Zodiac+(2007)

The plot of Zodiac involves Robert Graysmith, a San Francisco Cartoonist who becomes an amateur detective in the hopes of uncovering the identity of the Zodiac.
 * 1. What is the plot (what does the character want)? **

The character needs to find the truth as it slowly consumes him and becomes an obsession.
 * 2. What is the theme (what does the character need)? **

I chose the scene where Graysmith goes to Mr. Vaughn's house. This scene shows how Graysmith's obsession with the need to find the truth made him a person without any self-regard. His obsession has clouded his mind rendering him to follow Mr. Vaughn's instruction to go back to his house (a very sketchy move) simply because Graysmith believed Mr. Vaughn had information on the Zodiac. This obsession was what led him to his near death experience.
 * 3.Choose a scene that best exemplifies the theme. Identify and explain how 10 elements within the scene (reference mise-en-scene, editing, sound, cinematography, lighting) create meaning in reference to that theme. **

1. The establishing shot for this scene with Mr. Vaughn starts off outside a movie theater. The use of Mise en scene implemented a false sense of security that seeing as there are people in the background and this is a public area, there is no way Graysmith is in trouble. That sense of security slowly deteriorates as Graysmith drives to Vaughn's house. Another thing in Mise En Scene that adds security is the fact that is in the half of the shot that is sheltered from the rain which symbolizes Graysmith's safety to everything outside his little sphere of shelter and bright lights (outside is rain and dark street lights). This ties back into the theme of obsession in a way that Graysmith is so obsessed with finding out who the Zodiac is that he is willing to step outside of his sphere and into the dark (rain and street lights).

2. In this shot, Graysmith had just realized Vaughn might actually be the Zodiac (he would’ve realized this much earlier had it not been his obsession to find the truth). When Vaughn moves to the basement doorway and turns on the light, the light now shines only the right side of his body whereas before Graysmith's realization, Vaughn was always brightly lit on all sides. But now when we look at Vaughn, we seem to see another side of him, a very dark and mysterious side which can be taken literally as the left side of his body is practically all black due to the ominous lighting.

3. As Graysmith gets up to follow Vaughn and enter the basement, he walks towards the camera and eventually fills up the entire shot (medium to close up) which is used to represent that now the mood has changed. The innocent world where Vaughn was nice and sharing everything he knew changed with this shot. This shot also exemplifies the theme and how obsessed Graysmith is. Seeing as he had just realized Vaughn could very well be the Zodiac, he still decides to go to the basement because he WANTS to know if he really is him, hence the theme of obsession.

4. Another great use of lighting was that of the basement. One light bulb for Graysmith, one light bulb for Vaughn. Vaughn's bulb is directly above him and right now, Vaughn is playing it off as an innocent person as if he was not affiliated with the Zodiac when both Vaughn and Graysmith knows that he is. This gives Vaughn the overhead light because it shows he is the mastermind in this situation where he has full control and understanding of what is going on. Graysmith on the other hand is weak in this situation and is at full control of Vaughn. This is why the light is behind him making Graysmith seem somewhat dark and weak compared to the strong bright Vaughn. This still holds true to the theme as Graysmith is still committed and obsessed to finding out who the Zodiac is that he is willing to put himself in such a threatening situation.

5. This part used sound very well. As Graysmith asks Vaughn if there is anyone else in the house, he hears a loud creaking coming from the upstairs floorboard. This (creaking) was greatly emphasized because throughout this scene, there wasn't any ominous music or sound but just the two men talking to one another. This emphasized the creaking noise from upstairs.

7. As Graysmith slowly backs away from Vaughn, the camera moves backward away from Vaughn as in the perspective of Graysmith. This made Vaughn even scarier because the less you can see of a horror figure or the scarer in a movie, the better the effect. So as the camera moved backwards, Vaughn slowly becomes smaller and kind of disappears...literally. The very next second after this shot, he turns off his lightbulb and practically disappears into the dark. This goes back to my earlier point that the less you can see of the horror figure, the scarier it will be as you no longer have him in your sights,

8. Talk about lighting! The lighting in no.4 was a lot less intimidating and scary than this one because that one had the book reflecting the light onto Vaughn's face whereas in this shot, practically half his features are blanked out especially his eyes making him look extremely scary and untrustworthy. The lighting in this shot pretty much screams murderer

9. The moment Graysmith turns to leave the basement, we hear a kettle going off in the kitchen. As mentioned before, there was no ominous music however the kettle increased in pitch as Graysmith darted for the door. I thought the kettle noise was a very smart substitute for suspense music because the kettle noise also builded up which is essentially what a suspense soundtrack is for.

Also this is where the theme breaks apart. Graysmith's obsession to find out who the Zodiac is goes out through the door just like Graysmith. The power of fear implemented into him through Fincher's lighting techniques and sounds were enough to break Graysmith and his obsession (Theme).

10. Another great use of the set itself was the mirror at the entrance. Though it was very cool use of Mise en scene (how we see Vaughn show up behind Graysmith through a mirror) I didn't really understand as to why he showed up in the mirror instead of the shot. I realized it pretty much came down to the heigh differential. Vaughn is significantly shorter than Graysmith and if he were to show up behind Graysmith in such a close up, he would be staring at Graysmith's neck which really wouldn't be as intimidating.I picked up on this when Vaughn helps Graysmith open the door and that was where I realized how short Vaughn was in comparison to Graysmith. The shot would've definitely been different if Vaughn had showed up without the use of the mirror (Mise en scene). Here is the height differential: I mean imagine Vaughn in the previous close up shot. First of all, he's too short which would take away the intimidating factor and the fact that it was a close up shot meant there really wouldn't have been any space for Vaughn to physically be in the shot. He'd literally be breathing down Graysmith's neck. And I also asked myself why not make it a medium shot? I realized this was because the close ups were intentional to not only show Graysmith's reactions but also to show how constricted and small Graysmith felt. A close up in any horror movie also achieves the effect of seclusion where the viewers can't really see anything because everything is so close. This means the killer could be right behind him but the audience can't see the killer due to the closeness of the shot. That, I think, was another factor as to why they did a close up.