Genre Research; A fall from grace: drama thriller

   In this blog I will be talking about the conventions and elements of the movie: “A fall from Grace”. These conventions will include common camera angles, movements, mis-en-scene, sound, and editing. Common camera angles throughout the movie were close-ups, establishing shots, and over the shoulder shots. Closeups were used in the movie to show the responses and emotions  of actors; examples of this are in the beginning of the movie where Jasmine first begins listening to Grace’s story; there are several close-ups of Grace and Jasmine, one in which Grace is crying. Establishing scenes were used often to reveal new and important  locations such as the garden that Grace’s boyfriend took her to when he proposed, and over-the shoulder shots were used frequently to showcase emotional scenes where actors would hug, a scene like this was featured at the end of the movie when Grace’s was officially released from jail. Common camera movements included dolly shots and pans. Tracking shots were used frequently to follow actors especially in scenes with conflict such as when Jasmine’s husband came to search for her in the enemy’s home, her husband was shown walking at a fast pace and the camera seemed to be moving with him.

  Costumes in the movie included formal clothes such as dresses, suits, and formal skirts/dress jackets, these were shown in court scenes and scenes where Grace had dates. Other costumes included police, wigs. and prisoner jumpsuits/uniforms. Makeup was used in scenes with blood and injuries. Props included objects such as handcuffs, cellphones, “paperwork” etc. There were also many different locations/scenes in the movie. Some of these included Grace’s cell, her house, Sarah’s house, Jessica’s house, the courtroom, Grace’s job at the bank, and Jessica’s workplace. Lighting which was frequently seen throughout the movie was 3-point lighting which includes fill light, key light, and backlight. 

  Common sound throughout the movie included diegetic sounds or sounds that could be heard by characters such as talking and yelling. There were also many sound bridges that connected the scenes of Grace’s memories. Common editing in the movie were jump cuts and eye line matches.  Jump cute were also used to jump from memory to memory and memory to present,  suggesting a passage of time. The eye line matches were used to show clips of Grace’s reaction to an object such as paperwork in the scene where she realized someone had stolen money from her account. Elements that I liked in this movie were the sound and editing because I believe these conventions brought the movie to life more than the other conventions. One element I didn’t like were costumes because the wig that Grace wore throughout the movie seemed to bother me, it was tacky and moved several times in between scenes.