Secondary Research: Looking into Film and Television
As previously discussed on my blog, I have looked at a few television shows and films involving a combination of interrogation methods with a comedic element. I have researched this way because my screenplay will be set in an In Interrogation room and I wanted to give it an added twist of some sort. I’m not looking too deeply at settings and components just yet, but I have taken a look at how people are interrogated so that when I write my screenplay, the atmosphere I create will appear realistic. Although my screenplay is a comedy, realism is still a very important aspect.
Law and Order
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsaMvU7lITg
The first television show I looked at was Law and Order, where I knew I would find lots of interrogation scenes. One particular scene, even though not very long, stood out for me because it used some great elements to create suspense and other feelings that put me right in the moment. Although my screenplay will be a comedy and not a drama like this one, I still wanted to get to the core feeling of being interrogated and this scene helped me to do that. Even though my screenplay is a funny twist to it, I wanted the interrogation to appear real.
· In this particular interrogation at the beginning of the scene, they were doing a paraffin test on a woman to see if she had fired a gun. This might be commonplace in many investigations.
· Even though the two people in the interrogation room know each other, they are still using similar conventions, for example they are asking each other questions.
· The characters are serious. Their dialogue is serious. The words they say are used in serious context. There is no humour in this scene, it’s not meant to be funny. Communication is vital when it comes to creating an interrogation scene and this clip is a good example of how to create this type of dialogue and atmosphere. A scene like this doesn’t even necessarily need much dialogue. The proper chemistry between the characters would go a long way to setting the scene.
· The scenery is also very important and had to be researched. For example the room here is clostrophobic, dark and cold. This is a tactic used on purpose to make people uncomfortable, and it contrasts with the emotion of the people being interrogated. I want my screenplay to have a cold feeling in general, and then at the end have that change to one of warmth and humour. To me the cold/warmth contrasts indicate drama/ comedy aspects.
· People here are dressed formally. When it comes to my screenplay this is important. It gives the authority and identity to the characters.
The Bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0iaPBouN3Qill
This clip comes from the final episode. Although they are going through the same process as Law and Order, it is set up differently. Here are some examples:
· In this clip close ups of facial expressions are seen a lot throughout the clip. We get back and forth shots of the police officer and the murder suspect they are interrogating and these covey unspoken emotions. There are obvious differences in their their postures and body language as well. How the PO sits up straight and broad at the thug slouches. This gives us an idea of their identity. This is vital.
· In this clip they are using props, such as an evidence bag with an unidentified object in it. It is clear that the object is connected to the murder. It’s important to have props in my screen play, especially if I am going to do a police interrogation, because just a few well placed items can set the scene and even the story. If there was no evidence, for example, we would know nothing about the murder.
I decided in the end when looking at films, that I should review two comedy films and two more serious films. The two more serious films I looked at were Lord Of War, and Inglourious Bastards. They are different, but both explore interrogation.
Lord Of War
While watching the interrogation scene from Lord Of War I could clearly see that film is more unrealistic than television. I found that parts of the interrogation scene in Lord Of War were quite over the top, for example a very long discussion took place as opposed to the quick fire questions and responses of a television show.
· The interrogation room is quite stylized. It does not look like a police interrogation room. It’s open and spacious, well lit, and gives off more of a warm feeling than say for instance the room in Law and Order.
· As I said above, the dialogue between the two characters in this clip is complex. It goes into other situations not relevant to the crime. Nicholas Cage’s character talks about his past, and how people close to him have died, as well as talking about the crimes he has committed. So we get a mix of crime interrogation and speech setting the themes of the film.
· In this scene, Cage’s character, who is being interrogated, at times seems to be taking the role of a police officer. He states towards the end how someone is going to release him. This normally is not something a suspect has the opportunity to say. It doesn’t seem realistic for him to think he has a choice what the reprocussions will be for his crime. In this case, it creates an unrealistic element to the film, and gives Cage’s character the right to break conventions of an interrogation.
Inglourious Basterds
I own this on DVD, so I got to see the whole scene instead of just parts of it on you tube. I think seeing all the sequences here in this scene is very important. Scenery wise, it’s not like any of the scenes I have previously analysed. It’s set in a woodland area. The reason I wanted to analyse this scene, is because this is one of my favourite films, and there is so much to talk about here when it comes to interrogation. The main reason I like the interrogation in this film is because of the emotion that comes through in it.
· This scene has more physical power than the others for obvious reason. The film’s purpose is to talk about the Germans vs. Americans and Jews during the war For example here you see the German sergeant is surrounded by American/ Jewish soldiers with ammunition.
· We get shots like this thorough out the interrogation scene, of the two characters (from opposites sides) looking at and talking to each other. I like shots like these in films, because I get to see the expressions of both the people at the same time, so I hope to use similar shots if my screenplay becomes a film. It’s important in my theme, because the man who is being accused did not commit the suspect crime, and I want to get his feelings across as much as possible.
· This scene has more conventions of a real life interrogation than some others. That probably has to do with the subject matter. Brad Pitt’s character asks lots of difficult questions, some of which are too personal to be answered, because there are prices to be paid for doing bad things. In this instance, the solider is given the choice to not be killed by the Bastards, but he decides he would rather die than answer the questions he have been given.
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