Witness (Peter Weir) clip analysis

Peter Weir has used many thriller conventions throughout this clip to establish what genre this film is and to give an effective tense and fearful scene that you would expect a thriller to have. 

Camera shots+movement
An opening shot of a medium close up of the young Amish boy which is also a slightly low angle shot showing his importance to the film and how important he will be. Cuts to a panning shot of the statue where the camera is where the boy is, looking up at the statue showing him a new culture from what he is used to. It is a low angle which shows how significant the religious statue is.The cut between the statue and child shows the child's curiosity and admiration towards the statue and life in general.Cuts to a high angle shot of the station showing the child's vulnerability and how insignificant and alone he seems to be. The rule of thirds is incorporated in this as it shows straight away what part of the shot the audience would be most strongly drawn towards first. 
                                                 Cut to a long shot of the child and his mother  to establish where they are, they are sitting alone in the station showing how isolated and different they are, as it is so empty it suggests something threatening will happen making them seem vulnerable. The shot shows a vanishing point where you don't quite know where it leads to, the child then walks towards the vanishing point showing how he is a brave character as he is very young and is walking around a deserted station alone.
                                                 Cut to a close up shot of a new character from a low angle showing that this character has significance to the film. A shot of the child is shown in the gap between the door showing that he is able to see what is going which builds up the suspense. There is a close up of the child's eyes to show he's been watching everything that's happening. Each shot only really shows the characters head and shoulders so the audience can see their reactions to what is happening and there expressions, particularly the young boy when witnessing the murder. When the attack is happening you only see it from the child's point of view meaning that you don't see everything that happens which builds up the tension and adds to the fear of it. A close up shot of the boys hands frantically locking the door is then shown then cuts to him standing without his hat on suggesting a Christ figure as his arms are positioned like a crucifix would look which shows the significance of religion and culture in this film. 
                                               Cut to a shot of the police man and then the iconic entrance of Harrison Ford a well known actor and a main character in this film, he enters surrounded by people showing his importance to the film.


Sound
Non-diegetic sound begins this scene as there is a soundtrack playing first of all this cuts to no sound but a dialogue which is diegetic sound which is known as normal background noises, for example footsteps. There is no music playing and as it is then diegetic sound this makes it more realistic so adds suspense. When the man is being attacked there is no dialogue meaning there is non-diegetic sound, this makes the scene more dramatic. Also non-diegetic sound is used in that particular moment because dialogue would be a distraction to what's going on and wouldn't be needed to add to the fear of it. There is then a shot of the man's feet as he is opening the toilet doors during this non diegetic and diegetic sound is used to increase the tension and to build up an intimidating atmosphere. 


Lighting
Ambiant lighting is used in this scene which is non-artificial lighting to show how grim the station is as it is low saturation showing washed out colours making the location seem more eerie. When an important character enters the colour blue is in the background which shows he will be a good character as blue is symbolic as being dependable and trustworthy. 


Mise-en-scene
The young boy's costume first of all shows that his family have a traditional life as he wears Amish clothes, also he wears a hat which looks like a halo showing his innocence in the film. The location is a very empty nearly deserted train station which is fearful, but although it is just a normal place people would visit daily that makes it more threatening as you wouldn't normally expect something frightening to occur there. In the murder scene, the toilets are filthy and are a claustrophobic unglamorous place. One of the murderers is wearing a suit which matches the dreary disgusting colour of the toilets showing how worthless he is, however his tie is bright red signifying danger as it resembles the colour of blood.


Representation
This film shows a big representation of gender as the traditional mother stereotype is portrayed in the boys mother and in contrast the men have the high careers showing that there is sexism still going on as they are seen to be more important than women. There is also a negative representation in this film of race, as traditional views still stand as early on in the film there is a black man who is one of the murderers.