Essay Example on Mystery and Vanishing: Picnic at the Hanging Rock

The movie "Picnic at the Hanging Rock" builds up the theme of mystery and sexual hysteria where some girls from a stern boarding school in Australia go on a geological picnic at Hanging Rock, which id not very far away from the school. During the event, three of the girls and one teacher who went for the outing vanish into thin air. One of the girls is, however, found a week later after the incident, and she cannot remember anything that occurred. The other girls and the teacher are never seen (Johnson et al., 2017). The movie creates a particular space in one's mind; free form plot lacks the final explanation, and hence it exists as an occurrence only. This paper aims at analysing specific formal techniques that have been applied in a particular scene of the movie and give various interpretations of these techniques as used in the film. The methods discussed include sound editing and mixing technology, focus technique, and a shot distance that build up the overall themes of the movie.

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Sound mixing, which includes a flute and editing transition, has been utilised throughout the movie. We find as the scene introduces us to the Appleyard College, a soundtrack is used. The sound mixes change during every scenario of the clips, which gives a different transition of events. Initially, Miranda is thinking as she kays in her bed with some soundtracks playing on the background. This shows the theme of meditation and critical thinking of the character (Tricart et al., 2016). The sound mixes initially bring about the subject of love. Where we see Miranda getting up, and she is handed a note to read by her friend Miranda is filled with love as she reads the note loudly. The sound mixing technique here at the original part has been utilised to portray love emotions. The love is expressed in different ways, even as Irma counts the several notes that show a message of love.

Additionally, during the sound mixing technique, different intonations have been employed, such as the instant where Miss Lumley stops Sara and gives her the news of being denied to go to the picnic. The sound transition changes from the theme of love tot that of sadness and stress. Throughout the video, a point reaches when some noises are heard from the background when the pupils and other staff come out of Appleyard College. This is a sound technique that shows the various activities that take place in a college, and hence it is not always guaranteed to find total silence in a learning institution.

A Focus technique has also been used in this movie. To be more specific, rack focus has widely been utilised in this video, where there have been several changes in depth of field from one object to another within the frame. For instance, the focus initially is on Miranda, who lies on her bed and then abruptly changes to focus on one of the other pupils who hands in a note to Miranda. Also, the focus in more noticeable when the notes are zoomed as Irma counts them one after another. The technique is also associated with various changes in feelings that include anxiety, happiness, sadness, and tension (Kerrigan et al., 2016). The zooming in and divided frames convey the idea that individuals have different feelings during different occasions.

Moreover, people are slaves to feelings and will always focus on what is close to them. Miranda focuses on the notes as she reads them, which makes her develop affection feelings. There are some occasions where white and red flowers are focused. This focus displays the art of culture during Valentine's Day, where people tend to gift flowers to loved ones as a sign of love and care. The focus was made at the Appleyard College building and even its interior architecture. The focus communicates the theme of knowledge and design and how this has impacted the ordinary lives of people (Dancyger et al., 2014). Human beings have the desire to own lucrative buildings and institutions to better their living standards. The tight framing shot of Miranda in the mirror portrays the concept of confinement of the students at the Appleyard College, where students are supposed to follow specific regulations about their stay at the college.

In the "Picnic at the Hanging Rock," the filmmakers use pretty short shots, low angles, and unbalanced compositions to show the biasness, which is thriving at the learning institutions, where some students have more privileges compared to the others. A short shot is seen when Miss Lumley stops Sara for a short period to deliver some message where Sara is said not to attend the outing. Additionally, the quick shots unfold the story one piece after another. The idea of oppression reveals and unequal opportunities being given to the students.

Conclusion

"Picnic at the Hanging Rock" is a movie that involves the disappearance of some schoolgirls and their mathematics teacher called Miss Greta during an outdoor activity at the Hanging Rock in Victoria, on a Valentine's Day (Conti et al., 2017) Various filming approaches have been used in this movie "Picnic at the Hanging Rock" which depict a different change in themes throughout. The methods used in the short video include sound mixing techniques, focus techniques, and a shot distance filming. The sound mixing approach depicts love and various emotions, and the focus techniques display the feelings of anxiety and worry. The idea of shot distance filming is used to transmit the subject of favoritism that occurs in most learning institutions.

Works Cited

Conti, Chris. "Did It Really Happen?: Picnic at Hanging Rock." Sydney Review of Books (2017). www.sydneyreviewofbooks.com/picnic-at-hanging-rock/

Dancyger, Ken. The technique of film and video editing: history, theory, and practice. CRC Press, 2014. www.books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=LVISBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=filmmaking+sound+mixing+techniques&ots=nHeBLkQyXS&sig=hJIM4hVN4gt9Gg1eziqPBU2kJtc

Johnson, Marguerite. "Picnic at Hanging Rock, Fifty Years on." Australian Book Review 397 (2017): 49-57. www.academia.edu/download/56634289/Marguerite_Johnson_-_ABR_Gender_Fellowship_Essay_-_Picninc_at_Hanging_Rock_fifty_years_on_-_ABR_December_2017_1.pdf

Kerrigan, Susan, and Joanna Callaghan. "The Filmmakers' Research Perspectives: An Overview of Australian and UK Filmmaking Research." Refereed Proceedings: Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association Annual Conference: Screen Production Research: The Big Questions. 2016. www.aspera.org.au/wp-content/uploads/14-Kerrigan_Callaghan-20161.pdf

Tricart, Celine. 3D Filmmaking: Techniques and Best Practices for Stereoscopic Filmmakers. CRC Press, 2016. www.books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3oKuDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=filmmaking+shot+distance+techniques&ots=qQ-CEJZ4Rw&sig=tx8U-6fAJqNKWoiyydiJIGHIuR4