In Time

 

This shot is an example of establishing the Dystopian society that the film In Time is set in. The colours in this long shot are drained completely of vibrancy which creates a sense of desolation and hopelessness within the film. The colours that are shown are pale and dirty and the lack of plantation on the dusty mud infers the lifelessness of this society, nothing productive comes from the society that they live in. The references to time “ONLY 1 HOUR”, “99 SECONDS ONLY Stores” are in sync with the title and the futuristic theme of the film.

Genre:Thrillers are designed to excite the audience keeping them on the edge of their seats, in the opening sequence of a thriller, the director (Andrew Niccol) needs to establish that the film is thriller by using signifiers; The implication of their being something that will lead to the Thriller aspect of the movie later on within the film.   This mid-shot of the man

wearing a suit is packed with different details that point toward sinister goings on. First off the clothing of this man, despite it being a colourless suit it indicates toward luxury and wealth and differentiates to the working-class jumpsuits that the other characters in this scene are wearing, the contrast between this man and the ghetto is further highlighted by the brick wall behind him

The separation between this man and the other people in the industrial work-place indicates to his authority and his expression reinforces this, the eye contact made between himself and Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) foreshadows the rest of the film, where in which Will does a lot of “staring-down” with authority. The thriller genre is established here and empowered by the zeroed out person in this low-angle mid-shot.

Exposition: The camera establishes the setting by using a panning close up that revolves around the protagonist. The camera uses this as an opportunity to establish the setting and therefore the themes and genre of this film. This therefore gives a place, setting the atmosphere for the film and therefore helping toward the narrative of the film.

Exposition: The voice-over at the very beginning of In Time conveys knowledge that the audience would not know without the assistance of this non-diegetic voice is information. The over-voice works as a guide and provides the audience with background information that will aid the audience as the film progresses. For example we as an audience would not understand this:

  Evidently neither of them looks old enough to be 50 years old but because of the information provided by our narrator at the beginning of the film audiences understanding is established and the science-fiction part of the genre is established by the explanation of this. The voice-over of the protagonist indicates to his importance later on in the film and it is also part of the exposition as it introduces the narrative.

Exposition: The non-diegetic sound of the slow high key piano music and the heart-beat like sound playing in unison at the very beginning of In Time, infers that the green glow (which is a zoomed in version of the 13 numbered clock which as the film moves on we learn is their life force) is equivalent to their heartbeat, this builds a connection with modern day sounds that are associated with life and death. The music is slow, high key and sad inferring that this new form of a ‘’life-line’’ is like the music; sad. The non-diegetic music and heart-beat sounds do the same job as the narrative in terms of helping establish the exposition. The music and sounds of the heart, point toward thinking of life but the sad music contrasts to it because it sounds sad, as if something upsetting is about to be said, and soon enough the voice over is heard. All these sounds; the non-diegetic sounds of the heartbeat, the music and the over voice all work towards establishing the narrative so that the audience understand the story.

Exposition: The protagonist, Will Salas, played by Justin Timberlake is first introduced through the use of the over-voice; his knowledge adds authority to his character which is further reinforced by his status as a Hollywood star. The first visual representation of him is shown through, a mid-shot of him looking at his “clock”

There’s darkness around him and the only light is coming from his “clock” which essentially is his life this may indicate to him constantly looking at his clock, nothing around him matters at that moment, this gesture is repeated throughout the film by many other characters in the ghetto and the simple gesture establishes class within the film. The rich don’t need to look at their clocks which to them functions more like a purse but the poor however are constantly looking at it. Will is a representation of all those other working-class people who don’t have “more time on their hands than hours in the day”. This functions towards helping exposition as this perception of Will isn’t just of Will Salas it is of everyone, all those living in the ghetto make exactly the same movements that he does and using Will Salas to represent the bigger picture at the beginning of the movie infers that he is an important character and perhaps will lead all of the people that he represents. First impressions of the protagonist are important as they help toward establishing narrative, the automatic response of the audience when they see this man is to believe him to be the hero. Through character narrative devices the audience unconsciously deduce the fact that this man who has barely been introduced is the protagonist.

Cinematography

Cinematography is important in this movie and especially in thrillers because it allows the audience to see only a certain amount of information, what is shown within a frame allows the audience to interpret what they have seen. Cinematography can point toward a character’s state of mind, indicate to the genre of a film and each shot has a different meaning hence why there are so many of them.

What Does this Tell you about the Character of Will Salas?

Cinematography: This mid-shot of Will Salas tells us a lot about the protagonist’s state of mind. The city is reflected through the glass, indicative of place and also of his origins, the rust on the grills that trap him behind the glass (in the confines of the ghetto in which he lives) is rusty and dirty, which infers to the poverty of the place in which he lives and also shows that Will Salas may feel trapped by the place in which he lives as he is looking out toward the outside of the window and not straight at the camera. There is also the positioning of Will Salas is arm, that arm is the arm with the clock and although it is not directly visible it is important to acknowledge that that is the arm that holds his life, the currency that is trapping him within that unkempt and dirty atmosphere.

Cinematography: As explained before different shots can mean different things and draws the audience to make certain conclusions by what they have seen. Cinematography is an important aspect in helping the audience to decipher something from what they have seen. All these shots, which have been spoken of earlier in the presentation all convey different meaning by using cinematography

Close up

Mid-Shot

Long Shot

Editing

Editing alters how the audience sees things within In Time and highlights certain things prioritising them and indicating their importance within the film. Editing is important to a thriller as it adds the “edge of your seat” aspect to the film as it only shows certain things.

Editing: Continuity Editing, provides the essence of time and atmosphere within a film and is used consistently within In Time. Essentially continuity editing runs in chronological order, providing a sense of time as the movie is moving forward, this of course goes with the theme of In Time which is of moving forward and persevering against the odds. Continuity Editing provides this aspect of time moving forward.

Editing: Shot transactions are also another form of editing that is used continuously throughout the futuristic thriller In Time to add speed and also to show immediate changes of atmosphere or emotions. The shot transaction were used within In Time to change scenes, the film completely neglected the traditional fading from one scene to the next and opted instead for shot transactions. This is indicative of the trait that all the working class within this movie have, which is that they do everything to quickly because they “don’t have time” to waste. It also adds the fast past that is sometimes associated with Thrillers.

Editing: The titles at the beginning of the movie already hint to the time theme of the movie and are very nicely done, but they are not incorporated within the actual film footage opting instead for a black screen with the name of the production company and the title of the film. The actors’ names were not shown until the casting list at the end of the movie. The title of In Time has a countdown clock on the letter “I” going down from 6 -1 so that the 1 then becomes “I”, this time themed title reminds the audience of what the film is about and is nicely done in keeping within the themes of the title itself

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene is a very important part of In Time as they aid in establishing the atmosphere and tone of the film and also adds realism to the film, making it seem more futuristic for example. There are 4 very important aspects of Mise-en-Scene that help to show the tone and atmosphere of In Time.

Spot the differences in the use of Spot the differences in the use of colourcolour

Colour (Mise-en- Scene): Colour really helps to establish the mood within In Time and is used very effectively in two different scenes within the opening sequence.  

Colour is very important in terms of a film as it shows the mood or state of minds of characters and helps the audience to understand more about particular characters within the story/ the scene. The colour of the kitchen in this scene for example are bright, the oranges of the light shade , the green of the wall and the blues of the characters clothing and the fridge all point towards vibrancy a good life, but notice how dirty the walls seem to be. I think that the use of colour here was meant to show that these two characters are satisfied with the life that they have and although sometimes it can be tainted they are okay because they have a connection with each other. The fact that they are wearing the same colour shows this, that they have a connection and that they are play satisfied with life because at least they have each other.

Colour (Mise-en- Scene): This scene outdoors really helps in conveying the dystopian theme of the movie as all the colours are washed out and barely existent. Everything seems to have a gritty coating over it which contrasts to the colourful pastel colours of the Kitchen in Will Salas is house. The watery colours in this scene and the grittiness of it reinforce the dystopian world outside and also constitutes as a way to differentiate how Will Salas feels within his home with his mother; safe, satisfied, happy. And how he feels outside of his home; invisible, sad, unable to change anything. The difference implies the protagonist’s feelings toward the 2 different atmospheres.

Props (Mise-en-Scene): Props are extremely important within this film as the futuristic-ness of In Time is established. Apart from the “time capsules” there are also other devices that help to establish the fact that the time and place within the movie In Time is different from the one that we live in.

This device is used to pay for things in stalls and shops , reducing the time on people’s clocks according to how many minutes things cost. It adds to the futuristic genre of the film and therefore helps with the film.

The truck does not look like modern day cars, its abnormality highlights it as being something from the future. Props like this are important in establishing the realism of a futuristic type film like In Time.

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