the master sequence analysis

A Level Film

The Master

Sequence Analysis

This sequence starts with a medium closeup of a middle aged woman who appears to be eating, then there is a clean cut to a mid shot of a middle aged man and woman dressed in smart attire. In this shot we can also see that there is top down lighting making the table and the occupants of it illuminated and the background dark rendering the surroundings invisible, This could be to show the importance of what is happening at the table because nothing around them is there or important. We can hear diegetic sounds of plates scraping and  people eating as the extreme mid shot continues we can see the middle aged man looking nervous as if he is about to say something important and after he has glanced in the direction of the camera and the man in the shot whose face we have not yet seen, the middle aged man then addresses the unknown man as dad and we can infer from this that the occupants of the table are all related and may be family. There is next an eyeline match cut to the face of the father who we can see in a closeup, the father seems to be much calmer that the son as he barely glances at the son as he replies with a simple and powerful yes and then continues to eat. The camera remains on the father as the son says that he does not think that an unknown character named freddie may not be as committed to their cause as their cause is to him, this would normally get a reaction out of most people but the father simply continues to eat, we see him continue to eat and the look at his son as if waiting for more and there is an eyeline match cut as we go to look at the son from the same camera angle with the father just in the left of the shot the son seems to take this a cue and then continues with his anecdote about how freddie wanted to know about the prices of the fathers unpublished books giving us the impression that the father's works are worth a lot of money. While the son says this his body language is very confident but his eyes are constantly glancing around making it seem like his confidence is just a facade to cover up his true fear of his father, we can also see the younger girl slightly out of focus looking nervous and glancing around the same as the son when the son has finished with his thoughts about the man named freddie there is then a clean cut to a medium close up of the older woman (presumably the mother) in this shot we can still see the father this time in the right of the shot showing his power as he has been present in every shot so far in the sequence, the woman continues on to start giving her doubts about the man named freddie. There is next a clean cut to a medium long shot of the father at the end of the table but even though we can see the whole of the table we can see none of the other occupants yet again cementing the idea of the power that the man at the head of table holds of the others, the father studies the mother for a few moments and then he looks the other direction towards his daughter as if expecting her to say something, we then see another eyeline match cut to the daughter who now in the same shot as when the son was talking is in focus whilst the son is out of focus the daughter also says her thoughts about how she thinks that the man freddie is in love with her, in this shot we can see the son nodding gently in the background. The shot then clean cuts to the mother again and she then says that she wonders what the man is doing here and uncertainty smiles at her husband as if she is not sure how he will respond. We then have another clean cut to the medium long shot from the end of the table and see the man looking around the table whilst thanking them for their honesty. The father then gives a small speech about how if they are not helping him who is, and he looks around expecting them to agree as should be with his power over them. Even after this the mother still continues to argue that the man is beyond help and the father yet again simply thanks her and the rest of them knowing that he is right and they will not argue.

Non diegetic music then starts in the background and we see the woman yet again smile uncertainly. The next scene is a clean cut to the front of a house and we see a young girl riding a tricycle the father from the previous scene is sitting in a rocking chair on the porch and near him we can see a lot of people on the porch he is complimenting the girl on her success on riding the tricycle this shot is a long shot and we can still hear the non diegetic music. We then see a panning shot as the man stands from his chair and walks down the stairs to meet a man who walks onto the scene and they walk up to each other they then proceed to hug and then fall on the floor in what seems like a play fight a woman rushes from the house to see what is going on but the both stand up laughing with the man who entered the scene having ripped his trousers and then the continue to laugh as they begin their way up the staircase. Yet again in this scene the father in every shot giving him the most power in the sequence and giving the idea that he is more powerful than those around him .

The next scene starts after a clean cut to a mid shot with yet again the father as the centre of attention in the middle of a group of people in an orderly fashion behind him. In this scene there is only one other camera angle used in this scene which is from the top right of the room and pans from side to side tracking freddie as he walks from wall to window describing them to the father who is never out of shot showing that he is in control. There is then the voice of the mother layered over the scene of freddie and then there is a clean cut of her talking to freddie and doing a concentration exercise and then switches back to the scene of freddie as he walks to the wall and smashes his fist through it then yet again clean cuts to the concentration exercise again and then the sequence ends