'Clean, shaven' Scene Deconstruction 1

The first scene is of Peter winter, the young schizophrenic man, in his car and it displays his mental illness very vivdly.

Point 1

Camera: The first shot in the scene is a close-up profile shot of Peter Winter. This gives the impression that although the audience watch Peter in his life, we are not fully connected with him and we will never be able to understand fully what he is going through. Then, there is a long shot of telephone lines overhead being tracked continuously as Peter drives along. This shot is effective as it gives an idea of how his brain is not completely within the real world.

Editing: Cross cutting between different angles of the telephone wires is used to put across a sense of disorientation as if in Peter's brain.

Sound: There is a discordant high pitched sound over the top of continuous diegetic noise of someone talking through a static radio in which you cannot make sense of the words. This puts the viewer in the POV of Peter.

Mise en scene: The diagonal composition in the telephone wires puts across a sense on unease, backing up the idea of putting the audience in Peter's shows. Low-key lighting is also used to show Peter's world as a dark one.

Point 2

Camera: There is a close- up of the reflection of Peter in the car window. The shot is face-on but Peter quickly covers up his eyes with masking tape, continuing the trend of him disconnecting himself from reality. The fact that he is seen through a mirror also makes his existence seem uncertain.

Editing: The shot of Peter is continuous and doesn't feature any shots of Peter other than the reflection in the mirror. This shows that the audience is limited to a certain view of him, and that he finds it difficult to let people in.

Sound: The non-diegetic soundtrack is stopped at this point and all the audience can hear is the diegetic sounds of masking tape being used and also Peter's frustrated breathing and grunts. This makes the audience focus totally on Peter and his emotions.

Mise en Scene: The framing around Peter is extremely tight and shows that he is trapped inside his illness. As well as this, diagonal composition is used again through the masking tape to put across the feeling of unease.

Point 3

Camera: There is immediately a close-up of Peter throwing away a collection of cigarettes, this not only allows the audience to see that he has a serious addition but also emphasises how his hand is shaking and therefore his distress is highlighted. Then there is another close-up of his reflection again in the car rear view mirror. His expression is distressful again and so it shows his horror on seeing his own face. Then, there is a POV shot of him covering his reflection up with newspaper.

Editing: The shot of Peter is continuous and doesn't feature any shots of Peter other than the reflection in the mirror. This shows that the audience is limited to a certain view of him, and that he finds it difficult to let people in.

Sound: The sound of Peter's upset breathing is emphasised by the silent background noises which highlights his distress and discomfort regarding his own existence. The diegetic sound of the newspaper is also emphasised which gives the moment more of an impact.

Mise en scene: Yet again there is tight framing in the shot of Peter which displays hows that he is trapped inside his illness and for him there is no feeling of escape.

 Point 4

Camera: There is a medium shot of Peter in the reflection of the car window. This continues the theme of Peter not accepting the reality of his existence and finding it hard to live. He is at a distant proximity to the camera which makes him seem disconnected form the viewer and real life. The high angle shot of him punching the window adds impact to his actions. At one point, we can see his hand shaking as he directs it towards his reflection, showing his distress.

Editing: The shot is cut immediately from the following ones, giving the effect of building up the extent of his illness. He results in removing each reflection that can be seen in his car.

Sound: The sound of the window shattering is emphasised against the lack of non-diegetic soundtrack and this gives the idea that there is a violent side to his illness.

Mise en scene: The low-key lighting in the shot makes Peter come across as a dark silhouette, making him seem dark and mysterious and potentially dangerous. This is linked to the glass shattering a second later, giving a dramatic, threatening feel to the scene.