Camera

1. K C I R B In the OTS of this film we see that it has a restricted narrative – “chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time” (Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art, 1980) and it is restricted so that it only shows minimal information in relation to the narrative.

2. M A T O E G N Y R H P I A C Camera The camera shots in the Brick OTS involved quite a few close ups also includes the use of a few POV’s other shots started not as close up but then zoomed in slowly to build tension. There is an Extreme Wide Shot which is very unconventional, it doesn’t seem part of the narrative because of the use of the ‘Dutch tilt’. Also there are a few uses of angles including high angle to make the subject of the shot look weak and vulnerable and a low angle to make the subject look in control/ powerful, and lastly an eye level shot which just leaves a neutral effect. Also there is a Medium Close Up shot the uses a track and it moves along the subject. And there is a great use of a flashback graphic match when Emily is dead and there’s a shot of her hand then it flashes back to her hand putting a note into a locker. These are all typical of the thriller genre. The 180 degree rule is broken which usually is a bad thing but it was either by mistake which if the case it is bad camera work or maybe they did it on purpose to add discomfort since at the time you are looking at a dead body.

3. Editing Between the shots in the OTS it usually just cuts to the next but there is a fade in and a fade out, it fades out when the title ‘Brick’ which is also another piece of editing appears on a black canvas and fades in after to the scene with the note. This adds a nice flow and transition between the two shots. And there is another piece of editing when ‘TWO DAYS PREVIOUS’ fades in and out of the shot. This lets the audience know it’s 2 days earlier than the previous event but we already knew that it was previous because the dead girl is now alive, they probably just did it so you know it’s over the space of 2 days.

4. Sound At the beginning you hear some sort of musical riff which is played on what sounds like a xylophone, this adds intensity and mystery to the feel of the shots, and in this scene it is mysterious anyway with a dead body laying in a sewer entrance. Then you hear diegetic sounds which is just the character walking and interacting with his locker. Afterwards he is at a pay phone when it starts ringing then you hear the dialogue between him and a girl, then when she says ‘It’s good to see you’ quiet tingly sounds play in the background because it is very unsettling to hear that over the phone not knowing where the other person is, this builds anxiety in the spectators. But before their conversation came to an end you hear a noisy car engine drive nearby at a very high speed and then she becomes scared of the sound, so this sound is affiliated with fear for her and then after the car passes him someone flicks a cigarette at him and the flick noise is intensified to make the person sound more powerful.

5. - E N - E S S C E I E N M Setting The setting is urban, which is typical of thriller, because it’s your everyday people in extraordinary situations, it starts at what seems to be a entrance to a sewer, its very dirty, secluded and inhospitable which makes the audience feel uncomfortable like a thriller should. Seems like a place to hide from something or someone, or maybe even a place to hide something or someone like we see a dead body, it makes this place feel like a waste dump. Another place is a school/college which is in your head safe, young people there and altogether its just unconventional. And because it is a thriller nowhere is safe. Also everything is blue as well in Brick which makes everything look cold, isolated and depressing, this adds to the anxiety of the film because being alone in a thriller film is risky.

6. Props Props in the OTS include, a cigarette and this is seen as bad, for example in noir films a femme fatal is a powerful evil woman and a cigarette is one of her defining characteristics, also he throws it our of the window which is another thing that suggests this person is bad, throwing is an aggressive action, and leaving cigarette butts on the floor is bad for the environment, yet another negative, so as a spectator you can’t help but feel like this person is a/the villain. The note telling the main character where to go is very mysterious because it’s anonymous and anything or anyone could be waiting for him there but he still goes. The bangles on the girl’s arm are blue, just like the colour of the whole film, blue represents cold, drained of colour and isolation which she is when she dies. The car is a big part of the OTS, it has blacked out windows which shows the person like their privacy or doesn’t want to be seen, it’s black which represents evil with bits of red and red is dangerous or could relate to ‘The Devil’, it’s also very quick to suggest the person driving thinks he is above the law, so plus all the things we think about the cigarette we are sure that these characters are bad, as well as the girl screaming when it comes near she is obviously scared of the people in the car. The muscle car is also a very strong and powerful car which could point toward the people inside being strong and powerful. The car in general is something to fear, and to top it off it roars down the road like a lion would roar to show it’s authority.

7. Costume There isn’t much to say about the costumes apart from the main character and his clothes which are casual, little bit geeky shows he doesn’t really care about what he wears and what people think of him and his appearance. His glasses indicate that he is intelligent but also weak, he also wears a watch this means he is organised, (nerdy again). He wears smart school shoes, this shows he isn’t really athletic and that he isn’t one of the popular kids.

8. Figure Expression The main character at the beginning is hunched over almost curled into a ball, and he is looking at the dead girl, this could suggest either he can’t believe he killed her and he is in shock maybe cause he had no other choice, or even that he found the dead body and he can’t believe that either, both ways he isn’t a strong person and he’s figure expression tells us this, he isn’t used to seeing dead people and now he is vulnerable. But then he walks with confidence in the next shot but this is because he is at his school and he thinks he is completely safe there, but he isn’t. then he walks over to the meeting point and he isn’t as confident here, he is walking with his hands in his pockets which shows he is concealed to himself. Then his face drops when he hears the girls voice maybe because they’ve had an argument or as we learn she’s disappeared for a bit without a word said where she is going then again he looks confused after she says, ‘nice to see you’ over the phone. He is a typical teenager, he seems filled with different emotions.