A Place Beyond The Pines Clip Analyse

A Place Beyond The Pines(2012)Clip Analyse

This clip clearly defines the genre of the movie due to its use of common conventions/troupes of M.E.S (Mise-En-Scene), camera, sound, editing.

An example of cinematography/camera being used to clearly indicate the genre of the film is the use of handheld camera, this is often used in Dramas to gives a sense of realism by making the camera feel like the audience's eyes. This technique has been used in Dramas like "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006) to convey the same tone as this realistic tone allowing the audience to put themselves into the picture and sympathise despite maybe having nothing in common. The camera is also used to put our selves in Lukes (Ryan Goslings) shoes by focusing on him for the majority of the clip with close-ups on in his face as he reacts to events such as his child getting baptised without him. This puts the audience in his shoes by making him the connection to the clip as we focus on his perception of the scene instead of our own.

Genre Conventions are also conveyed with M.E.S with a use of makeup to give Luke tattoos which have always been a common convention in Crime films for criminals such as gang members to have tattoos which have always had ties towards stereotypes towards crime most commonly in the typical troupe of the Russian mafia in films like "Eastern Promises" (2007) which has the main protagonist "Nikolai" (Viggo) a hitman adorned with tattoos similar to that of Luke in this film. The tattoo on Lukes left cheek resembles a teardrop tattoo which in real life is meant to represent the wearer has killed at least one person or at least has spent time in the criminal justice system, by having these tattoos it suggests to the viewer Lukes past relationship with the law and paints him as a criminal in our minds as we assume because of these tattoos he will break the law which he eventually does.

The setting is also used to emulate the Crime genre with the setting of the church and the baptism by parody one of the most famous Crime films of all time "The Godfather" (1972), I am referring to the baptism massacre scene  where Michael (Al Pacino) has an assassination of traitors take place during his sisters child's baptism which symbolises his birth into the crime world as the child is brought into the eyes of god Micheal is brought into a life of crime. A place beyond the pines mimics this scene to show the transition of Luke turning from his life in the carnival into a life of crime both men choose this life for the greater good of there families however unlike Michael Luke is forced to separate from his family most likely due to this decision as he sits alone in the back of the church far from his Son who you could argue is being brought into a world without his father.

Genre conventions are also made from the edits of the clip. This clip uses editing techniques such as shot reverse shot to have fluid dialogue, however, a common trope in crime films is to have two different characters often one representing the law and the other representing crime, two sides of the same coin/opposites, yin and yang.

This convention has been used in, for example, the movie "Heat" (1995) where Lt. Vincent (Al Pacino) and Neil (Robert De Niro) sit down and talk before the final heist of the film. This toupe is used either to add tension or reason behind the characters actions before the climax, however, this clip uses it to indicate Lukes change of life as he converses with his employer who sits across from him and to tell him he wants to quit as he is inducted into a life of crime, this is also heavily emphasised by the characters clothing, Lukes boss in white and Luke in black good and bad. His boss is a metaphor for his legal and normal life and Luke his illegal and secretive life.

The sound in this clip takes typical conventions of the crime genre by using religious non-diegetic and diegetic music in order to show focus on family for example movies like "The Godfather" (1972) and "American Gangster" (2007) use church music and big religious events such as weddings and baptisms to show the gang's connection with one another as a family and being main driving force in their crimes, so when this clip uses it in both the scene Luke quits his job and the Baptism scene it not only shows the connection between him and his family is the driving force for his future crimes as he follows this crime genre convention.

In conclusion, this clip successfully defined the genre of the film with its use of common conventions of Drama and Crime with the use of religious Non-Digetic/Digetic sound and common settings and makeup relating to crime troupes and building relatability to the protagonist despite on the outside not having anything in common with the "Normal" film audience.