MY FAVOURITE SCENE =]

As part of my research, I made it my personal aim to watch as many movies as possible. As well as learning a lot I enjoyed this part of my research the most! Yesterday i watched Robert Luketic's 21 (2008). This is a Drama about a group of students who join their advanced maths teacher to learn the secret art of Card Counting to win huge sums of money.
This scene was taken from Ben's (Jim Sturgess') first Casino experience. I think the way this scene is constructed is incredible. It uses montages, a combination of slow and fast motion, and a range of camera distances to create the perfect effect. Dazzling!
I have analyssed the clip in more detail. Take a look!




The camera starts off as a crane angle at a very long distance. This works as an establishing shot. Then, the camera stays at a crane angle and does a spiral movement, ending up as a medium close up above the table. Straight away this gets the audience's attention and builds up the excitement.
Then there is a close up of the Black Jack cards and the gambling chips, which could work as a second establishing shot, placing us firmly into the scene.
After this, the camera tilts so we can see Ben's face and the intensity and concentration. It is then also visible, that the rest of the casino is moving in fast motion, while Ben is still moving in real time. I think this is a reflection of how he is feeling. The rest of the Casino becomes a blur. Now, it is just him and the table and nothing else matters.
As this is all happening, the camera moves to a long shot of the casino, to give a wider picture of Ben's surroundings. The camera then pans around the table making the whole scene much more interesting to look at.
The scene then jumps in to a montage of compressed time. This is brilliantly done. This images move as; The chips piling up, the Casino (Planet Hollywood), Ben's face, his mentor's face, back to Ben, chips piling up even more, another Vegas Casino, the intensity in Ben's eyes and finally the chips again.
This whole montage adds a sense of pace to the scene and makes it seem so much more thrilling. The whole way through the montage the camera is panning around each image. This adds dimension and makes this scene even more incredible to watch!
Finally the scene ends in a genius way. The master shot is re-visited, but this time the camera spirals outwards into the very long crane shot: Yet another establishing shot to finish off, just before a pan of the 'bigger picture' showing the city of Vegas at night.
I loved this entire clip. It was amazing to watch and cleverly put together!

SOUND
I realised after watching this clip twice, that the sound is also very important to adding ambience and thrill to the scene. I love the combination of diegetic and non-degetic sound.
The Diegetic sound only comes in from time to time: For example at the very beginning, or when cards are being dealt, and especially as the chips pile up.
The Non-Diegetic sound here, is in the form of music. I think this is an example of contrapuntal sound. You wouldn't usually expect this sort of relaxing music to be combined with the hustle and bustle of a Casino.
However, i think the music is an effective way of portraying Ben's emotions. He is releieved and happy to have finally found his release from the captivity of academic stress.

Overall I think this scene is definitely a success and, to me, very inspiring also. Great!