Phone Booth- Film Analysis

Annoyingly I was only able to find the titles of 'Phonebooth' as copyright issues on YouTube wouldn't allow me to find an 'opening sequence' but even though this is just titles, I think this will help on with ideas with the credits and edits for our own Thriller sequence.

Film: Phonebooth
Year: 2002
Director: Joel Schumacher

Sound: At the beginning of the titles, we can hear a non-diegetic track playing a piano melody over and over again until it changes slightly 13 seconds in. This piano sound is quite tense as it is slow paced but also that over the top of the track, there is a heavy breathing sound effect, which builds tension and makes the audience feel slightly uncomfortable. At 13 seconds in a light drum beat is put of top of all the sound also then a few seconds after the drum beat becomes much heavier, creating an urban feel to the titles. The piano sequence is then replaced with a single low piano note played every 4 seconds, this builds up tension as the notes are spaced out, as an audience makes us think there's a mystery of some sort. The music becomes faster and more 'techno' as it adds different sound effects, even though all this music is played, we can still faintly hear the breathing, keeping that feel of mystery as the music tempo changes slightly. Then just before the title 'Phonebooth' is placed into the scene, the music changes back to the original melody, bringing down the tension a little but leaving the audience with suspense.

Mise en Scene: The beginning of the titles, we can see a white screen that is faded black around the edges, bringing a sort of 'mysterious' look to the titles as no colour in the titles makes the titles a bit surreal. Then we first see the titles next to a line or wire and this is to represent the telephone wire. Lots of little circle shapes then appear on the screen and as the zooms in, it then turns into 'Telephone cord curls' making it look futuristic. Then the curls turn into moving triangles like '/\/\/\' symbolising a heart rate monitor then it changes back to the straight line before the line creates a city scape. The straight lines after the 'heart rate monitor' symbolises death and foreshadows the story of 'Phonebooth'. The line then creates a 2D shape of a city scape therefore establishing the setting and time of the film before it has even started, again being in black and white, creating suspense and tension. The city scape then becomes 3D and as the camera moves between the city scape we see more credits. The last credit ends with the directors name before the tower block creates the title of the film 'Phonebooth'. All in all the mise en scene shows doesn't make it tense but sort of surreal in a futuristic way.

Camera work: This opening sequence has an interesting use of camera movement as it follows the beat of the music. At the beginning the camera tracks the 'telephone wire' allowing the audience to see the titles. The camera movement are very quick and on each transaction to another credit, there's either a tilt, pan or zoom, making us as an audience focus even more on the camera movements and what is says on screen. This builds up suspense massively as we are following the wire with camera and wondering what will appear next on the screen. When the drum beat is introduced the camera makes quick cuts such as zoom in and out's so that we see each individual name in the credits. Then the long shot pans over to what looks like the side of the wire which then changes into the triangles. The quick movements and cuts make the audience feel tense and uneasy as we watch to see what happens next even though these are just the titles. Then the camera pans across the 'heart beat monitor' and into the 3D city scape, tracking the city scape whilst panning slightly from right to left, this is so we can see the titles and establishes the setting even more, then as the camera tilts up the tower, it becomes a birds eye view which then spells 'Phonebooth' then there's a zoom that fades to black, this makes the audience feel tense and uneasy as they don't know what to expect next except from maybe the setting and who stars in it.

Editing: The editing of the straight wire then to the curly wire, provides the audience with a story, adds suspense as it is not a obvious connotation and the audience have to think about it. Then the curls turn into a heartbeat monitor which portrays death or struggling to survive. The shape then edits to a city scape which establishes the surreal yet modern setting. The colour black and white makes the sequence tense to watch. Black and white backgrounds are regularly used in Thrillers, as it adds to the dramatic effect more than colour would. The fade at the end of the titles add a dramatic effect and makes the audience wonder about the story that is about to be shown.

Titles: The font of the titles is in bold and slightly italic. It makes the titles stand out as the camera moves around the wire to present the titles. The titles follow the telephone wire and are split up and shown at a slow pace within the opening sequence. The slow pace adds to the tension as well as the edits of the font matching the music makes it edgy to follow.