The sequence opens as Sam and Patrick are leaving the
main character, Charlie, as they move away to college. The performance of both
actors, Emma Watson and Logan Lerman, paired with their body language and
facial expressions show their obvious sadness about this situation. The camera
is hand held and so shakes slightly, telling me Charlie feels unstable about
his friends moving away. Along with this, the non-digetic music playing along
with the scene is slow and uses string instruments, music that typically
accompanies sad, depressing scenes.
A convention used in drama films is present in this
part of the sequence. This genre focuses on its narrative and what the plot is
about, normally following the life of an individual and their struggles. The
narrative of a drama film is about real life situations, therefore, the
characters and their surroundings must seem "normal." This convention
is used in the sense that Charlie has to deal with the emotions he feels as his
friend’s leave, something many people experience, making the film more relatable,
encouraging more people to watch it.
A straight cut then leads us onto a mid-shot of Sam
sitting down in the car. The camera shake is less noticeable, suggesting that
she is saddened by this situation but not to the same degree that Charlie is. The
more apparent camera shake reappears when a straight cut takes us to a close up
of Charlie, standing in the drive way. Again, this reinforces the idea that he
is distraught at the events and is becoming more unstable as he realises he is
about to lose his friends.
To illustrate further how heartbroken and bewildered
Charlie feels, a flashback shows a scene that was played earlier in the film.
In the shot, Charlie and Sam are kissing and as he pulls away, he looks dazed.
The straight cut to an over the shoulder shot reveals Sam's response, showing
me she is concerned for Charlie and that she knows he is extremely
uncomfortable but doesn't understand why. The low-key lighting darkens the
location behind Charlie, representing his dark past which is revealed later in
the film. Charlie hasn't yet told Sam about his past, hence the reason why the
environment behind her was brighter.
Another straight cut is used to bring the film back to
the present day where the final goodbyes are said. An extreme long shot allows
us to see the car drive off, leaving behind a heavyhearted Charlie. A straight
cut reveals another flashback, except this is a scene we have never seen
before. An extreme close up of a hand rubs up against someone’s body, the
camera tilting up slowly to reveal the hand belongs to Charlie's aunt. Another
straight cut takes us back to Charlie in the present day, looking discontent.
It is quite a long take with no dialogue to highlight the expression on
Charlie's face. I feel this was included in the film to show how Charlie is
slowly coming to terms with what his aunt done.
An extreme long shot shows a long road, Charlie coming
into shot on the horizon. At this point, he seems small and isolated as he
walks alone. The quick transition from present day to Charlie's younger years
is shown by using a straight cut. The line "It'll be our little secret,
okay?" and the shot of a younger Charlie, nodding to confirm whatever they
were discussing is kept confidential. This reveals that their secret is the
reason why he is suffering in the present day. Many snappy straight cuts then
separate the past from the present, making the sequence seem choppy, showing
how unorganised and messed up Charlie feels in his own
head. Additionally, a split screen is used to show Charlie in
multiple positions walking up the road. The two Charlie’s that walk behind the
main one at the front may represent how his dark past is coming back to haunt
him and it is always a burden, following him around.
When Charlie enters his house, there is a long shot
using a canted angle, showing how distraught and mad Charlie is becoming. With
the diegetic sound of the door closing, a straight cut leads to a flash back of
Charlie's aunt dying in the car crash. The colour of the truck speeding towards
the car is red, a colour that has connotations of blood, death and danger. The
high key lighting caused by the bright headlights of the truck can represent
"going towards the light" a saying which is associated with death, in
this case, the passing of Charlie’s aunt. This gruesome, sad scene is then
followed by multiple, short, shots of family photos in Charlie's house,
separated by straight cuts. This is a juxtaposition of the previous scene, the
first shot showing death is then contrasted by showing the happy childhood
memories.
Another straight cut goes back to the canted angle
shot where Charlie proceeds to bash his head against the door. The childhood photos
return, this time, shown in an extreme close up. I feel this is done to show
how Charlie, as he grew, lost his innocence as the next shot is another
flashback to when the police came and told Charlie’s family his aunt had died.
The sad non-diegetic music continues, making the sequence more emotional. Above
all the noise, we start to hear Charlie chant, “It’s all my fault”, referring
to the death of his aunt. This makes me feel sad because his aunt acted like
the victim and made him feel guilty, even though he had done nothing wrong.
A straight cut then shows a long hallway. This shot
uses low key lighting as the start of the hallway is lit dimly and the end is
in complete darkness. Two jump cuts are then used to speed up how fast Charlie
walks down the hallway. I feel this was an important sequence to include
because it may represent Charlie looking back on the dark times in his life, the
jump cuts showing how fast he is spiralling down into depression. A straight
cut then shows a long shot of Charlie with his back to the camera, sitting at
his desk. Again there is low key lighting, representing the dark
thoughts he is reliving through a series of flashbacks.
A particular flashback stands out amongst the rest. Charlie
relives a fight from earlier on in the film. When Charlie is about to punch the
other character, there is a close up of his face and the whole shot is out of
focus. This shows his aggressive outburst was a blur and that he didn’t realise
what he was doing at the time because he was blinded by his anger. Yet, before
he is about to swing, a straight cut flashes an image of his Aunts face for a
split second, zooming in dramatically. Another straight cut then takes us back
to the fight scene, the other character involved recoiling from the punch. The
importance of this is to show how Charlie is beginning to realise the vile things
his aunt done to him as a child. This is again a convention of a drama film as
it is dealing with a real life situation. The main character was sexually
abused as a child, something no one should ever go through yet unfortunately it
happens each and every day. The journey that also led him to this climax is
also a convention of this genre of film as Charlie’s character developed and
went through a series of high and low moments until he reached this pinnacle
moment.
The flashbacks and flashes forwards to the present day
increase in number but the length of the shots decrease. The reason behind this
is to show how conflicted Charlie is feeling. He is starting get his head
around the fact that his aunt abused him but he is finding it difficult to come
to terms with it. Next, a slow zoom into an extreme close up of the back of
Charlie’s head is shown. It makes me feel like I am trying to put myself into
Charlie’s body to try and empathise with him and understand how he is feeling
in this situation. This creates sadness as I am not able to imagine how tough
it must be for Charlie to realise what he had been through.
Towards the end of the scene, straight cuts are used
to show several shots of Charlie’s house. The rooms are empty and therefore
show how Charlie is feeling isolated and alone. This makes me feel sad for
Charlie as no one is there for him in his time of need. This feeling of loneliness
is reinforced as Charlie wanders into his kitchen, remembering (through the use
of flashbacks) what he saw as a child, his aunt in a distressed state with self-harm
scars on her wrist. A straight cut leads us back to Charlie, standing in his
kitchen, the camera panning from left to right and tilting down slowly to
reveal a knife on a chopping board beside Charlie. For me, this sequence is
extremely upsetting as it ends on a slight cliff hanger, leaving me wonder whether
or not Charlie went through with self-harming as a way of releasing his bottled
up anger.
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