Editing 750 word analysis

(1) Matilda (1996 film) - Television Explodes Scene - YouTube

The scene opens up with a shot which is behind Matilda's mum. It seems like an over the shoulder shot but it is actually completely behind the character. You can only see her back and arms. From this angle, you can tell that the mum is doing something to her husband and scissor can be seen. It then cuts to a close up of the dad’s face. It is so close that it seems like it is meant to be a point of view shot from the mother. His head is very close to the camera and it is quite amusing. It is then a shot reverse shot because it switches to his point of view of her cutting his hair. It becomes clear that the man’s hat is stuck into his head. It then switches to a medium shot of the main character laying down on the sofa. It establishes the character’s personality as she is seen laughing at her dad. There is a long shot of the family’s living room to give the audience an idea of the family’s lifestyle. There are two photo frames seen on tables in which it shows the parents and the son. It indicates to the audience how the family feel about about Matilda. There are no pictures of her to be seen. There is a medium shot in the scene  that shows the mum, dad and son. It really shows the separation between the family and Matilda. There is a nice over the should shot from behind the dad when he is towering over Matilda. It it quite slow-paced at that moment and she is standing up to her father in that part with us quite important. It builds on the audience’s understanding of Matilda’s character. There is a low angle shot showing the dad rip up the pages of Matilda’s book. It is significant that it is a low angle shot because it portrays the father in a way that shows he has power and control in the house. The shots start to show the TV screen that Matilda is forced to watch and then it switches to Matilda and her family’s faces. The editing pace becomes faster because it symbolises Matilda rapidly getting angrier and angrier. It keeps switching from the TV to the other family member’s laughing and then to close-ups of Matilda staring at the screen. The editing keeps zooming in to the character’s expressions and once again it shows the separation between Matilda and her family. The zooming in  highlights to the audience how her family are happy but she is not. The fast paced, intense extreme close ups lead to a massive bang and the TV explodes. It becomes clear to the audience that Matilda caused it. There is then editing cuts from shot to shot in which flashes from the mum screaming, the TV exploding and Matilda's eyes. Everything then goes black and there is silence for a brief moment. In the whole scene there is low key lighting which could imply something mysterious is gonna happen. The lighting becomes even more intense when the father stands and yells. There are also numerous points in the scene where it zooms in on the dad as he gets angrier and angrier. Whilst there is intense close-ups of Matilda, the low key lighting is shattered with a fade to a dark screen. The dialogue spoken by the parents gives the audience an idea of how the characters are. The mother seems very  neglectful of her children and only ares about looks. The father seems like a vert angry bossy man who always feels the need to be in control.This can all be learned by the dialogue, acting and costume. The mother wears very bright clothing which could suggest she enjoys being the centre of attention and standing out. Tension is created perfectly in the scene when the editing keeps switching from Matilda's eyes and the TV because of the zooming in and fast paced editing. It makes the audience curious and anticipate what is going to happen.