Moving Image Arts Exemplar Examination - Sample Answers
Question 1 and 3 provide the candidate with a number of choices. These sample
answers attempt to cover all aspects of each particular question.
Question 1.
Sequence 1 - A new day begins for a father and daughter
Examine the following sequence.
In what ways do you think this sequence follows the conventions of the
continuity style? Discuss the contribution of three of the following elements of
film style to creating this scene.
Camera: Editing; Cinematography; Mise-en-scene; Sound (including music).
The use of camera technique, lighting, editing, mis-en-scene and sound in this
sequence closely follows the conventions of the classical Hollywood style (also
known as the continuity style).
Camera:
balanced composition; conventional camera framing and
positioning; conventional shot size and use of long shot, establishing shot, medium
shot, close-up; low contrast photography; eye-line match and adherence to 180
degree rule; cross-cutting and point-of-view shot from the perspective of the young
girl as she looks at the factory. All of these are typical of the classical Hollywood style
Lighting:
high key lighting
Sound:
upbeat, pleasant score; sound of the factory; Irish music on the
TV soundtrack
Editing:
smooth, seamless, "invisible" editing
Mise-en-scene: family characters; domestic setting; factory setting; the river must be
crossed in order for the father and daughter to meet; positioning, and movement and
of the two characters is paralleled (for example, preparing to put on their footwear)
Narrative:
A father clocking off from work on the nightshift; a young girl, his
daughter, wakes up and awaits his arrival back from work;; narrative driven primarily
by the actions of the returning father.
The director's intention is to create a smooth flowing narrative sequence which sets
up the story and creates the connection between father and daughter through an
accomplished use of the technique of crosscutting or parallel editing. This sequence
works visually, telling the story and establishing the main characters without any
dialogue. Intention to contrast the atmosphere of the warmth and homeliness of the
domestic setting with the colder environment of the factory, to contrast the masculine,
adult world of the father (industrial equipment, protective clothing, work mates) with
the feminine, childlike world of the young girl (fluffy slippers, cereal for breakfast,
glued to the television); Despite the warmth and familiarity of the domestic setting
and the pleasant feelings being generated by the score we still wonder where is the
child's mother as she is shown alone in the protection of the home.
The director's intention is to engage the audience in identifying with the characters
that are caught up in the narrative through the use of crosscutting and point of view
(key techniques of the continuity style); to build on a sense of familiarity and
normality (for example, the pleasant score); to build towards the arrival home of the
father.
Question 2.
Sequence 2 - As they wait to raid a bank, two men recall a robbery that went
badly wrong.
Examine the following sequence. Discuss how the director uses narrative
structure, camera/editing technique and cinematography to create the mood
and emotional impact of the sequence.
Narrative
The narrative structure is based around the technique of flashback. As the two men
recall a robbery gone wrong, we are transported back in time. As the two men
discuss what is on their mind, through flashback, we revisit the past five times (each
one for a longer period), before being brought back to the present one last time as
the men focus upon the immediate reality of their situation.
Camera
Camera framing, angle/positioning and movement are important elements in this
sequence. A forward tracking shot moving in on the car features at the beginning and
end of the sequence. We first see the two men framed in a wide two shot, the
camera positioned at a left angle. After a point of view shot from their position
showing the street sweeper, the camera tracks into a medium close-up of the
younger man. A point of view shot from the younger man leads us into the first brief
flashback, a sudden slow motion medium long shot of a man running. The flashback
cuts back to the frozen stare of the young man seen front on through the car
windscreen. In the next shot, the camera is positioned within the car. We see the look
of anxiety on the young man's face in side profile from the position of the older man
before the flashback returns. In the second flashback , the camera frames the
running man from behind moving with him. Again the camera angle and framing is
off-centre. A hand-held camera is used to capture the frenzied motion of this chase
sequence. The camera framing and angle also seems to close in on the two men in
the car. The medium close-up shots from the front and side are replaced by three
continuous shots of them from behind in an extreme angle as if someone in the back
of the car was looking over their shoulder. The final tracking camera movement
completes their enclosure. We are positioned outside the car again as at the
beginning, only this time the car is viewed from behind. This expressive camera
movement is accompanied by a piercing, high-pitched sound (like an alarm) that
underlines the growing doubts and fears of the men. In the final two medium close-up
shots, the camera is back inside, capturing the disquiet and unease on the men's
faces.
Editing
The editing style begins at a slow pace. A faster rhythm marks the flashback scenes
with the first quick cut in slow motion. Each flashback after that is of a longer
duration, with several different shots in each flashback. The editing pace gets faster
even inside the car where we see the two men from more and more angles in quick
cuts. It slows down again as the flashback abruptly ends to be followed by a slow
tracking camera movement.
Lighting
The present takes place the early morning light of dawn. Inside the car, low-key
lighting creates a darkened atmosphere of increasing oppressiveness. The shots
from behind the men's heads are bathed in shadows. The outside world is cold, grey,
misty, and unwelcoming. The empty streets seem drained of colour and life. The air
is ominous and threatening.
The past takes place in a shopping mall - high-key lighting conveys the brightly
illuminated spaces of the mall. This too is an empty oppressive space, a potential
prison, of wide-open corridors with no hiding places.
The camera/editing technique and cinematography in this sequence is daring and
inventive - from the use of slow motion within a rapid cut to plunge us into the past to
the sense of all hope draining from the faces of the men in the car as the blood
drains from the wound in the man's side. Past and present are brought together in
interesting ways.
The cold light of dawn and low-key lighting establishes a mood of foreboding. The
off-centre framing and camera tracking in on the car, first in a fast tracking movement
and later in a slower, more insidious, low angle movement, conveys psychological
tension. The continual use of medium close-ups brings us face-to-face with the
haunted look of the young man.
This highly controlled use of camera framing and movement to isolate the men inside
the car is in sharp contrast to the flashback scenes where the slight jerkiness of the
hand-held camera mimics the panic and disorientation of the man as he flees from
his pursuers.
The entire sequence is based around a series of such strong contrasts in visual style
and tone - past and present; time suspended in moments of self-reflection by a slow
editing pace, time speeded up and running out of control by fast editing; a jerky handheld camera juxtaposed with static shots; a wide long shot of a brightly lit mall cutting
to a close-up of a young man in a dark, claustrophobic interior; low-key lighting and
desaturated colour contrasted with high key lighting and primary colours; the cold
sweat of fear reflected in the steamed up back windscreen of a car; desperation and
approaching death foreshadowed in the blood-soaked shirt turning from white to red.
The director employs a range of different cinematic techniques to communicate
similar feelings and emotions - dread, entrapment and a sense of time running out.
The mood within the car is one of mounting anxiety as the men confront their worst
fears. They seem suspended in some sort of emotional limbo in which they reflect on
the fate of a fellow robber. The mood within the shopping mall is one of terror and
panic. The isolated men in the car and the man surrounded by the police share the
same basic situation. There is no way out. Looking into the past, they could be
staring the future for they might share the same fate.
The sequence therefore carries many echoes of film noir from the low-key lighting,
expressionist camera angles and flashback structure to the sense of entrapment and
impending doom.
Question 3
Sequence 3. A young girl discovers a whole new world
(Loccy Moon)
Examine the following animated sequence. How does the animator use film
language to create the mood and atmosphere of this sequence?
Knowledge and Understanding refers to:
Camera:
Cinematography:
Sound:
Editing:
Mise-En-Scene:
Low angle framing of the young girl; tracking camera following
her movements; multiple point-of-view (POV) shots from the
perspective of the young girl; high angle POV shot of the
young girl looking at the moon; use of long shot, medium shot
and close-up; low angle shot; unbalanced compositions and
unconventional, low angle camera shots – of girl framed
behind bars; the off key shot of the frozen pond and the danger
sign; unusual underwater shot.
Naturalistic light from the moon and the snow; low key lighting
effects and use of shadows of people passing, the bars and
the sign.
Upbeat, pleasant score; absence of dialogue – with focus on
visual story telling. Ominous, discordant piano notes
accompany the shots of the danger sign and the frozen pond.
smooth, seamless, “invisible” editing, cross-cutting
between the young girl and the snowman; narrative driven by
the actions of the young girl and the cross-cutting between her
POV and the objects of her gaze - the moon, the snowman
and the pond.
outdoor night time setting; winter landscape; the colour white
dominates – snow, moon, snowman, frozen pond, snowcovered bars; reflection of the moon; strong contrast between
the snow and the night sky and the colorful clothing of the
young girl; movement of characters in the frame.
Analysis and Evaluation refers to:
This animated sequence is a good example of visual storytelling as the director
creates a mood of excitement, joy and wonder without any recourse to dialogue or
exposition. However, throughout the sequence there is a subtle undercurrent of
anxiety and foreboding (unnoticed by the young girl) that gradually builds up to the
final menacing shots of the danger sign, the frozen pond and the watery depths – all
lying in wait for the unsuspecting child.
The key means of achieving the mood of wonderment and discovery that dominates
the sequence until the final shots are;
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The extended use of the POV of the young girl as she encounters a magical,
snow-covered landscape of characters. Four POV shots are employed in both the
sequences where the young girl discovers the moon and encounters the
snowman. The use of a shaky hand-held camera in the POV shot where the child
spots the snowman, looks down at the snow and picks up a stone places us in


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the exact perspective of the young girl. We literally look at the world through her
eyes.
The use of a jaunty, upbeat soundtrack that brilliantly conveys the feelings of joy,
wonder and exhilaration of the young girl
A mise-en-scene that evokes fantasy and imagination. The falling snow, snowcovered streets, the cresent moon, the friendly snowman and the glowing
reflection in the frozen pond all communicate a sense of warmth, wonder and
magic. The dream-like atmosphere is also achieved through the strong contrast
between the dazzling moonlight and snow, the star-filled night sky and the rich
primary colours of the clothing of mother and child.
A low angle fast moving shooting style that follows every movement of the young
girl as she skips along, framing her in medium shot or close-up (alternatively from
the front, back and sideways) so we are always with her in her journey of
discovery
Alongside this enchanting atmosphere, the animator leaves definite signs that all is
not just sweetness and light – that there are threats to the innocence and
vulnerability of childhood. The danger only breaks the surface at the very end of the
sequence when the uplifting soundtrack gives way to the discordant notes of a piano.
The ominous low angle, off key, shots of the sign, the frozen pond and the watery
depths completely overturn the festive mood, and through the use of heavy shadows,
create an atmosphere of foreboding and dread.
However throughout the sequence the animator has been subtly drawing our
attention to this danger through the use of low key lighting (the shot of the child alone
in the snow criss-crossed by the shadows of people passing by) and the off-key
framing of the child through the bars (as she gazes at the snowman we have the
feeling that she is trapped behind bars like a prisoner).
The final shot makes it clear to us that the wide-eyed, unsuspecting child, so alive to
everything else in the sequence, has failed to notice the danger sign at the frozen
pond.