Analysis of Exam (2009)

The film I chose is Exam (2009) a British thriller film starring Colin Salmon, Jimi Mistry, Luke Mably and Gemma Chan. The film was distributed by independent.

The plot of the film is: “Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, a man gave them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: "If you try to communicate with myself or the guard... If you spoil your paper intentionally or accidentally... if you choose to leave this room for any reason you will be disqualified." He starts the clock and leaves. The candidates turn over their question papers, only to find they're completely blank."

I will analysis the trailer of the film because I couldn't find the opening sequence of the film on YouTube. The use of camera in the trailer mainly used a tracking shot when all the 8 characters walked in to the room and sat down one by one. The tracking shot was used to show the target audience the room they were in for the majority of the film (it sets the location of the film). There were also a high number of jump cuts used in the trailer to create the sense of tension for the audiences and to create the fast pace of the atmosphere. The jump cuts usually ended with a close up of a characters so that the audiences can see the actor’s facial expressions which showed nervousness of the character. There were also a high number of extreme close ups to focus on every little detail of each character and their behaviour to the situation.   

The editing was extremely effective, when the characters walked in one by one, the camera did not move but it used the faded transition to speed up time and then it tracked along while the characters sat down. Throughout the trailer, there was a quick jump cut from one shot to another, from one face of a character to another close of a character’s hand. There were also a number of black outs, they were used to create tension in the scene.  

Most of the sound used at the start of the trailer is non-diegetic sound, the sound of calm violin with a gentle sound of drums to create the tension. The voice over of the black man talking about what they are asked to do started off being non-diegetic then ended with the character talking himself. When the sound of the violin finished the sound of piano playing a stressful tune joined in and as the pace of the editing got faster, the music started to get louder. this also created tension for the audience. The costumes used for each character were suits and ties for men and skirts and blouses for women this suggested all the characters are business people. The glasses that some of them wore also indicated their intelligence.  The make up used on women was delicate and with the glasses, the women looked sophisticated. One of the women was wearing maroon nail polish which suggested her feminine side.   

This film was a good example to use because from this film, we decided that we could use black outs to create tension in our opening sequence. Also through this, I think we shouldn't be afraid to use extreme close ups because it creates an effective shot.  

Duresh x