The Black Hole Cinematic Techniques

Black Hole Essay

Mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound, and editing individually serve a specific function within a film. These cinematic techniques work in conjunction throughout the duration of the film in order to develop the narrative. In the short film The Black Hole, a man working overtime hours at the office discovers a black hole allowing him to traverse through objects. Using the supernatural force to his benefit, he uses the black hole to enter a locked safe only to end up trapped inside after his plan fails. The cinematic techniques employed in The Black Hole are often repeated in the film in order to convey meaning and guide the spectator throughout the narrative. The film opens with an iris-in medium-long shot presenting the title, from there the camera begins tracking left to right to establish the setting, a bleak, low-key lit interior of an office. The shot ends in a straight-on, medium-close up of an apathetic man in the centre of the
The series unfolds rapidly with shot durations kept brief and transitions between successive shots nearly unnoticeable. All of the sounds previously audible to the spectator are overlapped. The combination of sounds along with the accelerated editing heighten the scenes intensity to arouse tension and suspense. The volume of the sounds are amplified in contrast to earlier shots furthermore intensifying the level of suspense aroused within the spectator. Near the end of the film the black hole detaches from the door of the safe after the man dives in. At this moment the overlapped sounds come to an abrupt halt and only the sound of the photocopier from the beginning of the film is audible. The film ends with a medium close-up of the safe in centre composition, cut to a medium shot, and concluding with a medium long-shot. In each shot the diegetic sound of the photocopier increases in