The extract starts with an establishing shot of
Merlin inside of a castle, which tells us that he is going to be the male
protagonist as he is the first character introduced. The castle idea is
conveyed through the bright, large stained glass windows. Immediately, through
Merlin’s dull clothes, it is clear that he does not belong in the castle and
that he is not of the same status as the people that would have lived there. As
the scene continues the editing of the clip increases, with much faster paced
cuts between shots. This empahsises the fact that he should not be where he is,
making Merlin appear to be worried. This is also empahsised through the use of
the eerie non-diegetic music that is played throughout the scene.
Whilst
Merlin is in the room, the camera cuts back to the long shot of the corridor,
where we see a female figure dressed in a long, purple dress. This connotes
that she is of wealth and a high status. We see her walk towards the room,
which Merlin had just entered, and she begins to confront Merlin. In this
scene, the two characters are shot at an eye-line match – suggesting that they
are in fact, of equal status, and that Merlin’s place in society may be higher
than first expected.
The change
of scene, takes us to a working class market, where a medium shot establishes
Merlin among his peers. The high-key lighting of the scene contrasts the
low-key lighting of the previous scene, connoting that Merlin is not in as much
danger as he was in before. We are then introduced to Arthur and his ‘gang’.
Arthur is immediately made to look important due to the fact that he is
positioned in the middle of the screen and is wearing armor – items worn by
trained fighters, people of high status. Arthur beings to bully Merlin, yet the
camera angle does not change, and we see an in focus Merlin walk towards the
camera, defying the fact he is being put down, and is then shot at with an
eye-line match to Arthur, again, connoting that he is of the same status as
Arthur. As the scene draws to an end, Arthur begins to speak down to Merlin,
and says ‘You can’t talk to me like that’. The dialogue that Arthur uses,
suggests that he believes he is of a higher status, however, Merlin then brings
it back down. The camera cuts to a close up of his face, and we see his facial
expression change into a smirk connoting that he finds the situation humorous
and is not affected by anything Arthur does. The scene then prepares us for the
conflict that is about to come by the diegetic sound of the weapons.
To
commence the fight, the music becomes fast paced and adds to the intensity of
the fight. The pace of the editing increases rapidly, with various jump shots
being used to intensify the fight. For the first half of the fight Arthur is
more dominant and is given more screen time. The ferocity that Arthur fights
with is conveyed when a quick shot is shown of Merlin crushing and exploding a
cabbage.
During the
fight, the control is handed over to Merlin when he starts to use his magic. An
extreme close up of his eye changing colour is a symbolic sign that the magic
has begun. From this point onwards, Merlin is given much more screen time,
connoting that he is now the more important character in the fight scene.
As the
fight ends – with Merlin still in control – The camera cuts to a close up of Merlin’s
teacher, who’s facial expressions show how disappointed he is in Merlin, which
then puts Merlin in his pace, distracting Merlin and allowing Arthur to knock
him down with a broom – the broom is emphasised as being a much more ferocious
weapon than it is by the use of Foley sounds. Merlin is then shot from a high
angle showing how weak he is on the ground. Arthur then sweeps the broom in
Merlin’s face, as if to be brushing Merlin away, switching the status to be in
Arthurs favor. Yet at the end of the
fight, both men are shot at an eye-line match, connoting a level of respect
that the men have for each other., and how they are both in fact of equal
status.
In the
last scene of the extract, Merlin and his teacher are placed in a parallel
scene to the first. They are in a low-key lighted room and shot at eye level.
However, in this scene, Merlin and his teacher both have similar dull clothing
on, connoting that they are of the same status; all be it not a very high one.
The scene
is also shown to be serious through the use of no non-diegetic sound, jus the
dialogue empahsies that the two men are shouting. Merlin’s frustration is
present in his dialogue “I’m just a nobody and always
will be”. How Merlin feels about himself contrast the ideas of the director, as
throughout the extract, Merlin has been portrayed as being the same level of
importance as all of the other characters.
By
Reece Garside
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