Analysing North by northwest
Analysing Crop duster scene
The crop duster scene is a great scene in thriller movies. The scene starts with Roger Thornhill meeting who he thinks is George kaplin, He waits at a bus stop whilst cars continually pass him, after a while he sees a man leave a car and walk over to a bus stop, but he finds out that it is just a man going to work. The man points out the crop duster (a type of plane) is "dusting where there theres no crops. The plane then heads straight towards Roger, and a man from the plane begins shooting. Roger runs towards the crop fields, but the crop duster uses its tools to its advantage, dusting the crops so that Roger has to run out of them. Roger runs towards the highway and tries to stop an oil tanker, which narrowly misses him after he falls under it. the plane goes low to try and hit Roger thornhill again but ends up crashing into the tanker, causing it to blow. In the confusion Roger steals a car from someone who is watching the explosion and returns back to the city.
There are various aspects that make the scene great, the camera work,editing, mise en scene and sound. One of the first things that stands out from the camera work is the establishing shot at the begin. The camera shows nothing but empty fields and a long desolate highway. This reinforces the fact that at that moment Roger is alone and vulnerable, and puts the viewers on edge fearing that something might happen to him. The camera work also shows various pov's of Roger thornhill, Roger is seen continually looking down the highway to see the cars that are approaching. This camera work shows that roger is growing increasingly impatient waiting for George Kaplin to appear.
Mise en scene
There are not a lot of props used in the crop duster scene, aside from the bus stop sign and a few cars. There is one point in the scene where a black limousine is fast approaching Roger. This puts the audience on edge because they believe that something will happen to Roger, and that a drive by would be the most obvious way to kill him, since the countryside around him is empty. However the car simply drives past him. This goes against the cliche that usually happened at the time, and leaves the audience asking what will happen to Roger now?
Sound
at the start of the scene there is only diegetic sound. No soundtrack accompanies Roger whilst he is at the bus stop. Like the establishing shot this reinforces the fact that Roger is alone. However once Roger spots the plane heading towards him Non diegetic sound begins and the music begins to ramp up to match the action. The music reaches its peak when the plane hits the tanker, this shows that the danger and action for Roger has ended
Editing
The editing in this scene starts of slow. There are various cuts in the beginning to roger thornhills pov, this is to establish the fact that there is not a lot going on in the area. However theese short cuts also give the audience tension, because they are waiting for something to happen to Roger Thornhill. As Roger Thornhill notices the plane, the cuts begin to get alot quicker. This is to match the action that is happening on screen and puts the audience in the shoes of Roger Thornhill.
The crop duster scene is a great scene in thriller movies. The scene starts with Roger Thornhill meeting who he thinks is George kaplin, He waits at a bus stop whilst cars continually pass him, after a while he sees a man leave a car and walk over to a bus stop, but he finds out that it is just a man going to work. The man points out the crop duster (a type of plane) is "dusting where there theres no crops. The plane then heads straight towards Roger, and a man from the plane begins shooting. Roger runs towards the crop fields, but the crop duster uses its tools to its advantage, dusting the crops so that Roger has to run out of them. Roger runs towards the highway and tries to stop an oil tanker, which narrowly misses him after he falls under it. the plane goes low to try and hit Roger thornhill again but ends up crashing into the tanker, causing it to blow. In the confusion Roger steals a car from someone who is watching the explosion and returns back to the city.
There are various aspects that make the scene great, the camera work,editing, mise en scene and sound. One of the first things that stands out from the camera work is the establishing shot at the begin. The camera shows nothing but empty fields and a long desolate highway. This reinforces the fact that at that moment Roger is alone and vulnerable, and puts the viewers on edge fearing that something might happen to him. The camera work also shows various pov's of Roger thornhill, Roger is seen continually looking down the highway to see the cars that are approaching. This camera work shows that roger is growing increasingly impatient waiting for George Kaplin to appear.
There are not a lot of props used in the crop duster scene, aside from the bus stop sign and a few cars. There is one point in the scene where a black limousine is fast approaching Roger. This puts the audience on edge because they believe that something will happen to Roger, and that a drive by would be the most obvious way to kill him, since the countryside around him is empty. However the car simply drives past him. This goes against the cliche that usually happened at the time, and leaves the audience asking what will happen to Roger now?
Sound
at the start of the scene there is only diegetic sound. No soundtrack accompanies Roger whilst he is at the bus stop. Like the establishing shot this reinforces the fact that Roger is alone. However once Roger spots the plane heading towards him Non diegetic sound begins and the music begins to ramp up to match the action. The music reaches its peak when the plane hits the tanker, this shows that the danger and action for Roger has ended
Editing
The editing in this scene starts of slow. There are various cuts in the beginning to roger thornhills pov, this is to establish the fact that there is not a lot going on in the area. However theese short cuts also give the audience tension, because they are waiting for something to happen to Roger Thornhill. As Roger Thornhill notices the plane, the cuts begin to get alot quicker. This is to match the action that is happening on screen and puts the audience in the shoes of Roger Thornhill.
