Bitter Sweet: The Loved Ones Scene Deconstruction #1

Scrapbook

The scene opens with a close-up of Lola’s scrapbook as she shows Brent. These close-ups are either of where Lola is pointing at or where Brent is looking. This immerses the audience in the scene as if they’re either looking through Brent’s eyes or they’re being shown the scrapbook, too. This creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience.

A long shot shows Daddy, Brent and Lola sitting at the end of the dining room table as if they’re gathering to look through a family photo album. This gives the situation a sense of normality which is creepy and disturbing because how sadistic what they’re doing actually is.

There are close-ups of all 3 characters showing their various reactions to the scrapbook. The close-ups of Lola have Brent in the foreground but out of focus, keeping the connection between them always the focus and showing Brent’s lack off reaction to Lola.

These close-ups are intimate and reflect Brent’s discomfort and lack of escape, putting the audience into his shoes.

Brent’s close-up however does show a reaction. This is a low angle from the position of the scrapbook, which emphasises when he’s not looking at the scrapbook but is simply staring straight ahead. It also shows his reactions to some of the pages of the scrapbook.

When the scene flashes back, there is a long shot of what possibly is one of Lola’s previous victims standing in the road. This is the same shot that is used earlier in the film as Brent sees him in the road and swerves to avoid him. This breaks the scene up well and shows a stark contrast especially as the shot is in the day also.

Throughout the scene, Lola finds what she’s showing Brent amusing and so laughs and giggles. This makes the audience feel discomfort that she finds this acceptable and normal, therefore showing how evil and twisted she is. This is the sort of behaviour you could expect from the character we’d like to base our concept on.

Lola’s diegetic dialogue particularly the comments she makes on the pages and events that happened is also evidence to how she clearly finds this behaviour acceptable. This comments and the tone of her voice are similar to what someone would say as they look through a family photo album, and as this is her life with her dad, this is actually her equivalent.

Although Daddy doesn't have any dialogue, he does demonstrate reaction noises to what Lola is saying. He lets Lola take centre stage but encourages her. He laughs with her, groans and ‘mmmm’s to agree.

Throughout the scene, the diegetic soundtrack is a quiet ominous tone. This creates a dark creepy atmosphere. When Lola reaches ‘Timmy Valentine, this note increases in volume and urgency, hinting at a clue in the story, conventional and appropriate to the genre. At this point there is a flashback, where a sound of which sounds like a camera taking a picture is heard. Brent is looking back into his memory and memories are usually kept through photographs.

Phrases Lola says such as ‘psssss’ and ‘boring!’ show how immature she is and how she hasn’t grown up in many ways. More specifically she is stuck in a fairy tale however this shows how she’s not necessarily grown up in the way she acts and speaks because of perhaps lack of social interaction.

When Lola taps the picture of Brent, there is an echoic dull drum with connotations of doom. The silence after increases the tension as the audience wait to see what Lola has in store for Brent. This point is appropriate for the horror genre.

Lola’s final piece of dialogue in the scene is ‘I’m ready to draw on him now’. This suggests a routine that she has settled and also how she has the power in the relationship between her and her dad, which is a role reversal. ‘Draw on him doesn’t necessarily sound very threatening and as the scene cuts before anything else, the mind is left to wonder exactly what she means by this. This is a specific inspirational example for our concept as suggestion works better in some ways when trying to scare the audience.

Throughout the scene, the characters are looking through a scrapbook that Lola made. It is very girly (covered in stars and hearts) and emphasises the fact she’s stuck in a fairy tale. This could be considered as immature for a girl in high school but shows her creative side, showing possibly a lonely life. The book does show her sadistic side though as she keeps newspaper clippings and missing posters of the boys she’s tortured as well as photos of her with them after they've been tortured, with angry scribbling covering them. This is another example of something that is particularly inspirational to use for or coursework as it depicts exactly the kind of character we want the villain to be.

The house that they’re in is a typical slightly old-fashioned suburban Australian family home, showing that this family appear normal to the public. The house is decorated for a party: balloons on the floor, a party table cloth and crackers. These items connote celebration and happiness which is ironic in this situation which the family actually do find a happy time.

Close-ups of Brent’s face show how pale and sweaty he is as he’s been tortured and drugged. His dozy behaviour and lack of reaction to Lola show the toll that this night has taken on him and how he’s lost hope, much like the audience have lost hope in his escape because of how weak he looks.

Daddy joins in with his daughter however shots show him looking concerned about Brent when he looks despairingly at Timmy Valentine’s page and horrifyingly realises what happened in the car crash. He also looks rather angry when Lola explains that he got away.

The lighting in this scene resembles that of a spotlight on the characters with the surrounding area being dimmer. This is similar to a prom where there a spotlights especially on Prom Queen, in which case this is Lola as she craves to be the centre of attention. This is an interesting and inspirational example that could be used in our work.

Shots between the characters and the scrapbook are eye-line matches (see camera angles).

Jump cuts between characters emphasise the different emotions and reactions they have to the scrapbook.

Without any need for dialogue, there is a flashback to show Brent’s realisation that it was Timmy Valentine in the road when he crashed the car, which works better as he wouldn't say it out loud but rather think it.

When showing Brent’s page, the camera zooms which emphasises shock and terror working with the sound effects that connote doom. This heightens the tension to what may happen next.