Film viewing practice Essay "Agent Carter"

 

When watching Marvel One shot- Agent Carter (2013) the first thing you may pick up on is the establishing shot of New York. It’s a beautiful skyline. If you are familiar with New York today, you may notice that it is not the same skyline you’d encounter if you looked now. This is to subconsciously tell you that the time setting is not current.  The second thing you may notice is the costuming.  That is the second thing that immediately tells you it was set in a different era than what were in. The costuming is much more formal that what we are used to. Now a days those who work at precincts do not wear suits. This would be considered a part of the mise-en-scene. When Peggy is being asked to do a task by the misogynistic man, it immediacy cuts to paperwork ready and waiting in her desk. I suppose this was for comedic effect, but also to set the tone of her environment at the time. You also may notice that when Peggy is looking at her “dead” love interest the music becomes somber and low. Then when she is startled you can hear a high note to further symbolize the abruptness. What is also considered mise-en-scene is when the lighting is dark and low. She is left alone in the precinct by herself. This is to convey the fact that she is quite literally “left in the dark” by her co-workers. This idea can be seen in earlier scenes when she is left out and underestimated. Soon after that an alarm goes off, casting red lines on Peggy’s face. This symbolizes the possible danger she is about to encounter. The next scene is Peggy walking to the location where she was directed. Since we are following from behind at a low angle, this could be called a low angle follow shot. It then switches so we can see the man in the buildings point of view. Then we are again looking at the man from Peggy’s point of view. Then she is greeted by the two men. We are then switched between over the shoulder shots between the two parties. It is also close ups of both parties since we can only see above their shoulders as it cuts between them. During the first fight scene it is edited to show the man oblivious and eating and it cuts to Peggy fighting. There I can only assume this for comedic effect.  There are then close ups of her fighting, really focusing on her legs. I assume this made is easier to possibly shoot with a stunt double. There is also never a close up on the faces in this scene. After the initial fight scene, we are greeted with a medium shot of Peggy standing in the window way. After she apprehends then man you get a close up of his wrists tied to the bar.