A Sound editor is someone who is responsible for the finished sound in movies and television.

A Sound mixer is someone who mixes, balances and combines different sounds and audio signals, such as pre-recorded audio.

The first row eludes to a frustrated emotion, as if he’s telling the kid off.

The second row hints to a guilty look, as if he’s hiding something from the police.

The last row gives the impression that he is being taunted and bullied.

L-Cuts are when the camera cuts from the subject who is talking to a different subject(s) whilst the audio remains.

J-Cuts are when the audience hears the second clip before hearing the audio attached.

The scene where the Arthur is in therapy utilises a L-Cut shot where the therapist is speaking and the camera cuts to Arthur listening, whilst the studio of the therapist continues.

The scene with Arthur and his Mother uses a J-Cut shot, this is because they hear the introductory music to the Murray show and it cuts their conversation and draws attention to the next shot, being Murray in his show.

Diegetic – This is medium close up shot of Little, this shot forces the audience to focus on Littles side profile and his expression in relation to the emotion he feels in the rising action of Moonlight. This makes the audience feel a connection to the subject in order to sympathise and relate to the troubles Little experiences in early life.

Intra Diegetic – This shot allows the audience to adopt Chiron viewpoint looking at Kevin, this paints Chiron as a vulnerable and troubled person. By looking through Chiron’s perspective the audience feels a sense of regret from Kevin as he doesn’t want to hit us.

Extra Diegetic- This shot allows the subject to break the 4th wall, as Kevin looks past the camera as if he is looking at us, the audience. This abolishes the personal relationship we formed with Black and instead we are shocked with a sense of reality as we realise we are just on lookers experiencing the story.

To arrange pictures in sequence with the sound, to create meaning and to advise the aesthetic of the film.

Depth of field can be defined to mean the size of the area of sharpness in front of and behind the focal point of sharp focus. There are three elements that effect Depth of field: aperture, focal length and the distance from the subject.
Depth of field in films is important in influencing the image in a film and altering meaning and intention for the better.

Shallow depth of focus describes a small area or part of the image in focus, where things away from the main subject become blurry. Subjects shot with a shallow depth of focus almost leap from their background, taking on a 3D effect.

Deep focus or a large depth of field is used to describe an image that has a deeper field, therefore the region of acceptable sharpness has a lower drop off rate, meaning more of the image is kept sharp and clear. Larger depths of field are most commonly used to depict landscapes where the whole image is seen clearly.

Depth of field in Moonlight

The scene in which Chiron reconnect with Kevin as an adult utilises a shallow depth focus, the camera focuses solely on the subject and everything surrounding looks blurred. James Laxton chooses to do this to depict the raw and threatening experience Chiron is having. The use of a shallow depth focus amplified the significance of Chirons first encounter with Kevin after growing up, the way the camera focuses of Kevin’s face and blocks out any distractions the audience that Chiron has a overwhelming and all-consuming connection with Kevin. The way the camera adopts the perspective of both Chiron seeing Kevin, and Kevin seeing Chiron, tells the audience that the magnitude and significance of this first sight is reciprocated between both parties.

The shallows depth of this shot separates this scene from the rest, the close up and intimate nature of the shot signifies how Chiron feels a deep and complicated connection with Kevin, unlike any connection he has with anyone else. This is proven in James Laxton’s choice to also utilise a shallow depth focus depicting a younger Chiron and his mother earlier in the movie.

The use of a shallow depth focus in this scene between Chiron and his addict mother differentiates from the effect a shallow depth focus has later in the movie between Chiron and Kevin. Whilst the shallow depth focus allows the audience to feel a more detailed presence with the characters, this is now used to encapsulate the abandonment Chiron feels from his mother. Instead of a raw and emotional connection, the audience is left to feel every imperfection Chirons mother presents to him.
By focusing just on the subject, and in context of the mistreatment and torment Chirons mother enforces on her only son, the audience is left to digest the reality of the shot and what it suggests about the never-ending maternal trauma Chiron endures.

Cinematography can be defined to mean the art and craft of making motion pictures by capturing a story visually with a camera and light. Cinematography can be best categorised into three basic elements: lighting, composition and camera movement.

A Cinematographer is the crew chief that presides over the camera and light crews on a film or video production, they manage a shots setup which include lighting and composition. A cinematographer might block different elements of shooting in advance, such as the timing of camera movements, to get the visuals they desire.

A cinematographers role is different to that of a director because a directors job is to oversee the ability to tell a story using cinema, and to capture an accurate and entertaining depiction of a series of events, whereas the job of a cinematographer includes choosing what combination of lighting, composition and camera movement conveys the most effective emotion to aid the work of a director in the most desired way.

Activity 2 – Shot distances

The first image is example of medium close up, a shot that closes up on the subject creates a sense of intimacy and connection between the subject and audience. This is important in understanding the betrayal Chiron feels as he is abandoned and mistreated by his mother, someone who seems caring and compassionate but turns out to be the opposite. This shot follows a commonly depicted image of a mother holding her son and by zooming in to the finer details the cinamatographer reveals the imperfections of maternal love and how Chiron doesn’t have the connection with his mother that the audience expect.
Additionally the long shot used in the second image further illustrates the relationship between Chiron and his mother and how it depletes over time. The second image, at the end of the movie, positions the camera much further away than the first image, eluding to the fact that Chiron, as an adult, realises the lack of connection his mother allowed them to have as a result of her addiction.

This shot in Moonlight is an example of a long shot, the first shot depicts Juan driving and is the audiences first introduction of his car, which later is inherited to Chiron (2nd shot). Both shots follow the movement of the car and give the audience a sense of story in relation to both Chiron and Juan. The first long shot reveals a typical neighbourhood in which Juan is revealed to oversee a drug selling business, whereas the second shot follows Chiron travelling to go see an old school friend. The contrast between the two shots suggest the differences between Juan and Chiron although the identical shot-style allows the audience to realise that they aren’t too different after all.

The scene in which Kevin beats up Chiron in Moonlight begins with a extreme close up of both characters. Following an intimate scene involving both characters the audience is presented with another intimate shot, but instead of a romantic intimacy, the shot depicts a violent and threatening atmosphere. An extreme close up allows the characters to reveal their inner monologues and emotions without it being misinterpreted as a hateful fight but instead something Kevin was forced into. The regretful, guilty look on Kevin’s face could only be seen by the audience as a result of a close up, this tells the audience that this is important to see in order to understand the dynamic between both characters in the rest of the movie.

Activity 3 – Camera Angles

Both of these shots utilise a Birds Eye View, this creates an impression of vulnerability within Chirons character, firstly when Chiron faces his mother who is an addict and treats him poorly and secondly after Chiron gets beaten up by Kevin and his school bullies. Both scenes collectively depict the loneliness that Chiron feels as a result of the people who are supposed to treat him with love but instead abuse his trust and mistreat him. The purpose of the camera being above Chiron in both shots is that it paints him to be alone, with no one to support him the times when he most needs it.

This is an example of an high angle shot. Referencing the Movies title : Moonlight, the audience is put in the perspective of the moonlight shining down on Kevin and Chiron and witnesses a moving and significant scene in the film. This shot creates the impression of importance within this scene, a huge turning point for Chiron in terms of his sexuality and trust for others, but also in relation to Chiron’s fear of judgment. The way the camera ‘looks down’ apon the two boys as if to reference the fear Chiron holds about others ‘looking down’ on him if he chooses to embrace and tackle his complicated relationship with his own identity and sexuality.

This is an example of a Worms Eye View style shot in Moonlight. During the scene is which Chiron gets beaten up, the camera joins Chiron on the floor and pans up to the bullies who are beating him. In contrast to the scene before, the birdseye/high angle view of Kevin and Chiron on the beach turns to a Wormseye/low angle view on the delinquents who hurt Chiron, predator become prey. The cinematographer does this to validate Chirons fear of being judged and hurt by others, instead of feeling safe with Kevin who he is meant to trust, Chiron gets awoken by reality by Kevin who betrays his trust and beats him up. This provoked the audience to succumb to the reality that society isn’t always accepting to those who aren’t considered typical or who aren’t straight.

Activity 4 – Camera Movement

The scene in which Chiron joins in with the other boys to play starts with a camera movement called trucking. Trucking is when the camera moves along a fixed point allowing the motion of the camera go from left to right etc. This camera movement allows the film to introduce a demographic of characters in a short amount of time, this is important in understanding the pressures Chiron faced as a young kid. The camera positions the audience in the same boat as Chiron; susceptible to judgment and ridicule by other boys and vulnerable to the torment that others put him in in his early life.

By collectively documenting Chirons peers together, this further separates Chiron to be ‘different’ in the eyes of others, this is reinforced by the fact that Chiron leaves the game of football half way through and ever since is the victim to ridicule and torment.

When Chiron goes to visit Kevin at his kitchen job, the cinematographer utilises a camera movement called zoom. This is when the camera steadily closes in to whatever is in the centre of the screen, in this case, an escape. The camera zooming in gives the audience the impression that Chiron wants to leave, he comes to terms with the awkwardness and rawness of seeing Kevin again in adult life and feels as though the best thing to do is run away. By emphasising this fear that Chiron has, the fact that he stays with Kevin and doesn’t leave is considered more important and even brave in Chirons part, this turns out to be significant in Chirons journey to self-acceptance.

The opening scene of Joker is an example of how composition creates a certain emotion in this movie. The way Arthur is positioned in the centre, illuminated by the lights on his mirror, creates the impression that he is alone and insignificant in a much bigger, threatening society. This, right of the bat, allows the audience to understand Arthur’s battle with being alone and having nobody to care for him.

This scene in Joker amplifies the effect makeup can have on the emotion and atmosphere of a scene. The way Arthur is painted in a ghost-like pale white wash serves the purpose of acting like a clean canvas for the blood splattered on Arthur’s face. This could be interpreted to further understand Arthur’s pre-existing intent to kill and the Directors choice to paint Arthur as a clearly unstable, psychotic individual.

Costume plays a crucial part in differentiating between characters in Joker, the way ‘regular’ citizens such as the men Arthur killed on the subway are dressed in contrast to how Arthur chooses to dress in the resolution of the movie tells the audience a lot about Arthur’s atypical mind and his intent to embrace his ‘different’ personality. Whilst the men on the subway wear regular suits and tie, Arthur wear a brightly coloured red and yellow suit in order to suggest a more amusing, less mundane expectation of a person. This eludes to the fact that Arthur is treated as an outcast by others and has always been considered a black sheep.

The scene in which Arthur imagines himself appearing on the tonight show with Murray utilises lighting and its effect on how an audience perceives a scene. The use of overhead lighting could be interpreted as a heaven-like representation of who Arthur aspires himself to be. The fact that this appeared only in Arthur’s imagination tells the audience that Arthur may only reach heaven or be perceived as ‘good’ in his dreams, this is important for the audience in deciding on Arthur’s morals and better judgment further on in the film.

Colour grading in the Joker contributes heavily to the emotions portrayed throughout the movie, whilst the movie is predominantly colour graded with a blue toned or green toned wash, eluding to a mundane, depressed world, this scene has a yellow tint and as a result feels lighter, happier. This could be interpreted to how Arthur finally feels some hope for happiness in a world that has given him nothing but pain and injustice. This being one of few yellow coloured scenes in the film is important to understand how Arthur rarely feels this way and as a reproduction falls in a psychotic and depressive killing rampage.

This scene is an example of how Set design can be used in order to suggest emotion and patterns in the ending on Joker. The way the curtains surround Arthur in blue eludes to the fact that the underlying sadness Arthur feels is present throughout the whole movie, even when living out Arthur’s dream of being a guest on the Murray show. The way Arthur is lit up by the lightbulbs on the mirror pays homage to the opening scene of Joker in a cyclical technique and tells the audience that, despite Arthur’s new found interest in killing and the arguably successful fact that he is on the Murray show, he still feels isolated and alone like he did in the beginning due to the fact that he has no one to love him and care for him. This fact is further illuminated but how Arthur is standing in the dark behind a curtain, this could be interpreted to reference how Arthur has always been in the shadows, never receiving help from others and even covered up by a curtain so as not to upset the more wealthy who don’t help those in need in society as a whole.

Monaco describes a ‘spectrum of the arts’ to mean a differentiation between different art forms and effect it has on the viewer. The spectrum includes performance arts (which happen in real time), representational arts (to convey information to the observer) and recording arts (which provide a more direct path between subject and observer). 

An example of performing arts is theatre, Monaco seperated this type of art from into the ‘pictorial-dramatic-narrative’ section of the spectrum, this is because theatre creates a ‘real time’ image in order to convey a story and experience to the viewer. Monaco also describe art to be a human endeavour that is more of an attitude than activity.  

An example of representational art is literature, Monaco depicts how representational art establishes the conventions of language, this is important in understanding how representational art, such as novels and poetry falls between the ‘dramatic-narrative’ subsection of the spectrum. 

The last type of art form Monaco explores in the recording arts, an example of this could be music. Music has an emotional and narrative effect on the listener as much as it does any other type of art form. To thoroughly understand Music as a type of recording arts, Monaco depicts music to be in the musical section of the spectrum of arts.