Semester Exam - Film Analyses of Black Mirror (season 3, episode 4, San Junipero)

 

Midterm exam

Black Mirror, San Junipero had an abundance of different camera shots, angels, and sounding decisions that were essential to the mood and meaning. How the characters were portrayed and came together were highly dependent on the angels they were shown in, the music playing in the background as they were on screen and the setting of which they were in.

Beginning with camera shots and angles, in the span of about 4 minutes there were over 10 different camera shots. To start us off with an establishing shot of the beach and city lights. It creates a sense of serenity and peacefulness. A pan shot of a car then follows and then we are transitioned to Yorkie walking along the sidewalk and we are given a close up shot of her. This helps us get introduced to the character. We are also introduced to two more characters, Kelly and Wes. A panning shot is used to show that he is almost chasing her. This gives us an insight to what their relationship might be like. Another panning shot is used to film Yorkie walk through the club. By using a panning shot we can see just how uncomfortable she is. The club is in direct contrast with her timid personality. When yorkie begins to play the arcade game we are given a close up shot of it. We can see that it is older, at least to us. An over the shoulder shot of a man walking up to her is used. It then switches to a two shot as they continue to have a limited conversation. This furthers the fact that she’s not quite comfortable. She leaves and goes to sit in a booth. Then Kelly appears and sits with her. From then on, a medium shot is used to film them. This shot is quite personal so it signifies their relationship will be important.

Then moving onto setting, there is an apparent dark/light theme throughout the clip. The establishing shot uses dark lighting with spots of light only from the houses and city. When we move onto the club everything is illuminated with neon lighting which was very popular in the 80’s which we then find out the clip is set in. We can also gather that with their costume i.e., clothing and hair. We are shown a crowded club which explains Yorkies nervousness. When Yorkie makes her way into the game room, we notice a heavy contrast, and it makes sense why she chooses to start her night there. It’s a little more lit than the club, and way less crowded. She doesn’t have to dance there whereas we can assume she’ll be expected to dance in the club. When she moves onto the booth, she is again thrown into the jumpy excitable scene. She then comes across Kelly again and she is the exact opposite of Yorkie. While Yorkie is quiet and keeps to herself, Kelly is louder and outgoing.

Finishing with sound, as a watcher and listener you can pick up on obvious sound changes throughout the clip. The tense music we hear right off the bat is non-diegetic, so we know it’s to build suspense on our part. This would also be leit-motif.  The music being played in the club is diegetic and loud on purpose. It makes her more uncomfortable. It immediately muffles when she enters the game room. It makes her feel a bit more comfortable. This would also be sound perspective. When the man offers to play a racing game, Yorkie gets scared and jumpy of the crash. This was an obvious editing choice, and we can assume a car crash has extreme significance to her. The change in music to being more tense would be considered a sound bridge. The music again picks up when she enters the dance part of the club again.

After watching the clip four times it was apparent that all angle, sound, and editing choice was purposeful. It reflected on every character and each of their personalities.