AS Thriller Analysis

I have been gifted with analysing one of the videos made by AS students last year. Sadly it is impolite to refuse a gift. I chose to analyse one called 'Retrieval'.

C.L.A.M.P.S

The man who is tied to the metal bed frame is dressed in military looking clothes. The interrogator is also wearing military style clothes (camouflage) but looks more as if he is part of a militia or terrorist group rather than an army due to the mis-matched nature of his uniform. There is another soldier towards the end, wearing a complete uniform, presumably american.

The room is lit with two visible lights, a single bulb hanging from the ceiling on its wires (perhaps for intimidation purposes) and another more harsh strip light near the floor, casting dark shadows across the room. It is quite dark inside the cave, giving it an imposing and foreboding feel.

The  Interrogator speaks with a foreign accent, but speaks in english throughout, so that his victim can understand every word he says. The prisoner says nothing during the sequence. The interrogator tries to persuade his victim to talk by way of reasoning and torture.

Set in a dark cave, interrogation equipment is scattered around the room, car batteries (electrocution), a jerry can and towel (water boarding) as well as a radio and a handgun. This gives the room a very sinister feel. The lighting is very low inh the cave and there is an ambient humming sound in the background. The inside of the cave has a distinct echo.

The props used for the scene include A bare metal bed frame, water containers, a rag to cover the prisoners face, a car battery with clips and two handguns.

The sequence is set in a small, dark cave (of a small section of a bigger cave or network of tunnels), presumably somewhere in the middle east (Iraq, Afghanistan). The location can be determined by the accent the interrogator uses, he speaks english, but with a strange accent.

The sound used in this sequence is mostly diagetic, with one non dieagetic distorted sound as the title appears at the end of the sequence. The diagetic sounds include a humming sound in the background (generator?), ambient cave sound, metal furniture scraping the ground, pouring water, choking, the sparks created by the car battery, the flashbang being thrown, hitting the ground and exploding, ears ringing after the explosion and gunshots. Before the grenade exploded, all sound stopped breifly to increase tension by making everything sound unnatural.

I have also embedded the video below, so you can watch it if you want.