Analysis of ‘Butterfly Effect’

This is an analysis, analysing the camera angles, sound, editing and the mise en scene which have
been used in the first ten minutes of the film ‘Butterfly Effect’

Camera Angles
The start of Butterfly effect starts with the main character who is Evan, locking himself in a room and
making sure that the door is blocked. The camera angle which has been used to show the audience
what the character is doing is a medium shot. A medium shot is usually used to show a detailed
action, this tells the audience that what the character is doing is important to the rest of the film as
they want you to focus on what the character is doing.
A medium shot is then used to show Evan under a table writing a note, a medium shot has been
used for this part of the scene as it doesn’t show much of the background as this was established
before we saw the character hide under the table. By the medium shot not showing the audience
much of the background it means that our main attention is on what the characters actions is; the
medium shot makes us ask questions of why the character is writing a note, and why he is hiding
under a table as we have not been introduced to what type of character he is yet.
Extreme close up has been used to show the audience part of what Evan has wrote which says ‘save
her.’ By an extreme close up being used to show this part of the note, we know that this is the most
important part of the letter and that someone is in danger and needs saving which gives the
audience an idea of what the rest of the film will be about.

Sound
At the start of the butterfly effect music is being played which only the audience can hear which
makes the sound non diegetic, the reason why non diegetic sound is being played during the
opening scene is to build tension for the audience as we can only hear it and it makes your heart
beat increase as you are expecting something scary to happen.
The non-diegetic sound, then turns into a diegetic sound of the character kicking the door open. The
bang of the door would make the audience jump as they can hear the sound as well as the character,
the non-diegetic sound carries on to us hearing Evan shuffling around. The sound of the shuffling
tells the audience that he is panicking and is in some kind of danger as he is in a rush moving
everything out of his way.
The sound track which is being played in the background links in to what is going on in the scene as it
is an upbeat music which gets the audiences heart going, this is also what is happening to the
characters heart as he is in a panic so it build more tension for the audience as we can feel his
emotions through the beat of the music.
The non diegetic sound track then turns into a calmer music as there is a change of scenery which
isn’t as dark and scary. This soundtrack is a complete contrast to what the film actually is as the
genre of the film is mystery, sci-fi and thriller, we call this type of sound contrapuntal sound. The
soundtrack is of piano being played which has a genre in itself of classical music, however when this
music is being played we see a calmer scene as it is of young boys on bikes and a family which brings
a happy environment into the film.

Editing
Editing is used in media near enough every day, editing is used to assemble the components of a film
by cutting and slicing to make it suitable for viewing.
The editing which has mainly been used in the butterfly effect is cutting and slicing also to bring the
different scenes together. An example of when cutting and slicing has been used is when we see a
shot of the young boy riding a bike and then the next shot goes on to the boys mum. The editing is
very important during any film as it shows the different cuts of the cameras which brings the film
together to see different characters during different time but we do not see the change. For example
in the butterfly effect we see the young boy talking to his mum, then we see a cut as the shot goes
straight to his mum yet we did not see the camera move. By editing being used it speeds up the film
and makes the film come together more effectively which makes the film a better quality.
Editing has been used for when the titles come up on the screen, we firstly see butterflies flying on
the screen and then the butterflies fade to bring the opening titles up. This has been edited to make
it look more effective and also as the butterflies link with the title of the film.

Mise En Scene
Mise En scene is important to any film as it shows the audience what has been put into the scene
and gives us an extended meaning. For example at the start of the film, when Evan is hiding we see
that the police are looking for him, the police are wearing American police uniform which tells us
that the film is not an English film, the police also tells us that Evan is in trouble as he is hiding from
them. By their being police it begins to give away the genre of the film which is crime, thriller and
also mysterious as we do not know the reason as yet of why the man is hiding. Another part of the
film which tells us that the film is American is the American houses and accents.
The film then goes on to having a ‘flashback’ as we begin to watch what happened 15 years later,
this means that it tells the audience that something must of happened when the boy was young in
order for it to show us previously at a young age to now at his older age.
As the scene goes on we see the little boy standing in the kitchen with a knife, this knife tells us a lot
about the boys character as we know that he is not safe and may be the ‘bad boy’ throughout the
rest of the film as we see him at an early stage with a bad weapon. The knife also once again links
with the thriller genre of the film as we get a bad effect from it knowing that the film will not be
happy but yet will be full of crime and dark scenery.

My conclusion to this essay is that each of these techniques which are used through films are
important as if it wasn’t for them they wouldn’t make the film as interesting and effective.