The Adjustment Bureau
This film, The Adjustment Bureau directed by George Nolfi follows the love story of David and Alyss as they struggle to be together. I will be analyzing the last scene of the film and focusing on three film techniques in particular, camera shots, dialogue and sound. The director uses these three techniques to develop the scene and make in more interesting for the viewer. In the last scene David and Alyss are running from the Adjustment Officers and end up on a skyscraper balcony, stuck with nowhere to go. They are then surrounded by guards and quickly share a passionate kiss as they think it will be there last. By the end of the kiss there are no guards left and they are alone and confused. A few moments later Thompson, an A.O appears and is about to explain something to them when another A.O, Harry, appears holding an envelope. He explains how “the plan” has changed and David and Alyss are allowed to be together.
At the start of the scene David and Alyss run through a doorway onto a balcony and realise they have nowhere to go and quickly try to run back through the door but it leads to a hallway that wasn’t there before. This is because it is influenced by the A.O’s powers. Then a swarm of guards run up the stairs towards them there footsteps can be heard very loudly. David and Alyss then start panicking as they are surrounded, they are breathing heavily as they are very out of breath. The director has exaggerated and made the sound a key technique in this part of the scene. This is because it adds excitement and intensity to the scene. For the viewer it pulls you into the scene and makes you feel like you are right. If the sound wasn’t there the scene would be extremely boring. For example, if there were no loud footsteps when they are running up the stairs you wouldn’t realise the intensity of the scene.
In this scene the different camera shots help a lot to develop the scene by showing the setting and what exactly is happening. When David and Alyss first run onto the building they are surrounded by guards. At this time the camera shots are moving back and forth fast to show panic and what is happening. Then when they share a kiss the camera starts to circle around them. By having the camera close up and moving it helps to show the love and passion in the kiss. After the kiss is done the camera moves to an establishing shot overlooking the city. By doing this it shows the setting of the scene. The rest of the scene is mainly a conversation between david, Alyss and the A.O’s. Whenever someone is talking the camera is placed behind their shoulder looking at the person who is listening. Throughout the rest of the scene the director uses many different shots like, tracking shot, mid shot, follow shot. The reason the director uses all these different shots is mainly to give the viewer a good idea of what’s going on and also it helps to show emotion in the actors. For example if it was all the same shot you wouldn’t really know what is going on, where the scene is set and it would just be boring.
The last technique I will be analysing in the scene is dialogue. Without dialogue the film would be nothing. All of the dialogue in this scene comes in the middle of the scene. The first piece of dialogue is when they are about to kiss and both David and Alyss say to each other, “I love You”. This is done with a very worried and serious expression as they think it will be the last time they see each other. After that the next dialogue is when they are talking to the Thompson. Thompson is telling them how they shouldn’t have thought that they could be together and change their fate. But then Harry comes along and explains to them that the chairman has rewrote “the plan” and how they can now be together without being stopped. Also at the end of the scene when David and Alyss are walking down the street there is a narrator speaking. He is talking about fate and free will. By using a narrator over the film it makes the dialogue seem more meaningful and inspirational. Dialogue is very dependent on the actors, this is because you can have a good script but if the actors say their lines with no expression the words don’t mean much. The director and scriptwriter must work together to write a good script that will cause the viewer to feel emotions. This will only work though if the actors say their lines well and with emotion.
So to conclude, the film The Adjustment Bureau, directed by George Nolfi, uses three main film techniques that I have analysed. These techniques are sound, camera shots and dialogue. These three techniques work together to develop the scene and make it more interesting for the viewer. They also help show the character’s emotions and what they are thinking. Without them the film would be extremely boring and the viewer would lose interest quickly. The director has thought carefully on how these techniques will come together to develop the film.
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