Make notes on the visual elements of the sequence…

The opening shot is close up of Amelie. The use of the wine glass links her through the use of a visual symbol to the central figure of interest in the Renoir painting that Dufayel is trying to complete. This shot has a shallow focus which places the emphasis on Amelie and helps to illustrate the distance between her and Bretodeau.

The following wide mid-shot makes use of composition in order to show the distance between Amelie and Bretodeau. Even though they are in close proximity the director has ensured that we are aware that there is a barrier between Amelie and Bretodeau – this links nicely to the range of barriers the director places between Amelie and those she refuses to genuinely engage with.

The director returns to this close up, building on the previous shot to help reinforce that sense that Amelie is unable to connect with Bretodeau. As viewers we are becoming increasingly aware that even though Amelie is in the company of a number of people, she remains very much isolated.

The director returns now to this wide mid-shot and appears to be developing a shooting pattern that works to focus and reinforce Amelie’s separation from what is happening in the scene. The director keeps Amelie on the edges of the frame, turned slightly towards the outside of the frame – she seems more attached to the outside of the frame, whereas Bretodeau seems to be angeled towards the centre of the frame, allowing him to fully participate in the scene,

Once again the director returns to this close-up. Here the movement of the actors combines with the director’s use of shallow focus to show the depth of Amelie’s difficulty with engaging with another person at this point. As soon as Bretodeau turns, Amelie turns to avoid eye contact. The refusal to engage is reinforced by the combination of shot choice, focus choice and acting choices made in this particular shot.

The director ties the scene up nicely by bringing us back to the opening image. Here we can look at the development of the mis-en-scene – the glass is now not only a reminder of Amelie’s symbolic link to the woman in the painting but it also becomes yet another barrier that Amelie uses to avoid engagement with others. It is a subtle use of a prop, but it is very telling in terms of our understanding of Amelie’s character. Also, through the repetition of the opening and closing shot, we have it firmly established that Amelie has made no progress in this scene – she begins as she ends and it is the director’s use of repeated shot type, props, and mis-en-scene that allows this reading to be made.

Make notes about the verbal techniques at work…

• Make bullet point notes about the things you can here in the sequence focus on sound effects, music, voiceover and any specifically interesting dialogue.

Your turn now…

Effect and Purpose…

• Finish by discussing your thoughts about how the director has used film techniques in order to help develop your understanding of the character of Amelie – write in bullet points or challenge yourself to develop a paragraph answer.