Cold Mountain - Film sequence group analysis

This clip opens with an extreme long shot as the man is walking through the mountains, this shot establishes a setting and shows the expanse of the land, it helps to give the audience a feeling that he is isolated and alone. Back lighting is used when he is standing atop of the hills, looking across the snowy landscape, this illustrates that his character is going to be living in the shadows and represents the darkness and segregation. There is now a straight cut from the man to a mid-shot of a young woman with ink on her hands and red eyes, I think this shows what the man is thinking about as a woman's voice reading a letter starts as he looks down, this is an example of how indiegetic sound is used in this clip. I think this technique was used to show that he is thinking about it and keeps going over it in his head, just like the woman appears to be doing in this scene because she has lots of ink on her hands like she has had to re-write it a lot to get down what she is feeling. This shows an attachment between the pair and her despair. Non-diegetic sound is used during this short sequence of the clip, it mirrors the mood of the woman and makes the audience sympathise with her character. Low-key lighting as the woman cries is echoing her mood of missing somebody. The ink on her hands shows that she has been writing for a while and is therefore confused and unsure of what to write, illustrating that the letter/note she is writing is of great importance.

Within the next cut, low-key lighting is used again, with the exception of the fire, this portrays that the men are relying upon the fire and it is a key part of the clip. As the men are sat around the fire for their survival for the night, they are illuminated yet the background and the edge of the woods is darkened and unfocused. Therefore, the men and the fire are a metaphor for life yet the darkness of the trees is a metaphor for death. This shows that the line between life and death is very fine. This is foreshadowing, as soon the men will cross the line over to the darkness.

The medium shots used as all the men are gathered around the fire show that they feel comfortable around each other. The scene soon cuts to a long shot showing how many people are around the fire, this helps to establish the setting and characters of the setting. The two original men are outnumbered, this foreshadows how it may go wrong. Eye-line matching is a key aspect of this clip as its shot reverse shot between the men as the conversation rolls and it portrays that they are all connected.
As they all gather around the fire, one of the men begins to play the violin, this is diagetic music as we can see where the sound is coming from and it is not added post-production. Close ups are used on the older man who walks away from the fire, it helps to show the worry and sadness on his face, this intrigues the viewer and shows that he most likely knows what is going to happen to the original men.