The scene starts off with an
establishing shot of Merlin walking along a hallway. The camera has been placed
side on and pans across the hallway. The use of this is so people can get an
idea of where the scene is set. Juts from looking at the shot we can already
establish that he is in a castle which implies high status, but due to his
clothes he seems as if he may be a servant of some sort. Due to editing the
shot changed to Merlin walking into a room. We then have a pan of the room,
which you could also say is an establishing shot, because it tells the audience
where he is. We then have a mid-shot of Merlin placing a small jar of the desk.
The director has zoomed into a closer shot of the jar which implies that it has
some significance to the scene. The same thing has been done for other objects
in the scene. Merlin picked it up and the director has zoomed into a close-up
of the object. This happened for a book and straw doll. We can tell that Merlin
is suspicious by these objects because of the way he picked them up and looked
at them. A medium/long shot of a lady is shown when she enters the room. We can
imply that Merlin is not meant to be in that room and looking at the object by
the way she is looking and speaking to him. The use of dialogue between them
shows us that Merlin is a lower class compared to her because she asks ‘’what
are you doing’’. Also, eye-line match has been used in this scene. What I mean
is that the camera is facing the lady and was then changed by the director of
her the mirror. This was only a small glimpse of a shot, but when we saw it the
lady is not who we think she is. She is wearing cheap clothes and looks like a
witch. The use of special effects tells us she is in disguise and trying to
hide from someone or something. Throughout this whole scene non-diegetic sound
was used and this helped give the scene more tension between the characters.
The next scene starts off with another establishing shot of
Merlin. He is walking down some stairs outside. Due to this establishing shot
we can now see what the area is like outside the castle. We can tell that all
the lower class and poor people live outside the castle. This was the typical
thing in that time. The director then cut the scene to the next one which is of
Merlin and Arthur. A shot reverse shot was used between them both when they
were talking. The director has used a range of close ups, and over the shoulder
shots when they speak. Through dialogue and mise-en-scene we can tell that
Arthur is at a higher class compared to Merlin. I know this because firstly by
what they are wearing. Arthur is wearing silver plated armour, whereas Merlin
is wearing some old cheap clothes. This implies Arthur must live in that castle
and Merlin works there. And secondly how they speak to each other. Merlin calls
Arthur a prat, and Arthur mentions how he should not speak to him like that.
That shows how Arthur has authority over Merlin. But Merlin is not afraid of
what might happen to him is he messes with Arthur, because afterwards he tried
to be funny by says 'how to be part, my lord'. This shows how Merlin is not
scared of Arthur and his authority. Also during the conversation we hear diegetic sound from the characters in the background. We hear people mumbling and talking about
what they both said to each other. Before Merlin calls Arthur a prat, Arthur throws Merlin a mace. Merlin
does not catch the mace, and as it falls to the floor the camera follows it. This emphasises on how Merlin is not ready to fight, and is not as well trained as Arthur.
They both then have their conversation and the fight starts. As soon as the
fight starts, non-diegetic music starts to play in the background. I would
describe this music as medieval and heroic. This type of music best suits this scene as the episode is set
in medieval times. During their fight, the director has chosen to use an aerial shot, which gives us a high view of the
fight. The camera then cuts to Merlin getting his mace caught in a
bunch of different objects, which shows
that he is not fighting material. Furthermore, within this scene we get a slow
motion of Arthur hitting an object. They have
used a slow motion to emphasise how the mace almost hit Merlin and how he is not safe.
While both Merlin and Arthur are fighting the scene cuts to a new setting. We see and
older man, (who I think is Merlin's friend) walk towards a
window and look out at it. We then see both of them fighting. The director has
used an eyeline match, and i know this because we see the older man looking out
the window and then we see what he sees because the camera changes to us looking out the window, Doing this implies that he has
something to say about this and also that he is an important part to the scene.
After that the director then changed the scene back to Merlin and
Arthur fighting. Like before we get another slow motion, but this time it is of Arthur smashing his mace into some a piece of fruit. They have used slow motion to emphasise
what will happen to someone if they get hit by this mace. It also links
to Arthur's authority as he is the one who smashed the fruit,
which implies how he is highly trained to kill. And only royals were
highly trained in those times. Both characters carry on their fight by making
their way into an inside part of all the markets. Merlin falls onto bags of
straw or food, and this is when we find out Merlin has magical powers. Once he
fell the camera cut to a shot of Merlin looking at some metal bars, (the camera
has been placed to face Merlin). A pull focus has been used for this part. What
I mean is that the focus was on Merlin, but then it changed to the metal bars
being in focus and Merlin not. This shows how Merlin has come up with an idea.
Then the director has cut to a zoomed in close up of Merlin's eye, and here we
see Merlin's eye changed colour. This shows that Merlin has just used his
magical powers to try beat Arthur. The director has used special effects in
order for Merlin's eye to change colour. Seeing this slightly changes the
hierarchy, because Merlin has powers that no one else has. I think that due to
his powers Merlin would be higher up on the hierarchy, however this is not
possible because no one knows he has powers, (except from his old friend).
During this whole scene it looks like they have used a steadicam. I think this
because some shots seem like they would need to be created by using a steadicam.
Moreover, we then see Merlin use his magical powers again. The camera uses an
eyeline match to show what Merlin is looking at. Merlin looks at a wooden box
and then Arthur hits his leg on that wooden box. This happens again but with
some rope. Merlin looks at some rope and we see the rope magically move by
itself. Like before they used special effects in order to do so. The rope is pulled
tight and Arthur falls over. By this part in the scene the hierarchy as
completely changed. Arthur is no longer at the top as Merlin is. This is shown
literally in the scene as Arthur is below him on the floor. However this
completely changes and Arthur fights back and Merlin falls to the ground. This
has again changed the hierarchy back to what is was before. When Arthur hits
him, the hits match the beat of the non-diegetic music. This emphasises how
Merlin has been beat, and that if your are poor you will never be at the top
the hierarchy.
The fight was now
over and the scene was cut to a new scene. Merlin and his friend walk into the
room where they live. There is a possibility that the camera might be on a
dolly as it is pulled back when both characters walked in. They have done this
so they can keep the size of the frame the same between the two characters. A
shot reverse shot was then used when they both talk. The director has used over
shoulder shots and medium close ups in the shot reverse shot. The dialogue
between Merlin and his friend is quite significant, because Merlin mentions how
he is nothing without his magical powers. This makes us sympathise with Merlin.
Moreover, watching this clip i would say that Merlin was the protagonist and Arthur
was the antagonist. I think this because compared to Merlin, Arthur has
everything and Merlin has almost nothing, which makes us feel sympathy for
Merlin and which makes u think we want him to win and beat Arthur.
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