SAW

CHARACTERS

LIGHTING

• Protagonist- Doctor Lawrence Gordon
• Helper- Adam
• Antagonist- Jigsaw (Originally there is a red herring on who the actual antagonist is - the "dead" man in the room)
• Age Group- 20/30 years old
• Mainly male cast
• Middle/working class
• Wife and child adds level of vulnerability previously unknown in the film.

• Mainly blue, green and red to match setting - blue (hospital), green (crime locations) and red (kidnappings).
• Dark in flashbacks & other killings.

EFFECT

MISE EN SCENE

Gives the film a mysterious and occasionally fearful effect because as the lighting changes, so does the intensity of the situation as events take place and spiral out of the characters' control.

• Overall, has a dark ambience to the film (not always a visible quality)
• Characters' memories missing
• Always withholds vital information key to the plotline

CAMERAS

• Mainly close-ups/long shots
• Speeds up occasionally
• CCTV effect used when watching victims in the bathroom
• Binocular effect used during spying neighbour scene.

SAW

RATED 18

EFFECT

Gives a sense of mystery, tension and suspense throughout the film as you wait for the consequences of a character's actions after seeing their memories. Dark ambience creates the tension and adds to the suspense as it is psychological and the tension & suspense adds to the fear and effect that certain situations (e.g. the torture scenes) have on the viewer.

Close-ups give the viewer a bigger idea of exactly what the character is feeling as you can physically see the emotions crossing their faces as events take place e.g. when Lawrence Gordon's family is taken hostage and he hears their voices over the phone. Speeding up the footage tells the viewer exactly how traumatic the experiences can be from the character's point of view e.g. when the girl in the headgear torture device is trying to free herself in the time limit. CCTV effect shows the viewer how antagonist is seeing his victims and the binocular effect shows how the ex-detective is seeing Lawrence Gordon's family.

Psychological/Slasher

Directed by James Wan

Produced by Gregg Hoffman, Mark Burg & Oren Koules

Cara Martin-Gowing

A Level Media

PROPS

SOUND

• Saws
• Guns
• Chains
• Clocks
• Blood pool
• Cigarettes
• Replacement photograph in wallet
• Stethoscope
• Dummy
• Torture devices (previous victims)

• High screeching sounds
• Ticking
• Chimes
• Heartbeat
• Voice-overs
• Psycho laughter

Analysis

EFFECT

EDITING

• Footage sped up to match traumatic memories and chase scenes
• Constant cuts to clock, other viewpoints and flashbacks

DIEGETIC

Adds to the film by making it more interesting for the viewers as different props are used for different situations giving the sense that the antagonist never wants any of the victims to die in the same way, making each situation more complicated as different props are used, for example the man climbing through the wires to escape, the girl with the destructive headgear and Lawrence & Adam chained up and finding the key to get out of the room.

EFFECT

Makes the scene more virtual as the diegetic sounds help to create the atmosphere for the events about to take place e.g. the clock ticking adds to the sense of urgency the characters have as they run out of time to get out of their situation before they lose their lives.

Helps to create the atmospheres in the film (fear, suspense) as using multiple shots and blending them together to show multiple viewpoints at almost the same time shows what each character is going through as time goes by e.g. Lawrence Gordon is in the new torture location, his family are held hostage in their apartment, the ex-detective is spying on them from across the street and the antagonist is watching Lawrence from the family's apartment via CCTV.

MUSIC

• Orchestral
• Low pitched when tension is high
• High pitched during important event in the movie

NON-DIEGETIC

EFFECT

Helps to create the atmospheres in the scenes as the characters go through unimaginable events to come out alive. Creates a sense of fear whenever the music increases in pitch as it signifies that the characters are about to go through a possibly harrowing experience.