Exam (2009) Trailer deconstruction

‘Exam’ trailer deconstruction

 Camera Angles

• Close up shots and extreme close up shots are used to show intense emotions and expressions between each characters and to involve the audience in their emotions to make them feel what the character is feeling.

•       A low angle shot is used to look up to the invigilator. This shows the audience that this man has full authority in the room, even making the audience look up to him themselves.  This shot shows that this character is grand and has the most dominance in the room.

•       This over-the-shoulder shot shows who the character is talking to, while making the protagonist the centre of the screen which makes him more eye-catching than his surroundings, showing that he is an important character to remember.

•       This aerial shot shows three protagonists looking up at what looks to be a CCTV camera. This shows that the protagonists have vulnerability and have less dominance than the people behind the camera screen. 

      Mise en Scene

•       The exam room the protagonists are in is very dull with dim lighting except for small lights against the wall and directly above the exam paper. It gives a futuristic feel to it which suggests that this is not just any exam. It contrasts from a normal exam room where the room is normally full of light so that everything is clear.
•       The grey, metallic, steel-looking walls and floor give the look and feel of a prison cell in the middle of nowhere. 
•       The protagonists are all wearing grey and black formal suits which suggest that they are middle class to upper class who are in the room for one reason - to pass the exam. They are professional and have determined expressions on their faces.  

•       The guard is wearing a normal, stereotypical guard suit which adds to the effect of the room being a prison and holding the characters captive.
•       The guard has a gun in full view on his belt which shows that he is capable of pulling the trigger in order to cease people from disobeying rules.
•             He looks threatening as he is an authority figure in the suit and a gun. It is clear he has more dominance over the characters taking the exam.

     
      Sound

•     Non-diegetic subliminal ‘boom’ sounds are heard which has the effect of a warzone – suggesting that the examination room could turn out to be like one.
•      Non-diegetic dialogue is heard by the authoritative voice of the invigilator which turns into diegetic dialogue when we see finally see the invigilator. The dialogue is heard while non-diegetic violin strokes are played in the background which builds tension and enigma even though violins are normally used for sympathetic moments. String instruments are then introduced while the invigilator continues to talk to the characters at their desks.
•       When the invigilator finishes dialogue, a ghostly breath is heard while the shot cuts to the stop-clock which is heard being set to start.
•       During one shot which shows a moving image of the expression on one of the protagonists face, another protagonists voice is heard, non-diegetic, saying ‘It’s not about what he said, it’s what he didn’t say’. This builds up tension between the characters and gets the audience to question his words by asking themselves what the invigilator didn’t say.
•       At one point, the music stops and in an agitated voice, one of the protagonists says, ‘What is the question?’ After this, music starts back up again but this time, it picks up speed and is louder than it was before, which adds to the tension and leads to a climax.
•       Subliminal sounds of a camera focusing, punching, thudding, shouting, begging, slash of a knife, gun shots are heard while the tension of the music builds up and the speed and volume picks up until a loud bang stops it all at the very end of the trailer and slowly fades out. This shows that the ending is ‘loud enough to cause a bang’ in the film and makes the audience feel like they need to know more and ask themselves how does it end?

     Editing

•       Hand held tracking shot is used to ‘follow’ other job-seekers into an examination room. This makes the audience feel involved by making it seem as if they are one of the job-seekers
  walking into the room themselves.

•       In this shot, a crane shot is used to travel from the protagonists face to what he is looking at (the pen and paper). This shot then cuts to a shot of the paper itself which is a eye-line match shot. As we see the candidate 1 exam paper, the camera zooms into it as if we are looking more closely at it sending out a mixed range of questions from the audience. It shows the audience exactly what he is looking at and gives an idea to the audience at how significant and important the exam paper will be. 

•       In this shot, the characters are shown in a line sitting at their desks but the front characters face is blurred out and the last person is slightly blurred. This is to focus on the 2 main characters in the middle so that the audience can instantly
  see their expressions and know that they will
  play a relatively big part.

•       Further on in the trailer, the same shot is shown but with all three people blurred out except the first person at the front. This adds to the tension and makes the audience get a clear focus on his facial expressions which can represent the other characters expressions too.

•       In this shot, the camera firstly shows a mid shot of the guard,
  which then cuts to an extreme close up of the gun on his belt,
  which then cuts to a close up of one of the protagonist’s face
  who is looking at the gun. This is an example of an eye-line
  match shot.

•       A montage is used near the end of the trailer as the tension builds up even more between then characters. This is used to show how quickly things have to be done while the countdown decreases in the exam.