Matrix Clip

Opening scene

The beginning of the film begins off by showing us the supposed coding of a computer with green symbols and a conversation going on. It’s clearly between a man and a woman. This builds a sense of mystery and makes the audience want to know some more context. In the dialogue (which isn’t very common in action- adventure films) we hear about this girl ‘liking’ the person which the man and woman speak about which they refer to as ‘the one’. They also mention him by saying that he is probably going to die. This too, peaks the interest of the audience. Then we hear that the woman isn’t sure if the line is not being listened in on. This indicates that they are doing something someone else doesn’t want to happen. Consequently, she hangs up.

Mise-en-Scene

The Mise en-Scene of the clip shows Trinity to be this mystery woman. Immediately we see lots of questions coming up about her; why is she wearing all black and sunglasses even though it isn’t sunny, why is she scared of the ‘agents’ and who is the person she is talking to on the phone. All this makes us wonder about her. This can make us feel uneasy yet keen to find out more. The feeling of the film already to think that it is a very dark film, this will either appeal to someone or wont. Considering the target audience is over 15 years old and probably a man.

It then cross cuts to a dark apartment building corridor where police officers are slowly coming up to the door. We don’t get much dialogue nor distinction from the policemen so we don’t have any attachment to them. They are, as we say, the middle men. We are instantly lead to believe that this scene is a threat and will involve some kind of conflict as the policemen are holding guns.

The police shout at this woman who is in a tight leather outfit who has short but black hair. This is the only thing we can make out as the room is very dark which fits the genre of the film. The woman stands up keeping her cool. She raises her hands and puts them behind her head. It then cross cuts to what looks to be outside the building where all the police cars are. A shiny black car which is distinctively nicer than the others pulls up and three, professional, well dressed men simultaneously get out of the car. They all have a black suit with sunglasses and an earpiece in. they all look confident and superior to the common police men. Our attention is instantly attracted to them. One of them struts up to the head police officer and tells him off for sending men in before he got there. The police officer is incompetent by saying that its only one ‘little girl’. The man in the suit reply’s to him by telling him that his men are already dead.

When we finally reach the roof top chase there is a completely different theme to this scene. It is very threatening as these men clearly want to try to kill trinity. We feel unsure for her and ourselves and subconsciously think that we are in her shoes. This is the sign of a good director.

Camera work

The police kick down the door (which hides Trinity in her very dark mood lighting room) with a point of view shot as if we were the people kicking down the door. The police shout at this woman who is in a tight leather outfit who has short but black hair. This is the only thing we can make out as the room is very dark which fits the genre of the film. The woman stands up keeping her cool. She raises her hands and puts them behind her head. When we see an extreme close up of her face.  We also see bullet time as trinity runs around the room delivering the ninja kick to the police man. When trinity enters the lime green corridor it has a focus point on her, then on the men coming from down the corridor. A crane shot is used when they run along the roof tops along with a tracking shot, which help the audience see what’s really happening and to get a better grasp on the scene. When everyone is jumping from roof to roof we see a shot from below. Then it has a low angle shot which reveals the agent looking at another agent below.

Editing

The main key editing bits which really add key effects to this clip is when trinity is doing her slow/fast motion fight scene in the room with the police men. Consequently this then cross cuts to the outside scene with the agents. This change in pace really shows the clam confidence in the agents and reflects the danger of Trinity’s situation. The cross cut help a lot to build up suspense to the audience as we don’t realise what’s happening to trinity, but there is also new significant characters coming into count.

Soundtrack

There is very eerie music and sound of footsteps and guns being loaded when the police go to the hotel door. This is very minimalistic as the audience has to listen to small audio detail as there isn’t much going on at this point thus creating suspense. Then there is the sound effect of the police radios and car as the camera tracks down the hotel sign. Creating a realistic world as we know there are police cars outside which suggests that this is a bigger deal than some people could have thought. The confident quote from the agent; ‘No lieutenant, you men are already dead.’ This is to suggest that trinity is more than meets the eye and is a deadly force that is to be dealt with very carefully. It also shows that the agents know what they are doing and seem as if they have experience in the matter.

There is light sound effects as trinity fights the cops with deep resonant gunshot sounds and ricochet noises which adds to the extremity of violence. The music builds during the chase sequence on the roof until its climax as trinity leaps over the massive gap between buildings. The build-up helps with the suspension and intenseness of it all. The climax expresses the power in her.

The ending is where she shows a complete difference in ability between the police and the agent and the woman. The agent makes the jump too but the woman quickly covers herself behind the wall and waits. She exhales deeply and that’s where the clip ends.