Film Analysis Essay of El Infierno and Miss Bala

Introduction

Film production techniques play a critical role in ensuring that a film is enthusiastic and that it conveys its intended message to the viewers. Films producers use different types of cinematic techniques in the production of different movies, to achieve different goals. These techniques have evolved with time due to technological advancements. Although different films can use similar techniques, their purpose and use are different. Use of different techniques is demonstrated by the films El Infierno and Miss Bala which is the focus of this paper. As noted in the two films, the film directors aim to display perfect scenes which are close to real life scenarios. The two films make use of camera shots, camera movements, and camera angles among other cinematic techniques to achieve the desired theme. Although the films El Infierno and Miss Bala make use of similar cinematic techniques to illustrate the visual perception in the film to develop their plot around the intended themes, the techniques are utilized differently.

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Film directors use over-the-shoulder shots to give the viewers bits of exposition and character background. In this technique, a camera shot is taken with the shoulders of the actors dominating the foreground (Bowen and Thompson 66). In this regard, the back of the shoulder, as well as the person's head, is used in framing the image of the person where the camera points. The films Infierno and Miss Bala make use of this technique to make sure that the audience does not need to come any closer than they are. In the film El Infierno, over the shoulder shot is evident when Benny Garcia (one of the major actors) talks to a woman in the store as the camera takes the shot in a manner that his shoulders act as the scene frame. It is also used in the scene where Garcia reads a newspaper to show the newspaper headline. This technique is also seen in the movie Miss Bala when the actor Laura is captured by the terrorists who participate in the murder of the DEA agent. The shot is taken behind one of the attackers as he holds Laura by her neck. The shots are well balanced to ensure that there exists neither too little or too many shoulders in the scene's frame. This type of technique is used to introduce an aspect of intimacy in the film. It is also used to show the distance between a particular character and an object which he or she is gazing. Although two characters are involved in the scene, the viewers can quickly identify the character carrying a lot of weight in the scene and maintain their attention to him/her easily without being distracted by the less dominant character.

Filmmakers use zoom shots to create an illusion of moving closer or far away from the object. Zoom shots are characterized by slow zooming of the camera towards a particular character (Mather 233). This technique in films tends to undermine the normal visual perception of objects since it seeks to adjust the angle of view. In movies, each character has a specific position which represents a particular behavior. This technique is achieved by changing the focal length of the camera. The technique is used in the film El Infierno when Garcia meets his father after being deported. The scene starts when the camera is recorded at a far distance and is then slowly zoomed towards Garcia and his father. In this film, the use of zoom shots is used to emphasize the facial expressions in the characters. It should be noted that in this instance, the characters had not met for quite a long time. In this regard, zooming the actors enables the viewer to see how they react on one another. Contrary, zooming is used in Miss Bala to create a frightening mood among the audience. It should be noted that the film Miss Bala uses zoom shot in the scene where Laura nearly meets the attackers after surviving the shooting. Cameras are zoomed to from her hiding place to show the attackers in a car in their efforts of finding Laura after witnessing the attacks. Through this, the use of zooming enables the viewer to see the actual distance between the perpetrators. This shows that the movie producers aimed at ensuring the viewers get the position of a specific character by emphasizing his appearance and words. When achieving such, the film producers zoom cameras when the actor is speaking in a smooth and slow pace for the actor being projected to occupy an ample space. Such action gives the actor a more significant degree of freedom when he/she dominates the scene.

Filmmakers use panning shots, as demonstrated in the films El Infierno and Miss Bala to show more than can fit in a single frame. In different scenes, the films contain panning shots to accommodate scenes with multiple characters. In most cases, a film scene is composed or more than two characters and fitting them into a single shot is a difficult task. Although it can be achieved, the characters will occupy a small size spoiling the captivating nature of the scene. Besides, there are scenes where one of the characters in addressing a large number of characters. In this case, the directors use panning shots whereby the video camera is swiveled horizontally from a particular position (Freeman 152). For instance, the movie Miss Bala utilizes panning shots to capture all the beauty contestants by moving the camera in a horizontal direction. Fitting all the characters in a single scene will shift the viewers' attention from the character to the rest of the characters, and they might not get the point the film directors are putting across. Such a case is also used in the film El Infierno when the streets of Mexico are being shown in the movie. The camera is moved to capture features such as shops and pedestrians as they cannot fit in a single shot. Such action produces an effect which is similar to an individual turning his/her head from right to left. The resulting image is in the form of passing-by views whereby buildings in the streets appear from one side and exit from the other side.

The films El Infierno and Miss Bala make use of tilt shots cinematographic techniques to raise and lower various scenes to create better viewing. In certain scenes, the movie producers need to show the whole stature of an actor or an object when in a close distance to expose the fine details posed by the object or an actor. In the movie Miss Bala, the camera is tilted upwards to capture her action as she eludes from the shooting scene by climbing over the wall. In this case, Tilting the camera results in a movement which resembles a person lowering or raising his/her head. When shooting the film El Infierno, vertical motion of the camera is utilized to capture the banner for the club dubbed cantina la favorite. Capturing the banner in a single shot blurs the details, and the viewers might not notice it. When solving such a challenge, tilt shot is applied where the camera is put at a fixed position and rotated up and down in a vertical motion to capture the banner and its surrounding environment.

El Infierno and Miss Bala apply the tracking shots which tract the movement of a character (Forrest 164). In normal conditions, fixing a camera on the direction which an actor is moving to can show the motion of the character. However, such technique produces an average scene where the views can identify the use of the camera. Tracking shots come to the rescue by creating motion with additional visual effects. For instance, the cameras track the movement of Laura as she descends from the wall after escaping the shooting scene. In this case, the camera is lowered as Laura descents and finally show her landing safely on the ground. As such, the cameras are in a position to capture the foreground objects between the main subject and the camera. In the film El Infierno, tracking shots are used to track Garcia's movement after leaving the club. In this movie, foreground objects introduce an aspect of parallax, a visual effect whereby the objects near the frame exhibit a faster motion in the scene than the distant objects. This parallax effect eliminates the motion feeling as the objects behind Garcia move slowly across the film's frame.

Just like many filmmakers, directors of Miss Bala and El Infierno use crane shots to introduce a vertical translation motion (Kundert-Gibbs and Derakhshani 58). Vertical translation is evident in the shooting scene in the film Miss Bala when the camera is put in a vertical motion to capture where Laura hides. This scene requires to portray Laura in her immediate environment. Without crane shots, it would not have been possible to show the entire person since the positioning the camera at a vertical distance will only capture a small portion of the surroundings. In this regard, the use of vertical motion eliminated the blocking in the scene thereby showing a more significant part of the space behind her. Similarly, vertical translation is evident in the film El Infierno in the scene which depicts the current state of Mexico streets after Garcia's return. These shots produce a perfect scene as the immediate surrounding is well accommodated. It also ensures that the viewers get the whole view of the streets at once instead of random shifts from one object to another which is tedious and the viewers might not get the entire idea being communicated in the scene.

Like crane shots, tract in shots is used as a visual perception to portray the theme in the film plot. In some instances, it is important to show the proximity of the characters to depict the appearance more closely. In this regard, both films use the track-in shots to show a close appearance of a character. For example, the movie Miss Bala starts by a scene whereby the camera focuses on Laura Guerrero complexation. Since she plays like a beauty pageant, the track-in shots help the viewers to notice her complexation. Capturing the other characters in this scene may diffuse the ability of the viewers to note Laura's complexation which is mostly emphasized in this film. In El Infierno, cameras focus on Garcia as he relaxes in a pub in the streets of Mexico to show how he reacts to his new life after being deported. Although in the presence of other characters at the pub, the filmmakers ensure Garcia is well captured for the viewers to note how well he has adapted to his new life. The camera first captures the whole surrounding followed by movement of the shots towards Garcia.

Just like many films, both movies apply the use of a secondary object on the foreground in the track-in shots (Zettl 122). In most cases, the character's actions are well understood by the viewers when a secondary object in close vicinity. At this instance, both the character and the foreground object are essential, and the camera movement should capture both. During the track -in shots, the size of the foreground object increases in size at a faster rate than the character. In the film Miss Bala, the track-in shot is applied when Laura returns after eluding from the context. In- track shots display the picture of one of the attackers in a television set when she visits a safe house after being harassed by attackers. In El Infierno, the use of track-in shot is evident when Garcia visits the graveyard. The camera is moved to capture the cross signs on the graves which act as a secondary object. The incorporation of foreground objects in the track-in shots introduces an aspect of three-dimensional illusion which is characterized by a change of size of the cross signs as objects grow larger up to a vanishing point.

Both films make use of mixing of focal lengths in a particular scene to introduce dominancy of one character over the characters in the same scene. In one scene, the filmmakers are necessitated to show the dominance of the protagonist using normal and reverse shots (Bignell and Orlebar 224). In this case, the fil...