Disconnect - Section 3 G321

Disconnect

Disconnect is a Drama Thriller movie that was released on the 3^rd of May 2013 in the United States. The director of the movie is Henry Alex Rubin, also known for Murderball released in 2005. The budget for this movie was around $8 million and the gross return was $1,435,950 in the US by the 17^th of May 2013.  It was filmed mostly around New York and so far as it has been released this year it has no nominations or wins in terms of awards yet.

The target audience for Disconnect was 16-26 year olds, despite the 18 rating. I believe this was the case because of what it contains and the context behind the movie: Social Media, which is most popular within younger generations than it is older. It’s use of cast is also generally a younger age therefore appealing to a younger audience as they can relate further to them, for example Jonah Bobo (known for Zathura and Crazy, Stupid, Love.) played Ben Boyd in this movie.

A quote taken from ‘larry-411’ on IMDb as a user review:

“The Internet has dramatically changed the world. That much we know. Our lives are better for it, on balance. But it's the other side of that scale, the harm caused by our web-connected lives, that is the weighty focus of "Disconnect." The damage that can be done, intentionally or not, has been well-documented. Writer Andrew Stern and director Henry Alex Rubin have selected several examples of the Internet age's unfortunate downside and crafted three compelling story lines, all based on actual cases. This common narrative structure will inevitably be called "Crash-like," but whether or not the stories connect isn't really the point of "Disconnect." The movie raises a danger sign that, if gone unheeded, will only result in more senseless tragedies -- countless lives ruined, innocent children lost -- and putting the spotlight on several unsuspecting victims of our Internet society makes for a powerful experience that packs an emotional wallop from opening credits to finale.

This is one of those films for which, as a non-spoiler reviewer, it's best for me to avoid the specifics of the script and who does what here. You'll have to discover that for yourself. But, needless to say, Disconnect is not the feel-good movie of the year. It's often sad and scary, dark and depressing at times, and knowing it's based on true stories makes it all the more devastating when we witness the consequences of our seemingly-innocuous actions when entering a chat room, looking for virtual companionship, playing a childish practical joke, or putting our personal information online.

Every actor in the huge ensemble cast, from adults to teens, is superb. Without giving away their exact roles, Jason Bateman does a dramatic star turn here as a caring father in an unfathomable situation. One of our most prolific and underrated actors, Bateman has appeared in 22 features since I began attending the Toronto Film Festival six years ago, including my fest faves "Juno" (Toronto 2007), "Up in the Air" (Toronto 2009), and "Paul" (SXSW 2011). As the commanding lead in one of Disconnect's three story lines, charismatic 23-year-old Max Thieriot dominates the screen in every scene he's in. Colin Ford (15 at the time) turns in one of the most heartwrenching youth performances I've seen in years as a typical mischievous youngster with a penchant for playing pranks. Other standouts include Paula Patton, Frank Grillo, Alexander Skarsgård, Jonah Bobo, Aviad Bernstein, Andrea Riseborough, and Hope Davis. All demonstrate a clear passion for the material and belief in Henry Alex Rubin's lofty vision. Your pulse should be checked if you don't shed a tear (or two, or more) during the viewing of this movie.

Production values are quite high for an independent film. Lighting subtly matches the tonal changes of each storyline. A warm color palette provides a soft amber glow around characters driven by affection. A family whose life is orderly and organized is bathed in white, with bright primary colors on flat surfaces with square geometric shapes and sharp angles. The milieu turns dark and shadowy as innocence turns to evil. Max Richter's haunting score similarly complements each disparate narrative as their respective characters are drawn deeper into the dilemmas they've created.

The cinematography is a character unto itself. Ken Seng's adept camera-work is consistently magnificent in its use of techniques like frame-within-a-frame, with shots peering through windows and doors as though we're voyeurs, faces often half obscured by laptops. Objects move in and out of frame, partially blocking our view, as though we're spying on the subjects. Point of view shots of computer and phone screens occupy much of the frame in many crucial scenes. The film is filled with such bold choices. All serve to enhance and echo the themes laid out by the broad premise of unintentional connections caused by the disconnect between our fingers on the keyboard and the humans at the other end.

Editor Lee Percy had the challenging task of making it all coherent. Knowing where and when to cut, whether or not to weave the stories together or keep them parallel, when to converge and diverge -- these are all crucial decisions that are key to the success of the project.

"Disconnect" sits near the top of all the pictures I've seen this year and is one of the few which prompted me to utter the word "masterpiece" quietly as the credits rolled. As one tends to have intense feelings about a film in its immediate afterglow, I often wait for the emotional excitement to die down before writing my review and assessing its impact. "Disconnect" haunted me throughout the rest of the festival and has continued to do so. Will a movie like this alter the way we interact with technology? Probably not. But one less life shattered will make it worth it.”

How is editing used to drive the narrative in the scene?

The scene begins with the protagonist knocking at the door of another character. As the protagonist searches around the building, it allows the audience to view the poorly lit conditions around him. The door opens to the other character and they exchange conversation, allowing the audience to view it from a shot-reverse-shot viewpoint, maintaining good eye contact viewpoint from over the shoulder shots. In terms of editing, right now there is nothing in particular that stand out, possibly some light enhancements however nothing the audience would be able to notice.

As the protagonist attempts to enter the house by force, the door mesh is beaten through; knocking the other character lower and so therefore they have used an effective Point of View angle (did not last long on screen). As the camera moves to a long shot from a viewpoint from outside the house, we see the action from a clear angle. This soon changes to mid shot of the action, showing the intensity of the fight.

The scene moves toward the separate story now, there is an extreme close up of the end of a gun, the conversation they then have is once again used in a shot-reverse-shot manor from an over the shoulder perspective. The two different levels on which the camera is on and they film represent that the protagonist in the car does not have the power that the other character does due to the other character having the shotgun.

The music played in the background of the various stories is very slow tempo and subtle too, it fits well into the scenes and intertwines, the organ like sounding instrument fits in well providing the bass tones, and the low volume does not disguise or distract you away from the narrative. This is good editing in terms of the incorporation at specific moments for the tones to fit the levels of conversation.

The very effective editing is incorporated around 2 minutes 30 seconds where we see the slow motion effect being used. As the protagonist begins to take swing at the younger boy the slow motion effect is used to show the little action that his father in the dark corner can do, also showing the anger and emotion in the protagonists face whilst he takes swing at the boy, the audience is clear and able to see the course which the hockey stick is going to take and this intensifies the moment and the audience can feel nothing but sympathy for the boy.  The camera switches over to the father of the kid and we this works well because we see his helplessness toward his own son and this is upsetting to most.

The grabbing of the gun is effective because the audience can see the protagonist taking control and the water that splashes off from the barrel depicts the movement and possession changing despite it being such a minute action.

The following scene shows the three characters mid-air with the female protagonist being hit to the ground by another character and once again this shows not only her course of route and how potentially dangerous it could be but also the defending of her by the protagonist in this story.

As the story again switches, we see the final moments of the boy being struck by the hockey stick, the man who had previously had the gun to hand now being hit down by it and also the woman finally hitting the hard ground.

The sound behind the whole slow motion scenes was very dramatic and was raised in volume due to the lack of speech and other sound so therefore without any other sound to disguise over it, it worked well to make the scenes more tense and dramatic. The violins and strings were extremely well used in this scene to almost show a holy nature.