Million Dollar Baby analysis - Sound/Camera/Editing

In this extract, Maggie is fighting Billie ‘The Blue Bear’ for the world title. Frankie is her trainer and manager with the support of his friend Eddie – who is watching the fight at home. We join the film as Billie lands an illegal punch on Maggie; which, eventually leads to her being paralysed. The scene then shifts to the hospital where Maggie is being cared for and where she is visited by Frankie.

How have camerawork, sound and editing been used to create meaning in this extract?

                The establishing shot id a mid-shot of Billie throwing the illegal punch, followed by match on action as Maggie’s head turns with the force of the blow followed by her body. Accompanied with ominous non-diegetic chords, this shows the audience that this wasn’t a legal punch and foreshadows the fact that this punch will be damaging. Shot-reverse-shot is then used to show Maggie falling in slow motion and then to Frankie with a look of pure shock on his face, providing further evidence that Billie threw an illegal, damaging punch. Shot-reverse-shot is used again from Frankie in a long shot, revealing the ring and stool foreshadowing her being paralysed, back to Maggie falling towards the stool. Shot-reverse-shot is then used a third time to show a mid-shot of Frankie grabbing the stool in a bid to move it, then back to Maggie who is falling too quickly for him, as there is a close up of her neck-to-stool collision. Throughout this, all of the diegetic sounds e.g. Frankie grabbing the chair leg, the neck collision, crowds gasping etc... are echoed and loud, emphasising the fact everything is in slow motion physically and also for the bystanders and Maggie, because this is such a serious event, time has slowed down. From the neck collision, a straight cut is used to show an extreme close up of Maggie’s arm falling limply to the floor, showing that she has been paralysed. A cross-cutting technique is then used to show a close up of Eddie, gasping in shock at what has happened as he watches the fight on TV. A mid-shot is used to show Billie looking on with curiosity as to what has happened to Maggie. This then uses a straight cut to Frankie in a mid-shot staring in disbelief, showing to the audience that the situation is dire. Cross-cutting is used again to another close up of Eddie, worried as he watches, helpless, the TV screen intently, again creating this sense of severity because Maggie is seriously injured.

The next shot we see is a bird’s eye view shot of the ring, with Maggie sprawled in the left-hand corner as a non-diegetic solemn violinist piece of music is heard, emphasising the severity of Maggie’s fall and the fact this fall has cost her; her career, freedom and ultimately her life as she knew it. As the non-diegetic music gets louder, the camera zooms out and spins getting quicker and quicker emphasising the characters’ distress and the fact that slowly but surely each character is being hit hard with the realisation of what has happened. The camera movement could also reflect how Maggie’s life has suddenly spun out of her control, as she is now paralysed and will need help with the simplest of daily activities.  The framing of Frankie, guy 1, paramedic and a torch holder, in arguably a POV shot, emphasize the severity of the situation. The diegetic sound of the torch clicking is loud and echoey and the diegetic sound of the paramedic talking is distorted emphasizing that this is what she is seeing/hearing and that she is very confused at this point.

We next see a close-up on the lights over-head, as the camera spins and the diegetic sounds of chatter become whirly and distorted, reflecting the way Maggie must be feeling; her head is spinning from the force of the punch, the distress of the fall and the pain in her head and neck, she is also very confused and probably too dazed to grasp fully what has happened. As the spinning gets faster and faster, a fade to black is used, to change scene, but also to indicate that Maggie has probably passed out.

The black screen then fades into a mid-shot of Maggie lying in a hospital bed, as we hear the diegetic sound of a heart monitor and a ventilator, emphasising the seriousness of her condition. As she opens her eyes, we hear an indistinguishable faint squeak, highlighting her confusion and the fact that this is a nightmare situation for her to be in. There is a slow fade to black, which suggests how slowly time must be going for her, as she realises the full extent of the damage to her body. The black screen slowly fades into a close up of Maggie asleep, with the diegetic sound of the monitors quite dominant throughout, showing the audience that all she can do is lie there listening to the monitors and fall asleep. The diegetic sound of Frankie speaking is heard as a straight cut is used to show a mid-shot of Frankie looking down at her, showing us that he feels a great sadness and sympathy towards her. This then straight cuts to an over-the-shoulder high-angle shot of Maggie, showing how frail she is and how he now sees her - broken. Shot-reverse-shots are used between them, as she faintly tries to crack a joke, showing the audience that their relationship is like a father/daughter relationship. The diegetic sound of the monitors becomes more noticeable as the speaking stops and the scene fades to black, emphasising the fact that there is no hope for Maggie anymore.

I really like absence of non-diegetic sound when Maggie falls and paralyses herself because I think it's really effective. I will bear this in mind for my own teaser trailer.