Extract Essay: 24
In the extract from the TV show, 24, there is an interrogation taking place. A woman, Nina, is being interrogated by a man about the whereabouts of a bomb that has been placed near or in a city. Through this interrogation, Nina uses dialogue to trigger the interrogator into a raged state of mind which ultimately leads to his breakout and full out assault on Nina. Throughout the interrogation, the Director is building an intense mood as there are people’s lives on the line with the added pressure of the intense interrogation. The underlying theme expressed by the director is that without patience and time, nothing can be achieved. The director successfully communicates this theme with the audience through their usage of camera angles and movements as well as their sounds and editing techniques.
As the extract begins, it opens to the accused female sitting down at the interrogation table seeming rather relaxed when the interrogator enters the room. As he enters, a zoom in begins onto the camera inside the interrogation room to indicate there is a recording in progress of the interrogation; this further develops the story as to who is watching. The male interrogator is serious in this situation before a jump cut to the outside of the interrogation room with more characters monitoring the screen of the interrogation room which further develops the question as to who is watching them. The characters outside of the interrogation room seem rather stressed or anxious implying the interrogation is serious before a single word is spoken between the two individuals in the interrogation room. After jumping back to the interrogation room, the two continue to build suspense and intensity towards each other after a series of stares were exchanged. The eye line match towards the non-diegetic sound of a tik tok from the clock continues the common trend of intensity and pressure which is a strain to the ability of the interrogator’s mind as there is not much time to wait since she has just confirmed she knows about a bomb.
The following of the bomb confirmation was met by the dialogue between the two about the whereabouts of the bomb which continues to precious waste time away from the bomb which happens to be what the interrogator needs most. As the dialogue continues between the two, over the shoulder shots become the key to understanding the mood in the room as the faces of the individuals give that there is pressing tension and frustration. The situation intensifies as Nina, the interrogatee, says that she knows the location of the bomb but would not disclose any information regarding it. This seems to trigger the interrogator after a close up of his face shows a distraught, angry look; this is a result of him needing the location of the bomb which runs his time and patience was running thin. As a result, a series of rapid jump cuts led to him flipping the table which displays a loud bang of it hitting the floor and intensifies the situation as he has gotten aggressive. After a close up of the male interrogator getting in Nina’s face, there is a jump cut to the monitors outside of the interrogation room of a two shot of the two peers of the interrogator watching the monitors with stressed faces. There is a jump cut back to the interrogation room where small dialogue between the two continues to intensify. Time has been running out as the peers of the interrogator show it as well as the climbing anger and lack of patience in the interrogator.
The Dialogue continues to be small digs at the interrogator as well as a lack of seriousness from the interrogatee. The increase in tension is shown by the two beginning to raise their voices at each other which results in the extreme close ups of their faces; also, the score displays an increase in severity as the tempo begins to rise through the conversation. The increase continued until Nina said, “I guess you’ll have to follow my lead.”, this ends the dialogue and jump cuts to the interrogator lunging at Nina and beginning to choke her. This immediately triggers a split screen of the peers of the interrogator which were outside of the interrogation room sprinting in towards the interrogation room along with the interrogator choking Nina. The choking ends with the peers stopping the interrogator which is followed by a somber tone signifying defeat due to his outrage. The final outrage and choking of Nina were the climax of the extract as it was a result of the lack of patience and time reaching a final point.
The overall theme expressed by the director was that without patience and time, nothing can be accomplished. This is displayed through the extract as the situation of a bomb being present already sets up the story for intensity; the director also accomplished this through the use of camera angles and movement along with the sounds and editing of the film. The timeline of a developing loss of patience was depicted through the film.
