2AM: THE SMILING MAN

Micro-Analysis

Mise-En-Scene

■ Location The film is set on an empty street at 2am. This isolates the characters as no one is around to help him and he is trapped.

■ Lighting There are streetlights which are very harsh and dramatic. The white makes the setting look paler and colder which emphasises the disconnect between the characters and the rest of civilisation.

■ Costume The smiling man wears beige coloured suit. This colour is non-threatening which contrasts to how the character is presented as which is disturbing.

■ Movement of Actors The smiling man dances in an odd way which is almost unnatural. This immediately makes the audience and the main character wary of him as it’s unusual. The main character is slow as he is unsure if the smiling man is a threat to him but once he’s sure he starts to run.

Sound

■ Diagetic the smiling man’s shoes make a shuffling noise against the pavement. This is loud as it is the only sound on the street. It builds tension as the audience and the main character are extremely aware of his presence and towards the end his footsteps are what shows that the man is someone with bad intentions as he starts to run towards the main character.

■ Non-diagetic the music is tense and so immediately tells the audience something bad is going to happen before the smiling man is even shown. The music changes from tense to dramatic when the smiling man begins to chase the main character which emphasises the panic of the situation.

Cinematography■ The camera remains mainly stationary

when the smiling man is shown before he is shown to be a real threat. This is to show that the situation hasn’t escalated and the smiling man is only seen as unusual and not dangerous. However once the smiling does become dangerous, the handheld techniques is used while he’s chasing the main character to indicates the panic the character must be feeling.

■ POV shots, midshots, close ups and over the shoulder shots are used to make the frame look small and trapped which emphasises that the main character is trapped. The POV and over the shoulder shots also highlights the isolation of the characters as the only viewpoint is seen to be the main character’s. The lack of large camera movement until the chase scene also supports this.

Editing

■ The pacing is slow when the smiling man presents no visible danger but speeds up dramatically during the chase scene to emphasise the sudden change in atmosphere.

■ It slows down when the main character has appeared to have escaped but there is a final jump scare when the smiling man suddenly appears next to him which indicates the panic the character felt having noticed him there.

■ There are credits at the beginning and end.

Similarities and Differences with The Neon Demon and 2am: The Smiling Man

■ The location is different as The Neon Demon scene was set in a mansion and 2am: The Smiling Man was set on a street but they are both used to isolate the characters and leave them trapped.

■ The editing is similar as it is slow when there is no danger present but then speeds up when there is. However 2am: The Smiling Man has several jump scares to add surprise which The Neon Demon does not have. Also The Neon Demon has no credits whereas the other movie does.

■ The lighting is different because there are no colour changes in 2am: The Smiling Man as the white streetlight stays constant whereas The Neon Demon includes colour changes from red to blue to signify power dynamics. However they are similar as the white and blue lighting is used to represent disconnect and isolation as well.

■ The character movements of the main characters in both movies are similar as they are walking slow when they aren’t in danger but then start running when they are. However the character movements of the villains in both movies are different as the smiling man moves unnaturally which immediately makes the main character suspicious whereas the villains in The Neon Demon move naturally and so do not alert the main character.

Similarities and Differences with The Neon Demon

■ The costume is different as the smiling man is dressed in bright colours on soft materials even though he is the villain which contrasts to The Neon Demon where the villains wear dark colours and leather.

■ The props are different as The Neon Demon has props whereas 2am: The Smiling Man doesn’t.

■ The sounds are different as in this movie, the diagetic sounds of the characters are quieter than the non-diagetic music whereas The Neon Demon has the opposite. The non-diagetic sound is different as in this movie, the tense music is throughout which indicates that it is building up to a climax whereas in The Neon Demon there is no tense build up to the chase scene and the music is quiet throughout it so there is little suspense.

■ The cinematography is different as in 2am: The Smiling Man, it’s used to feel claustrophobia with limited camera shots and movement whereas The Neon Demon has large camera movements and the shots don’t seem small like the shot from 2am does.

■ The target audiences are similar as they were targeted towards the same age range of 15-24 but are different as The Neon Demon is targeted towards women in the 15-24 age group as the women in the movie are within that age range and 2am: The Smiling Man is targeted towards to men in the same age group as the main character in the movie is a man within that age range. They are both targeted at individuals as they are different in terms of what is expected of a horror movie as they are more psychological and so would attract those looking for an unconventional horror.