Film Studies - An Analysis of the Film Language in the 2002 film Panic Room
...the characters cannot escape. The piping and wiring that runs along the ceiling is exposed, and this combined with the bare stone walls connotes somewhere underground, creating the feeling of somewhere cut off from the rest of the world. It also connotes a military bunker or air raid shelter, and connotes danger, uneasiness and isolation, as bunkers are usually underground, and would be used only in a very bad situation. A fall out shelter would also connote the end of the world, and this captures how Sarah and Meg feel trapped, wondering if they will get out alive. This is also exaggerated by how the room is lit with unnatural light. The ceiling slopes inwards, and this also creates a feeling that the room is closing in on the characters and plays on a standard claustrophobic fear. The panic room is lit with a blue colour cast and this connotes cold and isolation. Sarah and Meg are wearing their nightclothes, in the cold looking panic room, and this creates a very discomforting image. The panic room seems more of an uncomfortable place for the characters, and therefore there is more of a reason to leave, but they are confined to the room and this creates the claustrophobic element. The lighting is also very harsh and unnatural, as well as disorientating, and connotes somewhere again underground. The bedroom outside the panic room is lit with a plain magnolia/ white colour. There is a high contrast between the lit wall and the shadowed areas of the room. The room is lit by a strong work-light, which is pointed at the CCTV cameras. This conveys that the robbers are doing a job, and this is also connoted by how they are using tools, such as when Burnham drills in to the wall. This connotation makes the robbers seem more professional and more of a threat. This light also seems to connote feelings of disorientation from having a light shining directly in to the camera, which is Meg and Sarah’s only way of seeing out of the panic room, and therefore their only power. High and low camera angles are used throughout the scene and these help to convey a feeling of limited space within the panic room. They create corners and sharp shapes, which could trigger a feeling of uneasiness. It could connote the tall but closely packed in buildings of the city, linking to the theme of the city. It also makes the protagonists look small and weak when the camera is looking down on them, and makes the burglars look intimidating and powerful when low angles are used looking up. The claustrophobia is also conveyed through the use of omniscient camera movements through the walls. This creates a first person perspective of the confined space pulling the audience further in to story world. These shots are a combination of camera and editing techniques. There is another shot where the camera goes inside the hose and in through the vent and this directly refers to the claustrophobia as the audience is placed inside a tiny vent. The image of the robbers arguing over how much gas to pump in to the room makes it seem that they have lost control and this creates a feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness for Meg and Sarah as their lives at stake, and they could easily be killed. The conflict makes it seem that no one is actually in control and that the gas is just flowing in without an intelligent mind controlling it, and this heightens the feeling of claustrophobia as Sarah and Meg are trapped in the room with nowhere to escape, while their lives hang in the balance. In the Mise En Scene is a small hole that separates Meg and Sarah from the outside world. The size of this hole emphasises how they are unable to escape, as it is too small for them to get through. It is also their only supplier of air as the room that they are trapped in is slowly filling with gas. The hole is near to the floor and this seems to heighten the claustrophobic element, as the effect wouldn’t be the same if the hole were at waist level. The fact that the hole is on the ground means that it feels further out of reach from the characters. The hole also has a small flap on it that spins around. Sarah has to tur...