Sample Essay on the Third Man Analysis

In this film extract analysis I will be looking at Carol Reeds – The Third Man. I will be looking at certain points and aspects of studding this opening extract and I have split this essay up into sections discussing different aspects of the extract and I will compare and contrast throughout.

The first thing that strikes me about this film is the opening narration by a happy friendly voice immediately letting the audience feel at ease and comfortable before settling into watching the film, the narrator starts by talking about how he never knew Vienna before the war and that he only got to know it during the period where the classic black market was apparent.

By the narrator talking about this before going on to tell us the story he has already made a link with the audience.

Then the narrator goes on to describe the situation and why Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) is arriving in Vienna. That is all the narrator does in the extract but it is a very important part in creating meaning in the film because in the first couple of minutes he has made a connection with the audience making them feel at ease and has explained a part of the situation that we have not seen (Martins leaving and coming to Vienna).

The narrator can tell the story from his point of view or from the view of another character, in this film he is talking from his point of view almost like an audience member.

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This narration reminds me of the narration in The Big Lebowski (1998) where the narrator has an outside view and talks about the situation at hand.

The film has a Classic Narrative Structure because it follows a set of rules, it confines to the three act structure I have included a picture which shows a brief example of the three act structure.

The film develops over a 3 act structure by firstly setting up an Inciting Incident (Limes fake death) then the film moves on to plot point one, (Martins meeting Limes wife) following that it moves onto act two and reaches the midpoint. Plot point two (where Martins sees Lime alive) then moves onto act three where the climax of the film is reached (where Lime is killed for real) the film has then passed though all the three act structure.

2Mise en sc�ne are widely used throughout the film but I will just talk about it during the extract that we are analyzing, the extract starts with lots of shots of the city Vienna and the different zones created by the war so the shots of the city are already creating meaning toward the situation that the city is in. Then regarding set design Martins goes looking for lime and finding out that he is dead Martins is in a very old fashioned house where you can see a person changing the candle lights and you can tell that the house is very elaborate conveying to the audience that the house and whoever owns the house is relatively well off.

3The use of rear projection in films is a way to film in an exotic location and keep stars from traveling and it’s more economical. In this film there is a scene where there is a rear projector in use, this sometimes is used to create meaning in films and in others it is just used to save money and in this film the use of real action shots isn’t really required. It doesn’t really create meaning but is used to supplement the films use of mise en scene.

Martins then goes to the funeral following the bar scene, in the bar scene I noticed that the camera angles have been tilted maybe trying to create a meaning of the state of the mind of both Martins and Calloway being inebriated. Also I think that the locations are used to dramatic effect in the way all the locations seem to be very dressed up and none of the sets look very lived in and the feeling that they give to me is of a nice set that was created and not an actual place that was used.

The interiors in the extract for example the bar is quite grand like the house the design of the walls and interior features also convey to the audience the part of town they are in is a rich part of town. When the camera angle changes and tilts the audience can see behind Holly that the bar is very nice and stylish. Also in this bar you can see the sort of punters that it attracts when Holly starts to kick off and the officer grabs him, portraying to the audience that even the nicest bars usual punters are affected by the war.

The war effort is apparent and you can tell that the war is massively affecting the story because when Martins and Calloway go for their drink together and they fall out because of the comments Calloway make about Lime the officer steps in almost right away. Plus the officer is kind of a contradictory character because as soon as he finds out that Martins is a famous author his attitude towards him change right away.

4One of this films main characteristic is that it is film noir. It is typical of films from the forties and fifties to have film noir as one of its main features of those films and The Third Man is no exception with its low key lighting and shadows.

In the extract the use of film noir is apparent when we get to the scene when Martins goes to find Lime and he is at the bottom of the stairs talking to the German man his shadow is massive and it makes it apparent that Martins is below and the light is coming from above where the German man is changing the lighting.

Here is another example from the film where the lighting and camera angle is shot from above, in this particular moment it is trying to make the officer look bigger and more of an authoritative figure.

This is a screen shot that I have taken from the bar scene where I noticed the use of the Venetian blind effect that is so typical of the film noir period. This in particular creates meaning in that you can tell the time of day it is and maybe the way that the effect is used would lead the viewer to think that something dark or mysterious would happen.

Lighting in the extract that we are studding is used to dramatic effect in certain scenes with the use of shadows to create meaning to the audience. Some noticeable parts where lighting is used very well are in the very beginning in the bar scene where they are sat drinking and the use of three point lighting is apparent because the back is light and both of the characters are light with key lighting. The use of this three point lighting makes a contrast between the subject that is being filmed and the background giving it a more three dimensional effect.

Now talking about sound in the extract, I am going to start by talking about the non diegetic sound that is used. This in its first instance would be the sound of the opening music of the guitar. This music is played for quite a while into the beginning and even after the narrator has stopped talking you can still hear the music in the background, I think that this music is played as a complement to the narrator because it is relaxed and it makes the beginning introduction easier to listen to.

The use of diegetic sound in this film much like in the film Written on the Wind (1956) is used to create suspense in the situation like in Written on the Wind you can hear the door slam open and the wind blowing in, in the scene where Kyle Hadley comes back. The use of this sound creates a sense of drama and suspense. In our extract you have the beginning where Martins gets off the train and you hear the train steam let go and gets ready to enter the city. Creating lots of meanings for example the use of steam could be interpreted as him letting go of his past and starting a fresh.

I have noticed that the use of smoke in this extract may convey different meanings as a part of mise en scene Calloway smokes in the bar creating massive clouds of smoke creating shadows complementing the film noir theme.

In conclusion I have noticed that this extract is a piece of cinema that uses film noir to create lots of meanings to the audience and does so well. All the uses of mise en scene and cinematography complement this story and have created a very easy well made film to watch for all of its audiences.