How does the use of cinematography and performance create tension and suspense in the apartment sequence from Franklyn?
The scene opens with a mid shot of a red headed woman, due to this shot size it is easy to analyse what type of emotion the character is showing, we see her emotions which appear to be of melancholy nature, the shallow depth of field neglects anything else in this scene, focusing our attention onto her.
This shot is also used to create an eye line-match with a Milo, across the table, as the mise-en-scene consists of dim red, black and beige colours and the formal style that both characters are wearing, it can be assessed that these characters are having a formal dinner of some sort and as the mood is tense due to the uncomfortable atmosphere of the setting such as the performance given by the actors Eva Green and Sam Riley by their whispering and their desire not to be seen together. It can also be assumed that this scene is a build up for some kind of act as the scene thus far has not had any form of shock tactics or action scenes which in this film seem to switch from in rotation to the scenarios.
As Sally stands up, the camera slowly zooms out and tilts up whilst facing her, when Milo stands up also, there is a cut to a mid two shot of both of these characters, this is used to see the connection between both of these characters by sharing a shot to show emotion between them, as this shot is also shown at a low angle, I get the sense that these people are above me on an emotional level, this can be backed up by the Milo; afraid of showing his emotion of Sally, the fact that this is a shot-down low angle shot it is evident that it is used to show that Milo is no longer afraid and therefore feels above himself and anybody else in the room who may judge him differently.
An over the shoulder shot is used from Milo's perspective to show the dialogue between the two, this then jumps to a zoom in shot of the two exchanging a kiss, this then makes the non-diegetic become much more tense and ambient, Sally then has an emotion of horror from the an over the shoulder shot from Milo before a cut to a mid shot of her and then her body become blue, by the mise-en-scene, this gives off connotations of depression, isolation and drowning, by Eva Green's performance we see that Sally has been ripped away from what she desires, we see her pain as she reaches out to Milo for help before vanishing, this type of CGI cinematography is common in Franklyn but this is the first time that we see such type of visuals in the "real world" which had a element of shock to me as I watched it.
As Milo walks backwards in a sense of confusion and horror, there is a cross cut to the view from a sniper scope that is above Milo, there is then a cross cut to across the street where a man is shown in a close up shot holding a rifle and pulling the trigger, we see his concentration and his rifle recoiling back from the low angle shot of outside the window.
There is then a gap in the non-diegetic music as a close up of Milo'sarm is seen shot and left limp, there is then a zoom out mid of Milo who is holding his arm and checking for blood, a shot of another man standing up looking shocked and puzzled, as the glass behind Milo shatters in slow motion as the tense non-diegetic music returns. This scene made me personally feel empathetic to the character of Milo as due to the descending, diminished non-diegetic music returning, it felt to me, that this character was just being beaten and bruised over and over again throughout the narrative, Sam Riley's performance shows the shocked horror of his expression as he falls to the floor and admits defeat in this scene, the connotations of the colours that Milo is wearing gives off the signals of grim, grave and death, which relates with the mise-en-scene of the shot.
The next scene worth discussion is the dialogue between Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green; who plays another character, Emilia, this character is the polar opposite to Sally. Ryan's character Jonathan is presented with a close up shot that focuses on him as he attempts to aim his gun at Milo again, as he does there is a slow zoom in shot towards Emilia; crouched next to a gas heater with her lighter open, threatening to release the flame and engulf the apartment in fire, she tells Jonathan that if he knew her at all, he would leave, cryptically explaining that she is indeed crazier than she looks at first sight, the non-diegetic music compliments this as the music becomes much more frantic and unpredictable with the constant gaps in the music, as unpredictable as Emilia is in this scene.
Jonathan takes another look and aims his sights at an older man, hesitating with before shooting, a cross cut to the older man sees a close up of him taking off his glasses and taking in a breath, accepting his fate and allowing Jonathan to eliminate him, the non-diegetic music then changes to a soft-melancholy tone that fades into the scene, Jonathan lowers his rifle and walks slowly towards the window as if to try to bring himself closer to the outside world, as a war veteran with post traumatic stress disorder, this could be his cry for help and his desire to reach out into a society and acceptance. There is also a long distance eye line match to these two characters as the camera zooms in on both of them separately, this could signify that these characters are important to each other despite their troubled differences.
We then see Emilia standing up across from Jonathan, symbolizing that she is as much in authority if not more so than him, she points the lighter at him as if it were a gun, the tables have shifted in this scene as to start with Emilia was the damsel in distress and was shown to be submissive to the hostage taking of Jonathan, she is now seen to be in power and dominate over him.
Shortly after this we see the close up shot of Jonathan and Emilia exchanging the lighter for the keys, as Emilia takes the keys, this symbolizes the freedom that she has been after as she has been locking herself away within her own apartment but now she has the means to allow herself to leave, and as Jonathan takes the lighter from Emilia, this symbolizes how he has come a full circle, he began with violence to save people, but then after only bringing agony and worry to those he failed to save, he must die in violence, the lighter signifies flame and anger, this could be the acceptance that he has been after, that he is a violent man who deserves to burn.
Towards the end of this scene between Emilia and Jonathan we see a devastated Jonathan ask Emilia for her name, after a puzzled Emilia replies, Jonathan quietly weeps and admits that his name is David but "in this world". Proving that Jonathan is a tortured soul that cannot tell between realities, a similar trait to his opposite, Milo, in where he is a victim of his own loneliness which led him to lose his grip on reality, Jonathan is the manipulator who was fully aware of his own world and therefore was his own downfall. The last scene between Emilia and Jonathan is Jonathan saying to Emilia "I think it's time you left". However, this could be argued that he is at this point talking to himself, as at this point it is clear that Jonathan has lost sense on any form of reality and he is contemplating suicide.
As Emilia runs to her door, she takes one last look around her apartment where she sees room turn golden and take on a gothic tone as the camera pans round. Beautiful golden sculptures and disturbing paintings, this is the CGI cinematography that has layered over this film and one of the reasons why this film is memorable in terms of a visual piece, the transformation of this dark architecture sweeps from right to left until it comes to Jonathan, who is now wearing a mask and a trench coat, this coat is a convention of film noir, Sin City (2005) by Frank Miller which shows people with trench coats as heroes and similar to that of a cape that a superhero wears, Jonathan's coat is without any flare or emotion as it just lies flat to the floor, his mask contains a blank expression with two black circles around his eye sockets, this relates to his feelings in the mise-en-scene as he is distraught as his clothing with the colours of beige, brown and black are connotations being sad or almost completely emotionless.
There is then a low angle facing up towards Jonathan as a close up of his weeping face showing his emotions towards what he has done to himself and others so far in this scene, he closes his eyes tightly to finally accept his fate as he releases the flame from the lighter into the gas-filled apartment.
The final segment of the clip includes a low angle shot facing upwards to the explosion from the apartment coming through the window, there is then a parallel edit from this to a close up of a man who is engulfed by light, this then cross dissolves into the previous shot of the window at the apartment which is now covered with falling ash.
