http://www.cucirca.com/2008/10/07/heroes-season-3-episode-4-i-am-become-death/
Heroes is now considered one of the most successful pieces of television drama at this time, this reputation is achieved by three simple factors, the story lines, the acting and finally the producing. Producing a television drama is made up of factors such as camerawork (what angles to use or what type of shot), editing (weather or not the scene should be reflected with fast or slow pace cuts) and also sound/music (what ambience noises would be expected, or does a certain character require a motif of some sort). These are just three of many more factors that apply when producing any piece of television drama.
The first factor of producing is camerawork. To create a sense of organization the techniques can be divided into categories, point of view of the audience and the point of view of the characters. The scene’s first shot is an establishing shot of the front door, then a pan down from Peters face; these both are showing the perspective of what the audience alone can see. The next occurrence of camerawork used to show this same perspective is the use of a long shot in the kitchen (where the scene takes place) behind all characters, revealing to the audience who is in this scene. As the scene progresses Peter Pertrelli and Gabrielle enter a different room, this is shown by placing the camera in front of the two characters, allowing us to see them walking in. This is one way to display continuity and to communicate with the audience concerning where the characters are and where they are going. The next camera angle in this category occurs immediately after the previous technique. This is a low angle shot of the room they are in, this time however the camera is static. This not only states where Peter Pertrelli and Gabrielle are, but it also is used to highlight the second category, the perspective of the character. This is because previously in the scene Peters mind set is not steady, however now that he reflects more confidence the camera becomes still to reveal this. The final compilation of shots used in this category are; a two shot of both Gabrielle and Peter Pertrelli, followed by a long shot of Noah through the window, finished with a stream of single close-ups of both characters, framed either side of the shots. This technique is used for differentiating the characters.
The second category is the camerawork from the point of view of the characters themselves. The first occurrence of this is a subtle technique used almost immediately; this is a two second shot of a reflection of Peter Pertrelli whilst he is walking through the house, showing what he would see. At first only close ups of objects close to Peter are used as a point of view, however an actual point of view shot of Gabrielle’s son Noah, matched with a slow, unsteady zoom, with cutting to and Peters face, this is to show his amazement with what he is witnessing. Throughout almost this whole scene the camera is unsteady, this is a discrete technique used to reflect Peter Pertrelli’s state of mind, giving us the idea that Gabrielle and he must have history of some kind. As the mood begins to change when Noah reveals to Gabrielle that this is a different Peter, the camera shots are quicker and more intense. This is done cleverly when Gabrielle walks past Peter; the camera begins with a close up of Gabrielle, then a two shot of them both from front and then back. Cutting does not do this; it is one complete camera movement liked together by a slow pan. As both characters are now in the other room, the camera is a lot steadier however not static. The next piece of unique camerawork is a quick blast of shots put together by fast editing but also including a shot that is out of focus, not a focus pull however. As the tension increases the camera is jumping at a fast speed, framing Peter Pertrelli and Gabrielle across the screen, showing the use of Peters powers. The out of focus shot also occurs here when the two characters are head to head for a small period of time, the out of focus shot is only for a second but is effective. Eventually after all tension calms down, Gabrielle begins to exercise his own powers, as he does this the camera begins a slow zoom initiating an extreme close-up, again showing his concentration. To end the scene the camera clearly rotates around Gabrielle’s head showing him not in power at first, then by the time the camera has rotated around to the opposite side he is in a trance within his power. The final shot is an extreme close up of Gabrielle in power for three seconds showing the intensity. These are all examples of unique camera work that are in the point of view of the character.
The second section analysed is the editing. The first technique was easy to notice as the scene began with an immediate bright white transition from the previous scene, revealing Peter Pertrelli standing outside of a house. The effective techniques continue at this point as whilst Peter is walking through the door, match on action takes place, displaying a high level of continuity. As the scene progresses, the pace increases, this is matched by the speed of cutting, as whilst the scene is at a slow pace the cutting from Gabrielle to Peter is also slow. The cuts at this moment in time are slow but also basic, just two cuts involved, where as when the scene progresses in tempo the cuts speed up in unison. A prime example of this is where Peter Pertrelli attempts to withdraw Gabrielle’s powers, to show this, the editing is faster and jump cuts are introduced for the first time in the scene.
The final part analysed was the sound and music. A structured way of describing these techniques is categorising them, in this case the most beneficial would be, sound as one group and music as another. Out of both sound and music, sound occurs first, this is inevitable as the scene begins with Peter outside, therefore ambience noises are used (a dog barking) to reflect this. Immediately after this Peter Pertrelli uses his hand and a burning flame, at this exact point a fire sound effect is used to create a sense of realism into manipulating the action of controlling fire. The following piece of sound is actual dialogue used by Noah, “hi uncle Peter, dads making waffles”. At this point Peter relieves his power, where the same sound effect is used however, reversed, to show he is stopping his power where as before he was starting it. As the scene progresses less sounds are used, only for the use of powers. Once more as the camera tracks Gabrielle to the window, the non-diegetic dogs bark and birds’ song is played for the final time. This however is not only done for a sense of realism, it is also done to create an ironic atmosphere, that Peter clearly fears this Gabrielle character but yet, joyful birds singing are used. The final use of sound effects is again when the character use their powers. As Gabrielle hits a trance within his power a descending in pitch ‘whoosh’ is used to once more make it more believable. The second category is music. This is not cued until Noah enters the scene, where a cheerful typically melodic flute is played and crescendos when the scene reaches a commercial break. The scene continues with an all black transition and a new piece of low pitch music and a tribal like ‘gah’ is used. This sets a completely opposite mood from before and also leads the audience to believe this character is not the innocent father from earlier in the scene. This low pitch bass then cuts out and we hear the return of the joyful music, however, this time a long low bow of strings is used along with it. Eventually the characters are out of the company of the young boy and the music changes with this also. As Gabrielle and Peter are talking the mood, changes when we hear how Gabrielle is in a bad state with his powers, the mood is echoed with a gentle minor piano is played over the top; this is a successful technique in creating the desired sad atmosphere. To conclude the scene Gabrielle executes his power, this is mirrored again by the ‘whoosh’ to symbolize immense concentration, not only is this used but an on going crescendo of haunting funeral like strings and wind like noises take place until the scene commences.