The authors/ directors vision, or simply the thought that they wanted to portray was, there is possibly
an impending issue, and they want the viewer to witness the severity of this , through the characters.
The objective is to portray a mood/ tone, being serious, which is definitively seen through the ways the author/ director had filmed.
Firstly, the author is trying to convey the serious tone/ mood, in the first scene through a couple of
different mediums. One being a specific shot to set the tone. This was the medium closeups (which can
also be considered a two shot) of the two focus characters (main characters in the extract), showing
their facial expressions, to emphasize the severity of what they are doing. In this scene one can clearly
see how focused they are at the destination ahead, not taking their gaze upon it away once. The other
medium the author uses to convey their theme was through the use of music. The authors’ use of
incidental music throughout this scene as a whole is also a definitive indicator to the tone. The score in
general for this almost always compliments the scene, and is only used a tool to amplify certain moods,
tones, or an atmosphere that the author/ directors want to have.
Moreover, the incidental music goes hand in hand with the establishing shot used to show where the
next scene would take place. This was done to build suspense and keep the viewer at the edge of their
seat, wondering what is to come next. All in all, creating the notion that what is to come will be of high
importance. This can be seen, or rather heard as the music then intensifies as we are then shown a
zoom out shot of the destination the boat is arriving to.
Furthermore, when it comes to the scene with the three men, it can be seen that author wants to build
an atmosphere full of tension. This is done through a few ways. One, being a lack of music – the lack
a soundtrack making the scene more eerie, and leaving room for a break in silence to capture the
viewers attention, which actually then happens as the door opens and the three men enter the room
from the other side. Another, method used to set up the tension was having the scene consist of
multiple pauses —the pauses were stepping stones to other events to capture attention, bringing
awareness, forcing the viewer to think about what has happened, and what is possibly going to take
place shortly after. The author/ director also utilizes reaction shots to build tension. An example of this
is when the two men are in the room talking and then they pause (like previously stated) to see what
was going on, which was a reaction to the three men entering the room. This was to get the viewers
asking themselves ‘what is going on?’ or ‘what is about to happen?’ which is a very effective way of build
that tension, to grab the viewer’ s attention. This all plays into the authors main goal of setting up a
serious tone, especially with other things such as closeups on characters when they are angry to
emphasize this, an example being when the man (on the side of the two men, them being face forward)
on the left yelling at the speaker of the three men; and then, shortly after the speaker keeping his
composure, which can be seen, enraging the man even more to an extent.
Ultimately, The authors vision, being expressed through various tactics such as specific shots, and the
choice of music, was to portray that there is an impending issue, and want the viewer to witness the
severity of this, through the characters. The mood/ tone being serious, being the actual objective when
it comes to setting an atmosphere, or having an impact on the viewer.
