EXAM PRACTISE:FINGERSMITH

This extract starts with an establishing shot, showing both females in an old fashioned, Victorian style room. This sets the time period. On top of this both women are wearing Victorian dresses with hoop skirts, although one of the women, (Maud) is dressed and looks like a wealthy aristocratic female and the other, (Sue) is wearing a less extravagant outfit and appears to be of a lower class to Mord and be beneath her.

In the second scene, showing a close up of the two women’s faces as Maud holds an expensive, extravagant gown in front of Sue in the mirror. There is a clever use of editing; a voice over, of the thoughts and feelings from the character of Maud. This tells the audience of Maud’s desire and fascination with the character of Sue. As the first thing the audience hear is, ”she was so beautiful, but I had to keep telling myself …”, this instantly tells the audience that Maud’s feelings towards sue are romantic and sexual, but also inappropriate. This then cuts to a mid-shot of the two women looking into the mirror. In this shot we see Sue’s face in the reflection. This shows her facial expressions; she is clearly showing a hopeless longing for the woman as she stares at Sue’s reflection. There is then a cross fade into the next scene showing Maud alone at a desk, the sound in this scene is a soft, light and classical music, playing, which suggests the feeling of love and happiness. As this is played during Maud’s voiceover about Sue, it links the two ideas of love and Sue; thus suggesting that Maud is in love with Sue. The fades between the next two shots are slowed down and merged into one another, this conveys the sense of longing and fantasy, as it is as if we are the character of Maud staring at Sue and seeing her move in slow motion, to highlight how amazing she is to her.

The mise en scene of the next scene shows the two women in their nightgowns sharing a bed together, (as was custom in those days). The camera pans from left to right slowly as we see the character of Maud caress Sue. The camera then zooms in focusing on Maud hovering her hand over Sue’s breast whilst she is sleeping this creates tension and shows Maud’s fascination for Sue. It also shows the audience that Sue must not know about Maud’s love for her. As the camera pans back it follows her hand down Sue’s body. This is a sign of affection and desire.

The following scene is outside and starts with a close up of Maud’s face obsessing over a canvas painting. The camera then cuts away to Sue posing for the painting lying femininely against a boat.  This presents her as somewhat of a helpless, damsel in distress, as she dozes in the sun.

 There is a soft melody playing in the background of this scene, which is interrupted by the dialogue of a new male character this presents him as a harsh, aggressive character. Thus making the audience view him in a negative way. This is also suggested to be Maud’s feelings towards the man as he has interrupted her fantasy. The camera shows an establishing shot of all three characters, and then quick cuts to a close up of Maud’s face showing worry, as she is concerned that Sue will burn lying out in the sun. This reinforces the idea of the love and affection Maud has for Sue. To establish the sexual connection between Maud and Sue, the editing placed a shot of Maud staring out next to an extreme close up of Sue’s chest panning down over her body. By having these two shots next to one another, it is as if we see what Maud is looking at which is Sue. These scenes are accompanied by a more melancholy and unnerving music, this sets the atmosphere and suggests that what Maud is doing is inappropriate and not allowed. Following on from this we see a close up of the paintbrush, which is dripping with red paint, this paint is then drops down onto Maud’s dress. The camera then pans up to reveal her face, which appears unchanged by this event, thus proving her fascination and devotion to Sue.

In the final scene, the male character grabs Maud and pins her against a tree, we then see a mid shot of him physical restraining her. This makes the viewer see the man in an unfavourable and aggressive way and see the women as tender and loving.