Analysis of American Hustle

In today's lesson, we watched the first 5 minutes of American Hustle and made notes on the Four Key Concepts:

• Sound
• Editing
• Camera Shots
• Mise en Scene

Sound:

• Classy music (matches genre)
• Sounds like a band
• Music portrays the time period (1978)
• You could hear the TV in the background which gives a sense of setting the scene
• Also hear the sound of the bottle when he dips into it for his hair stuff and the sound of the hair being moved around
• The music slowly fades into other sounds, eg. one song fades into another within the first frame
• Some parts are silent, where only dialogue is heard, which is used to emphasise what is being said
• When Bradley Cooper walks in, he disrupts the music and it stops

Editing:

• The first shot is a panning shot of Christian Bale's body, from his belly to his head, which gives you a sense of establishing, as it sets the scene for the viewer (jump shots)
• The shot changes as he applies his hair piece (reflection in mirror)
• The camera follows his every movement
• There is a tracking shot as he moves between rooms
• Over the shoulder shot shows Bale's perspective
• Shot/reverse shot between characters and close ups to focus on dialogue
• While walking into the third room, the camera focuses and emphasises on the brief case

Camera Shots:

• Midshot and close up used when looking in the mirror
• Over the shoulder shot shows what Bale is seeing
• Tracking shot from one character to another showing the relationship between them
• Lots of slow motion panning and tracking to show movements
• Shot/reverse shot between characters to show relationsip
• At the end, there is an establishing shot seen through CCTV

Mise en Scene:

• Posh rooms, which all had the same decor, signalling that they were in a hotel
• Location: Plaza Hotel
• Extra room added onto bedroom with recording equipment
• Similar clothing - striped shirts and suits, which reflects a high status
• Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper both wear a chunky gold ring and chunky watches which is another suggestion of higher status
• It is daylight
• Bale uses glasses to almost disguise himself 

Aim for next lesson: Begin preliminary task.