January 27, 2007

Film Clip Analysis

ENG4133 – Burt

A Very Long Engagement

(dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2004)

Part One: Brief Description of Film Clip

This clip is a flashback Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) has of an outing she and her fiancé, who is away at war, Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) go on. They go up to a bell tower of a church where they explore, look at an Albatross flying, and chisel the letters “MMM” into a large church bell. In the process of chiseling the letters, they ring the bell several times causing towns people below to stop and take notice.

Total Length: One minute eighteen seconds

Begins: 0:46:00.00

Ends: 0:47:11.00

Total Number of Shots: 18

Part Two: Analysis / Shot by Shot Description

Shot / Image Captured / Movie Time / Length of Shot / Description of Shot / Annotation
1 / / 0:46:00.00 / 4
sec / The clip begins with a lower angle shot shooting up toward a church. The church is centered in the shot, putting a great emphasis on its architecture and it’s symmetry. By the architecture we can tell that the church is very old. The church is surrounded by yellow, warm light. / In this first shot of the clip the location for the rest of the clip is revealed. The lower angle perspective gives the audience the feel that they are walking into the church along with Mathilde and Manech. Also the shot makes the church seem larger than it is, the top of the church nearly touches the top of the frame. Although the church’s size is emphasized, the foreboding feel comes from the use of light around the church.
2 / / 0:46:04.00 / 6
sec / A high angle shot shoots straight ahead and Manech and Mathilde go up the stairs. Manech is carrying Matilde on his back. The stairs they are ascending are in a spiral shape. Only half of the stairwell is lighted. As the shot continues the two move from the darker, lower stairs to the brighter, upper stairs. Soft music increases in volume as they go up the stairs. As does the sound of Manech’s heavy breathing. / Even though the camera remains stationary, Mathilde and Manech move in front of it. The stairs acts as a way to carry out the motion, despite the camera, because of their spiral shape. Manech and Mathilde entire bodies are never shown in the shot. They are both never completely in the light. The high angle shot, also allows for the audience to see the couple coming before the couple would be around the turn. The increasing level of sound of music reflects the increase the amount of stairs that have been climbed.
3 / / 0:46:10.00 / 12 sec / The shot begins with a close-up of a wooden door leading to the top of bell tower. Manech and Mathilde emerge from behind the door. Mathilde is still being carried on his back. As the two walk forward the camera moves back, widening the view. They move forward to the center of the tower where the largest bell is located. The music is still soft and sweet, but birds can be heard in the background. / Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Director) emphasizes Manech and Mathilde’s reactions in this shot. The close-up mirrors how close the two are to the door when it opens. As they walk out more, the camera continues to mirror them by widening. Just as the camera shot widens, so does Manech and Matilde’s eyes with excitement. As the two begin to look around, the camera settles at it’s widest point, allowing the audience to see that the area in which the two are standing is much larger than originally seen.
4 / / 0:46:22.00 / 5
sec / This is a high angle shot that reveals four small bells as well as the large bell in the center. Both people are standing next to the large bell. Manech has a hammer and a chisel, which he uses to strike the bell. Mathilde stand near him, facing him. As soon as the bell is hit, the two quickly cover their ears and Mathilde gasps in reaction. The bell makes one loud ring. / The high angle shot again makes Manech and Mathilde seem shorter than they are. The shot focuses more on their actions than on the surrounding elements, although those elements such as architecture are prevalent in the shot. The reaction to the bell’s sound is quick. It is as if the two did not realize what would happen if they hit the bell. Thus striking the bell is a new discovery for them. This emphasizes their young age.
5 / / 0:46:27.00 / 2
sec / This clip cuts from the bell tower to a close-up high angle shot of an older woman. The woman looks up from what she is doing in the shot. The woman is in the foreground. In the background is another woman ringing out a wet piece of clothing. The woman’s head though is not in the shot. Also in the background are a bucket of soap bars and a bucket of clothing. / Now Jeunet breaks the Manech and Mathilde mold, to show that there are other people. It strange how images of other people would be included in Mathilde’s flashback though, because she obviously did not see if other people heard them ringing the bell. Jeunet choose and older woman, who strongly contrasts Mathilde youth, witnessed in the last shot.
6 / / 0:46:29.00 / 1
sec / The last shot abruptly cuts to this high angle shot of an elderly man. Like the elderly woman in the last shot, the man looks up from what he is doing. However, in this shot the man is indoors. This shot contains rather harsh lighting. Half the man’s face is bright and the other half is not. / The clip cuts to an elderly man, who contrast’s Manech’s youth. Like Manech, the man has a very point face and strong cheek structure. The camera remains at the same angle as the last shot, so even though it shot of the old man is abruptly cut to, there is some fluid motion to the compilation.
7 / / 0:46:30.00 / 1
sec / Breaking the mold, this is a lower angle shot of a middle-aged woman. Her head turned down and rises up as if she is looking for where the sound is coming from. / Jeunet changes the angle of the shot to show the third and final reaction to the noise. This transition puts emphasis on the woman’s younger skin. Though she is not as young as Mathilde.
8 / / 0:46:31.00 / 1
sec / This is a lower angle shot of the front of the church. However, the shot is not straight on and the church is not centered. The shot contains darkly lighted tree branches on the left hand side. The warm, yellow light still frames the church. / This perspective of the church marks the return to Manech and Mathilde on the bell tower. It contrasts to the last church shot however, by not being centered. The off-centered trend is something Jeunet uses throughout the clip. Also, the tree branch punctures the yellow light framing of the church.
9 / / 0:46:32.00 / 4
sec / The shot begins with a wide-angle view of Manech and Mathilde standing next to the bell. The shot zooms in to a medium-close up of the two. Manech has his arms on the bell to stop it from ringing. Mathilde still has her hands covering her ears. At the end of the shot they turn to one another and softly giggle. / The zoom back from the wide-angle to the close-up shot affirms that to Mathilde and Manech it is all about them. Manech is seen with his arms around the bell, trying to stop it from making noise. It is as if he is trying to prevent them from getting caught. When the bell stops the two turn their heads toward each of and giggle softly, as if they had gotten away with whatever they did wrong. The youthful looking close-up of the two contrasts with the previous close-ups of the older people.
10 / / 0:46:36.00 / 13 sec / This is a straight angle shot of Manech and Mathilde. It is framed darkly lighted architecture of the tower. The two are standing closely next to one another, however they are not centered in the shot. They are standing in warm light. The camera moves slowly back to a wider angle. Deep in the background is a single albatross hovering in the wind. The sound of wind is strong. Also dialogue about the bird is made. / The dark framing of Manech and Mathilde reinforces their isolation from everyone. Despite the dark frame, the two are standing in the light as the lean against the ledge. The position of the two as off-centered picks up on the camera theme created with the church. The dialogue is significant to the movie and theme as a whole. The motif of the albatross is explained in this scene. Manech says, “Look! An Albatross is stubborn. He knows he can outlast the wind.” This comment helps describe the type of love between the two.
11 / / 046:49.00 / 2
sec / This is a lower angle shot of a clock located in an arch not found in the tower. The shot is very heavily lighted. The time is 6:59 and the hand changes to 7:00 in this shot. The arch is slightly off centered in the frame of light. / Throughout the film there are many shots of clocks, watches, and pocket watches, either by themselves or in the background. In this shot, the clock function to carry on that reoccurring image, but it also shows that Manech and Mathilde have been on the bell tower for a while. The lower angle shot shows the clock from a child-like perspective. Carrying on Jeunet’s positioning trend, the clock is off centered.
12 / / 0:46:51.00 / 4
sec / The clock cuts to another image of the church. It is a lower angle shot. The camera is at an extreme shot up wards. The church is surrounded by warm, yellow light. The tilted church is not centered in the frame. From the angle two distinct crosses are visible. / This lower angle shot reinforces the child perspective as well as the notion of the church being a grander structure. Again the shot is framed with the same yellow light, but this time it is broken up by an object.
13 / / 0:46:55.00 / 6
sec / This is a front view, straight angle shot of Manech and Mathilde. Manech is hitting the bell repeatedly with the chisel and hammer. The bell is swinging as he hits it hard. From this angle, the bell swings into the camera towards the audience. Mathilde is squinting and covering her ears. / This shot puts the audience at eye level with Manech and Mathilde. Consequently the bell swings at the audience, thus incorporating the audience in the action. From this angle the expressions on their faces are easily seen. Mathilde is grabbing her ears in almost pain from the noise, where as Manech is struggling with hitting the chisel as hard as he can.
14 / / 0:47:01.00 / 2
sec / This is a straight angle shot of Manech striking the bell. The view is from the side. It shows the bell swinging back and forth, but not into the camera. Mathilde is in the foreground leaning against the stone structure of the tower. She is still covering her ears. / This shot is of the same action as the last, but from a different perspective. This shot allows the audience to see the rhythm of striking the bell, plus the actual contact of steel. Using the warm, yellow light Manech and his actions perfectly outlined, though his actual body is in the dark.
15 / / 0:47:03.00 / 2
sec / This is a slightly lower angle of the same action. Although it is the same action the perspective is from the rear. Thus, the audience sees Manech’s back as he strikes the bell with the chisel. Mathilde is now in the background and her expression is slightly more nervous than before. She still has her ears covered from the sound. / The lower angle shot of Manech’s back create a barrier between the audience and the couple. This barrier once again emphasizes the detachment of the couple from the rest of the world. The continuation of the same action through different shots adds to a spatial detachment from the main characters. I t also allows the time to pass more quickly than it would if the bell kept swinging from the same camera angle.
16 / / 0:47:05.00 / 4
sec / This is a reestablishing high angle shot. The bell is back to swinging toward the audience, but this time the audience can see the top of the bell. Mathilde is almost bent over now trying to hide her head and ears from the noise. / Jeunet lets the viewer return to the same shot, only this time it is at a higher angle, creating not only more detachment, but making an age gap apparent as well. The high angle purposely makes Manech and Mathilde look smaller.
17 / / 0:47:09.00 / 2
sec / This is a lower angle shot of another area of the church. In the shot there are several different buildings. All of the buildings are surrounded by yellow light. All of the buildings are off centered. / The last shot of the church from the outside is consistent with all the other church shots, except this time there is another building next to it. The lower angle shot makes both buildings appear larger than they would be normally.
18 / / 0:47:11.00 / 7
sec / This is a straight angle shot of the bell. It becomes more a close up as time shot goes on. The bell is swinging and slowly coming to a stop. The bell is framed in the background by the structure of the tower. As the bell slows down, the details of it become clearer. The details are an elaborate pattern and three capital m’s. / The final shot of the clip reveals the MMM motif as something that came from Manech and Mathilde’s love, although the audience does not know what it means yet at this particular time in the film. The letters are results of why Manech was striking the bell. The bell is centered and framed like the majority of the shots in this clip, reinforcing the common link between the shots.

Part Three: Film Clip Analysis

Themes of love and hope prevail in the wartime love story, A Very Long Engagement. Jean–Pierre Jeunet directs the film about Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) and Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) and their love that is strong enough to survive presumable death. Though the couple’s love and relationship is strong it is different from that of most people. Manech and Mathilde are childhood sweethearts, who began their love affair at the age of nine. As children they were more playmates than lovers, which is to be expected. As they grew up the childish nature of their relationship did not change, though they became intimate. In a one minute eighteen second clip, Jeunet cements their love and relationship as adolescent by utilizing the positioning of characters and objects, camera angles, and Manech and Mathilde’s actions to set the couple apart from the rest and to create their own world.

In the clip, Jeunet frames most of his shots either by surrounding the main object in the shot in light or in darkness for example, the church is always surrounded by a warm, yellow light. Manech and Mathilde, on the other hand, are framed by darkness. Throughout the entire clip, the two lovers are never completely standing in the light. The darkness can easily signify confusion and help estrange the two from the rest of the world. Jeunet also uses patterns of positions for the clip. All subsequent church shots after the first church shot (0:46:00.00) are off centered, failing to show off the symmetry of the structure. Jeunet uses theses shots to set up the shots of Manech and Mathilde, who are also never centered in the frame. Even in the shot of just the two of them standing side by side (0:46:36.00), they are off to the side, next to one another. This positioning is used to visually show that even though the two are beside one another, something is not right. Therefore, even though they are in love, they are different and people look at them differently.

The clip contains three separate shots, of different people responding to the sound of the bell ringing at the wrong time. All three of the people are doing something and look upward to see where the noise is coming from. Two of the three shots are of elderly people. The age of these people contrasts sharply to the age of Manech and Mathilde, thereby emphasizing their youth.

Camera angles, in this clip play a very important role in reinforcing Manech and Mathilde’s child-like relationship. Low angle shots are primarily used in architectural shots. There are five different shots of the outside of the church and all of them are shot from a lower perspective. The shot makes the church seem larger than it is and the top of the church nearly touches the top of the frame. These types of shots make the audience feel smaller and give the perception that Manech and Mathilde are smaller as well. Size does matter when fully establishing the adolescent connection and establishing said connection is exactly what Jeunet is trying to do. High angle shots have a similar purpose and effect. The majority of the shots shot at a high angle perspective are of Manech and Mathilde (for example 0:46:22.00). These shots make the two look smaller, thus emphasizing their youth.