Essay - Enrolment

Explain how the text has been constructed to create meaning

In the text editing is used to increase the pace of the shot and create meaning. For example, before the group first takes the drug, the scene contains only one shot that does not cut away, however once the drug has been taken this one continuous shot of the group is interrupted with a quick cut towards a panning shot of a building. This shot does not last long before it cuts back to the group, this is repeated while the distance between these cuts is shortened, this creates an increased pace within the scene. From my own knowledge I know that the period in which this move was set the hippie movement was on going, with the group promoting peace through the Vietnam war, this group would often partake in hallucinogenic drug use. The meaning behind doing this could link to the characters heart rate as they are reacting towards the drugs that they have ingested, with the pace of the shot and how it increases quickly after the drug mimicking their heart rate.


Linking back to my previous point, sound is also used to dictate pacing in this scene with a loud clear bell being present throughout all the scene. This non diegetic sound is set at an increased pace which contrasts the slow movements before the drug is taken but maintains this pace throughout the shot even after the drug is ingested and the shot is being cut away to the different imagery I mentioned earlier. In doing this the non-diegetic sound influences the pacing of the scene through contrasting the slow movement of the beginning of the scene and in meeting the pace created by the quick cuts. Therefore, because the non-diegetic sounds contrast the mise-en-scene being shown in the beginning of the shot it creates tension within the audience with them expecting something to happen that would match the pace set with the sound.