angry dad and little girl looking scared
• Medium shot to show both characters in the frame, whole the mother is hiding behind the door acting as a barrier between her and the social worker it’s evident she doesn’t want to let her into their lives

Mise En Scene:

• When the social worker arrives children are playing together in the background, dogs are barking normal diegetic sounds from a community
• When it shows the house, the atmosphere shifts; eerie music starts to play in the background things are more echoed and dark
• When the mum is shown looking out of window the curtains are protecting her by covering up her face could symbolise what they are covering from authorities. She looks worried, the house looks run down not looked after by the use of dull colours
• Her face very pale red tired eyes, girl looks scared, they sit away from the mother maybe emphasising that they don’t have a good relationship
• He kicks her under the table doesn’t speak for himself
• Contrast to when they come in to the police station looking smart with the suits make-up and hair done, they try to make a good impression on the authorities by dressing smartly

Sound:

• When the social worker arrives children are playing together in the background, dogs are barking normal diegetic sounds from a community
• When the camera turns to show the house, the atmosphere shifts, eerie music starts to play in the background things are more echoed and dark
• When she sees child music starts to sound as if it’s a wind up doll thing type of music typical of child nursery rhymes but sounds quite sinister creepy music box, footsteps are loud 

Camera Angles:

• Close up angle of the eye is effective in making the viewer uncomfortable and awkward watching it as it’s such a disturbing image
• They use an overhead  shot of him when he is going crazy ripping his head backwards, you can see the blood dripping down and the clothes on the floor

Mise En Scene:

• He wears a white shirt unbuttoned at the top showing maybe he’s stressed or now relaxing at home
• He is in a white room which has connotations of something clinical or a mental hospital which adds to the dramatic action of him turning mad before he dies
• Everything looks clean and clinical, this shows a stark contrast to then when the blood goes everywhere around the room

Sound:

• They use high pitch screeching noises then sharply stops repeatedly
• The continual noise of bugs flying around
• The noise that was building up the suspense stops when he flushes the bug away, as he thinks he has got away with it
• When the bugs come back the noise comes back again but more deep sounds as opposed to the high pitch sound
• Noises speed up builds up the pace
• Then fades out when he’s dead on the floor

Editing:

• Camera spinning around the room 360 degrees making him seems crazy, anxiously looking around quickly
• Uses unsteady looking like hand-held camera moving it in different angles to make him look more unbalanced

Camera angles:

• Close up of locks and bolts to prevent little girl from getting in
• Close up of her face, showing Emily’s fear
• They focused on the markings on the floor just as the parents had showing the full cycle which can’t be broken

Mise En Scene:

• Conforms to the conventional bedroom nothing subverting this to indicate a difference in what will happen
• Role reversal the woman is hiding under the bed while the girl tries to coax her out
• She shows fear as opposed to the little girl who shows authority

         Sound:

• The moving of furniture and the little girl breaking through the bedroom are all emphasised and louder than usual, this is done to symbolise how destructive she can be and the effect she has on people
• When the girl bursts through the room and then stabs the floor with the knife the music is all dramatic but suddenly changes when she shows her face to almost nursery rhyme, innocent music which seems quite creepy and evil reflecting her character.