Scene Analysis: A Hard Days Night.
The first shot is moving into the scene, as well as with a character. Most of the scenes after are eye level and medium close ups. These medium close ups allow the viewer to see the characters reactions and how they interact with each other. The camera usually follows whoever is speaking, if no one is speaking then one of the character’s reactions/actions. Only ¾ of the faces are usually visible, because of the camera angle.
One important thing the director has done was placing the characters. For example, whenever George and Ringo are in the frame, they are always seen together, with the exception of one close up. In this scene, they did less talking than the other characters, with them doing more actions, such as eating, or grabbing a portable radio. In addition, the camera put Paul, Johnson (the older man) and John in that exact order, and the camera movements have a pattern that occurs a few times. The pattern is the camera starting at the left and panning to the right, stopping at the three characters when they have dialogue. Once the boys leave the scene, the viewers are given two new areas of the train scene, the hallway and the window. The scene feels very rushed because of all of the fast camera movements and changes, adding a tense nature. In addition the camera frame is very tight, giving an enclosed feeling to this scene.
The scene starts off with one of the main characters in a hallway entering a seating area in a train. The seating area contains the remaining main characters. The old man wants to be able to read his newspaper in peace. On the other hand, the four boys want to have their window open and to play their radio. In the end, the older man gets what he wants, and the four boys are not able to have either of their wants fulfilled. The character with high status is the old man, who is a regular on the train, while the four boys are low status. All the characters are wearing suits, which tells us that they are most likely professional people, even though the four boys are somewhat childish, especially around the end of the scene. The relationship between the four guys with the older man creates a tense environment, because of different things they desire.
The setting takes place in a train, at a seating area. This is in the beginning of the movie, and the time of day would be afternoon, because it is still bright outside the window. This setting was chosen by the director to show what happens while they are on their way to their destination. It was also used to display how some other people may view the four main characters, who rather don’t care about what they do, for example the older gentleman. Because it’s a train, it’s a fast moving environment, and everything seems a bit rushed, including the camera shots and angles.
The dominant throughout the film is the character’s faces, as you can mostly see their faces with the top of their bodies and a bit of their surroundings. After the dominant, the subsidiary are a few objects, such as the small radio or the window that gets closed. This is a black + white film, so most of the colour values are a light grey, and this film really lacks a high or a low contrast.
