Micro analysis of ‘m’
- 1. Micro Analysis of ‘M’ (1931) opening sequence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VMgLJJKiaA The sequence begins by introduces the director ‘Fritz Lang’. The Director’s name fades to black alongside a singular heavy beat of percussion. This fades to a low ominous tone, which suggests urgency, and mystery that are both conventions of Film Noir. A sound bridge begins while the screen is black of a young girl speaking in German. A fade turns the black screen into a high angle looking down at a group of children. The film is in black and white, which is a key convention of film noir. The high angle shows the innocence of the children, and is building up the suspense for the murder, as it is known that children are the victims in this noir. This makes the audience feel superior to the children as they are only playing a game. This is a key aim of film noir, to make people feel more superior to others. The dialogue used by the children; “Just you wait a little while, the nasty man in black will come.” Suggests to the audience that they children may be foretelling their future, building more suspense. The camera pans to the left and tilts up until the audience are shown a low angle of an adult shouting at the children, again suggest that she is much more superior and with her being on a balcony high up, may suggest that she is out of danger. The lighting of this scene is very low key, which is a common visual style used in film noir to set a dark mood. The next scene shows the mother of the little girl washing some cloths in a basin. The use of props in this scene such as the basin suggests the era this was set in; the 1930’s, which was a very popular time period for film noir. A sound perspective of a cuckoo clock striking is used, followed by an eyeline match of the mother looking at the cuckoo clock. This could suggest another murder is about to occur, which is another convention of film noir; making events obvious. The sound of the cuckoo clock is combined with the ambient sound of a bell. A cross cut is shown between the mother and the child throughout the child’s walk down the street with her ball, showing the connection between the two characters. A tracking shot of the little girl is used as she is walking down the street as she is bouncing her ball, again showing her innocence. As she stops, the camera tilts up and zooms in to a wanted poster about the murderer the children were singing about before. Wanted posters are props often used in film noir because it adds mystery and intensity to the scene. A medium close up of a shadow appears on the wanted poster. Shadows are a key element in film noir because they hide identity, which is important to build suspense and adds to the dark atmosphere. As this man’s identity is hidden it leads the audience to believe that he is the murderer.