Brick (Johnson,2005,US)

Cinematography/Mise en Scene/Editing,

Firstly there is a close up of the man crouching on a ledge. We get the impression that the location is quite grotty due to the amount of dirt on the floor also we start to wonder why someone would be in a place like this. Moreover, we get a clear idea of what this character's shoes which links to a later shot in the sequence. The editing started off as slow paced to get to this shot this is to show the space on the ledge and the amount of dirt to emphasise that this isn't a very pleasant place to be.

Secondly, there is a focus pull to the character's face and this shows his facial expressions and to us it looks as if he is regretting something, thinking about something or it looks a if he's too shocked to do anything, also the camera tracks towards this character's face this could reinforce to point that he is shocked. There is eyeline match as editing here when the character is staring at something and then it suddenly cuts to the next shot of what he is looking which is the lady who we think is dead in the floor. This could imply that he is too shocked by what has just happened that he doesn't know what to do but stare. The character is wearing glasses in this sequence which can stereotypically suggest that he is intelligent however this contradicts his actions as he is just staring not knowing what to do. We don't know how this person "died" if she was just found by this character then a smart thing to do would to call the ambulance or police.

The close up of the bottom half of the lady implies that she is dead by the way her body language is. She is next to a puddle and her feet are in an awkward position. She is also wearing a nice coloured dress which could show her innocence and her heels could show her vulnerability.







There is a graphic match as editing here as the shot before this shows her hand lying in the water with her bands on and then it cuts to her arm with the same bands on putting a note into the locker we can understand that it has gone back into the past from this.

The close up of the character's shoes reinforces the link from the first shot so we know that it is the same character. Here he is walking up to his locker where the note dropped out from it, from this we can understand that there is some form of relationship between the two characters however, information is still kept from the audience.


This shot is an establishing shot and it shows that it Is in a school environment setting where it is quite calm and safe. The character is far away so we haven't formally met this character yet therefore information is still obscured.

Finally, we have a point of view shot of the character or the idea of the 'protagonist' in the film opening up the letter and it has written in it a time and place to meet. Once again this opening sequence has continued to obscure information as we do not know why he needs to meet this other character or what the actual relationship between these two. 

Sound,
There is a musical soundtrack which is incidental and we get the idea of the genre of the film because the way the sound has been presented to us. Moreover, the music gives us a sense of confusion and mystery which is understandable for the opening as there are two character's one who is portrayed to us as dead at a location where no one would like to be... a sewer. We do not know why they are there, the relationship between the two, why the character hasn't made any actions towards the dead woman other than stared, hence the mysterious atmosphere created by the music.