SNOWTOWN - TORTURE SCENE

SNOWTOWN (2011), directed by Justin Kurzel is based on true events about a young 16 year old boy who falls into the wrong group of people/neighbourhood in Australia. The relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1680114/ (Last accessed 17/03/14)

The short torture scene I will discuss shortly takes the 'less is more' approach.

As discussed in a separate post, we aim to edit the torture scenes in a minimalistic way. To do this I will hold on certain shots to increase the intensity and allow the audience to focus on the action unfolding on-screen. We have also discussed relying heavily on sound rather than the action on-screen. For example in some scenes, we will take the 'fly on the wall' approach and I may decide to hold on a shot that focuses not on the action, but an object in the rom. This allows the audience to listen to the sounds in the room rather than displaying the action exposition-ally. I believe a person's imagination is more menacing than giving the audience what they want. This is some-what apparent in one of the Snowtown torture scenes.  

                     

 Handheld shot showing a man listening to two men grabbing a man and taking him into the bathroom. The shot is held for a long period of time to make the audience picture in their own mind what's going on. The two men come into frame, push the man's face against the door frame and take him in the bathroom.


The main protagonist enters the shot and we see how the action is affecting him. The shot holds. Diegetic sound is used throughout the scene to make the audience feel completely grounded in the situation. Non-diegetic sound on the other hand e.g. soundtracks, can often tell the audience how to feel/react.

The editor then cuts to another hand-held shot of the two men chaining the man up in a bathtub. They proceed to tie his legs together and kick him in the chest.

Before the torture begins we cut back to the corridor shot of the man in the far-end room. He walks over to the television and turns the volume up as to drown out the cries from the bathroom. This subtle but effective technique creates an uncomfortable, eerie situation.

Quick-cuts are used to display the pair pulling a toe-nail from the man's foot, but the primary technique used in this scene is the use of sound.

After the torture has taken place, the camera cuts from inside the house to exterior shots of the area. In my opinion these shots give the audience a 'break' from the events that have just happened. They allow the audience to absorb everything and reflect on it. Once again, the sound is purely diegetic (sounds within the world).

Taking this scene onboard and applying it to our production, it has made me think about the benefits of holding on certain shots, I believe it is far more effective and harrowing than performing quick cuts throughout a (torture) scene.

Snowtown. Directed by Justin Kurzel. Distributed by Madman Entertainment, (2011) DVD.