Agent Carter Video Assignment

          The beginning part of the episode of Agent Carter utilizes editing, camera shots, sound, and mise-en-scène to create tension, develop the plot, and provide key insights the characters. 

      

           The clip employs editing to create understanding. In the first scene, the audience is exposed to a scene that is transposed from another movie Captain America the First Avenger. The scene used is the last half of a scene that takes place towards the end of that movie. With this in mind, the editing plays a key role in ensuring that the audience understands what is taking place between the characters of Steve and Peggy. From the cutting back between the two characters, the audience immediately understands that they are having a conversation and from the last cut showing Peggy in a room by herself the audience realizes that Steve is dead leaving Peggy.  While this show is mainly intended for those who have watched the original movie and understand the relationship between Steve and Peggy and know about Steve's death, for those who haven't or have forgotten, this opener imparts all that information just by way of editing.

            The clip uses camera shots to create tension. This is most evident in the action scene where Agent  Carter fights the men. At the beginning of the fight, the camera cuts between an over the shoulder shot of the one man sitting inside and a medium shot of Agent Carter speaking to and fighting the other men. This creates tension as the audience understand the threat of Agent Carter and know she can take the two men leaving the one man inside open to an attack. Then after Agent Carter throws one of the men through the window a follow shot is used to show the man picking up his gun. This raises by adding the element of danger through the gun but also is the first time Agent Carter is removed from the frame completely separating her from the audience but also allowing for her to disappear. The camera then continues to follow the man as he looks for Agent Carter before he is ambushed by her and neutralized. In this scene, the camera angles are used to create expectations for the audience of what is going to happen in the scene raising the stakes and building tension.

           Sound also plays a vital role in the clip. This is most evident when Agent Carter is in the office and the phone rings. It is purposely loud and off-putting like a siren warning of danger. It is intercut in a startling fashion going off before Agent Carter, or the audience can realize what is going on surprising both parties. The use of sound is also key in the telephone conversations. In the telephone conversations that take place while the men are still in the offices, while the audience can hear the voices on the phone they are very muffled and hard to make out. These calls represent the missions that Agent Carter wants to go on, she feels like she is so close yet, no matter how hard she tries she can't reach them, just as she is in an earshot of these calls but can really make out their contents or true meanings. However, this is contrasted by the phone she picks up in the office alone. In this phone call, the information and the words being said are clear for the audience to hear and Agent Carter receives her first mission.

          The mise-en-scène of the clip is used to mostly establish the setting. As this show takes place in the forties a year after the end of World War II, mise-en-scène is vital in ensuring that the audience picks up on this. This is reflected in the clothing worn both by the men in the office and the ones she fights. Also, the type of phones and radio that were shown also reflected the time period. Lighting is also used to convey specific meanings. For example, the lights being shut off when the guys leave the office as they are keeping Agent Carter in the dark literally. Also when the phone rings and the red light flashes over Agent Carter's face exemplifying the danger of her mission.

          Ultimately, the utilization of editing, camera shots, sound, and mise-en-scène are vital to the audience's understanding and enjoyment of the episode. The show uses editing to create meaning and context, camera shots to create tension, sound to create contrast, and mise-en-scène to establish the setting. Without these the viewer would be confused and overall less satisfied with there experience.