911 Call from Peter Atencio on Vimeo.
The instruction for this second deconstruction was to analysis something that’s different to what we’re planning to investigate for Film 3, so my brain went to extremes and found the direct opposite of my proposed topic of an experimental documentary style filmmaking – a fictional comedy/drama. This clip is a short skit from Key & Peele, and is highly stylized with ridiculous sound editing and color grading to accentuate the parody, so there’s plenty of elements to analyse.
Genre
Parody of conventions of drama/romantic comedies
Exaggerated tropes make the humour
Camera
Movement – sweeping 360 degree spins of the camera, parodies these types of shots in romcoms, lots of smooth tracking, handheld, slightly shaky effect for still shots
Angles – Control room lady shot from slightly below to suggest power/dominance of the situation
Depth of field – shallow throughout
Mise en scene
Colour palettes – blue and black for inside room, orange and white for outside – opposite ends of spectrum
Lighting
Type – natural/soft lighting for outside, harder artificial lighting for control room
No harsh shadows for either scene, mostly uniform lighting
Sound
Music – mix of percussion beats and piano/strings soundtrack intercutting into each other
Exaggerated foley – e.g. of woman falling
Dramatic, fast paced, energised beat throughout video but in between changes in scene from outside to control room, there are beats of silence for emphasis
Music and dialogue are on the same level – occasionally music overpowers dialogue as it creates the majority of the mood in this sequence; this also makes the effect more dramatic when music is taken away
Editing
Colour grading – strong sepia-ish and blue tints
Sweeping transitions – cuts between the moving shots so it is like a constant spinning motion
Blending/overlay of clips
Split screens between the man and the woman to show both their expressions
Cuts juxtapose between dramatic man outside with music and passionate dialogue, and control room where it is silent and the lady speaks in a matter of fact, dry tone
Super fast montage depicting phone signal travelling across space and various cables to reach control room operator
Obscured wipe effect occurs during one of the transitions between the two scenes
