Zoey Kang

Prof. McCarthy
Intro to Film Studies
9 Mar 2017
The Conversation (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974): Sequence Analysis
Shot #1 In the longest opening shot, we
are introduced to the scene and
Editing fade in from black, title credits run through. The edges setting crucial to the plot of the
appear vignetted but it might just be because of the shadows. film. We begin to hear the
unforgettable sound of the
Cinematography LS, HA, establishing shot. Begins to zoom in, device thatll play throughout
first following the mime (the lit area on the left side of the park the movie, and are also
focuses the spectators eyes there) then on Harry Caul. introduced to our character
Harry Caul who is already
Sound fades in to reveal instruments playing a song. At first, it seemingly paranoid.
seems non-diegetic however after hearing dogs barking and
people yelling, its clear that its the sound from the park. As the
mime begins to tap-dance, we hear it too. Then distorted device
sound comes in. Volume increases as camera zooms in, fades
out towards the end of the shot as Caul walks further from the
scene.

Mise-en-scne a city park filled with people doing all sorts of

things, a mime in classic mime costume that dances creeps out
Harry Caul, who is in the same outfit he has on for the rest of the
film (trenchcoat)
Shot #2 There is a man beneath the sign
doing something. From the
Editing cut sound, its clear that he has
something to do with the sound.
Cinematography LS, LA, handheld

Sound continued from previous shot (distorted device sound

becomes predominant, and park sound volume decreases).

Mise-en-scne large City Paris sign, small human being

crouched below the sign
Shot #3 This is what the man is doing!
We can connect the sound to
Editing cut the action he is recording the
park sounds.
Cinematography MS, stable (tripod), level angle

Sound park sound continues

Mise-en-scne man with sniper-looking sound device, American

flags in the distance
Shot #4 We get a closer look at the man
whos recording the sound he
Editing cut appears extremely focused in
getting the sound.
Cinematography CU, stable (tripod), level angle
Sound park sound continues

Mise-en-scne man with hat and his sniper sound tool squints,
shows real concentration in what hes doing
Shot #5 The target of the sniper sound
device is revealed to be this
Editing cut, sniper-like target image placed over the shot couple. The woman begins to
whisper something to the man,
Cinematography MS, zoomed-in shot, pans to follow the but the device cannot pick it up
couple, handheld, HA as they go behind some
greenery. They have something
Sound park sound continues, but distorted device sound is to hide! This shot gives the
dominant audience a chance to see what
the man in the previous shot
Mise-en-scne we see the couple for the first time, the was seeing (handheld
subjects/targets of the sound device. The man wears a contributes to this).
business suit and glasses, and the woman a coat with fur. They
pass behind some greenery.
Shot #6 The man is worried he cannot
capture the sound of the couple
Editing cut because they have gone behind
the greenery.
Cinematography CU, moves up as the mans head moves up,
level angle

Sound continued from previous shot (distorted device sound

becomes predominant, and park sound volume decreases)

Mise-en-scne man holds his sniper sound device and looks up,
seemingly concerned
Shot #7 Another view of the park to give
scale to the setting, and
Editing cut contrast with the next shot
(within which well be right in
Cinematography LS, HA, stable (tripod) the middle of the action).

Sound park sound continues

Mise-en-scne park landscape from a different angle

Shot #8 Back in the park, the jazz band,
random parkgoers, the couple,
Editing cut and Harry Caul are all revealed
in the same shot. Harry Caul
Cinematography MS, pans left and right to follow various stands behind the couple, still
characters discreet but listening to what
the couple are saying. The
Sound park sound volume increases as were placed back in couple walk to the left as they
the park. We hear the sound of whatever the subject of the start singing.
camera is (whoever it follows and is in the center).

Mise-en-scne various characters, jazz band in the center,

Harry Caul and the couple are revealed to be in the same place.
Shot #9 Harry Caul is no longer the only
man we know on the grounds of
Editing cut the park listening in to the
 couple there is another elder
Cinematography MCU, handheld shot, level angle man. The couple seems to
notice this in this shot. The fact
Sound park sounds continue that this shot is handheld makes
it seem as if we are stealthily
Mise-en-scne an older man comes into the picture, and we watching the couple as well.
see the couple with concerned faces. Random people walk past
the camera.
Shot #10 The couple continue with their
normal conversation as theyre
Editing cut still being picked up, and Harry
Caul sketchily stands up to
Cinematography MCU, level angle, pans to follow the couple either leave or follow them.
walking, then tilts to Harry Caul at eye level as he stands up.

Sound park sound continues, but the couple starts talking (we
are still hearing this all through the sound device, so there is still
heavy distortion).

Mise-en-scne the couple is the main focus (the old man trails
them for a short while then leaves), and then Harry Caul.
Shot #11 The woman in the couple pities
the man sleeping on the bench,
Editing cut and as the man says Hes not
hurting anyone, the woman
Cinematography MS, tilts up as couple begins speaking, then replies, Neither are we. This
pans to follow them. line piques the spectators
curiosity as to what they are
Sound the couple continues talking (there is no distortion doing/planning. The old man
here). also in the frame probably heard
what they said.
Mise-en-scne a man sleeps on the bench, people walk past
the camera, but the couple is still the main focus as they walk.
The old man is also in the frame, but out of focus.
Shot #12 The dialogue of the couple
continues (just appears to be
Editing cut normal conversation) as Harry
Caul leaves the scene of the
Cinematography LS, slowly zooms out as Harry Caul crosses park and enters the van parked
the street, pans to follow him. People stand in front of the on the side of the street.
camera, not giving a clear frame (this benefits the feeling of
watching someone).

Sound couples conversation continues from previous scene,

but we hear the street sounds more clearly here.

Mise-en-scne many people out and about, cars on the street,

a van that Harry Caul walks towards with his hands in his pocket
Shot #13 The spectators are brought into
the van to see whats going on
Editing cut behind-the-scenes of all of the
sounds. It appears this van is
Cinematography MS, slowly tracks right as Caul walks more headquarters for the time
into the van being.
Sound the park sounds get muted as he closes the door, but
the conversation carries on through the devices within the van.
We also hear the sounds within the van (devices moving, van
door closing)

Mise-en-scne another man is introduced. He listens with

headphones connected to the sound device. Caul walks into the
van.
Shot #14 A close-up of one of the sound
devices (perhaps the main one?)
Editing cut gives spectators a good look of
behind-the-scenes, what one of
Cinematography XCU of sound devices, stable shot (tripod) the devices looks like.

Sound the conversation carries on, but we also hear the

devices sound

Mise-en-scne a sound device spins as it records the

conversation
Shot #15 Harry Caul turns to his partner
and asks How is he doing up
Editing cut there? He appears nervous. We
see his face closely.
Cinematography MCU, level angle

Sound recording continues playing, but we hear Harry Caul

speak for the first time

Mise-en-scne Harry Caul looks out the window as he observes

the scene outside and listens.
Shot #16 The man turns a dial perhaps to
hear the recording more clearly.
Editing cut

Cinematography MCU, level angle

Sound recording continues playing

Mise-en-scne the man turns a dial with his gloved hands

Shot #17 We find out that the man under
the sign with the sniper sound
Editing cut device was first position and
theres another man in a
Cinematography same LS, LA shot as in the beginning but building with a different device
swish pan (and tilt) to reveal the second position recording from second
position. It is clear that Caul is
Sound the recording continues playing and we hear the man running whatevers happening
answer Cauls question from before and Caul ask another right now, and the man in the
question van is his assistant.

Mise-en-scne the same giant City Paris sign as before (this

time the lights are animated), a building with an open window
with a different sound device sticking out
Shot #18 The man in the van tries his
hardest to get clear audio of the
Editing cut conversation.

Cinematography MCU, level angle

Sound recording continues playing, the man in the van

answers Cauls question

Mise-en-scne the man has his gloved hand on the dial of the
device as his listens attentively
Shot #19 Caul here is worried that they
are not getting clear audio, and
Editing cut his body language shows it.

Cinematography MCU, level angle

Sound recording continues playing (with some distortion)

Mise-en-scne Caul by the window, looking distressed

Shot #20 We revisit the live scene at the
park through the eye of
Editing cut someone watching to match the
recording to the couple talking
Cinematography zoomed in, CU, pan to follow movement of once more. They are smiling.
the man

Sound distorted sound recording is dominant, matches the

mans speaking

Mise-en-scne the man and woman in the park speaking,

people walking past in front of the camera
Shot #21 The man is excited to see two
young women come up to the
Editing cut one-way mirror, which also
shows that the van is disguised
Cinematography LS of van, stable (tripod) so no one suspects what is
going on inside.
Sound recording continues, but we also hear the street sounds
as the two women approach the van, talking. The sound is from
inside the van we hear the man speaking

Mise-en-scne two women nicely dressed approach the mirrors

on the van that say Specializing in Mirrors
Shot #22 The man is not as serious as
Caul appears to be and gets
Editing cut excited at the presence of
women. He is also kind of
Cinematography MCU of both Caul and the man, stable (tripod) creepy, as he takes out his
camera and takes pictures of
Sound the recording continues but we mostly hear the man them, unknowing.
talking and using his camera

Mise-en-scne the man has his camera out and takes pictures,
Caul sits while watching, and the two girls look into the one-way
mirror
Shot #23 The man makes some sexist
 remarks at the women who
Editing cut cannot hear him and are not
aware of the situation.
Cinematography CU, stable (tripod)

Sound we mostly hear the camera shutter and the man talking
about the women

Mise-en-scne the man, in his glasses, hat, headphones, and

gloves, takes pictures of the women with his camera
Shot #24 The women are outside the van,
and clearly cannot see whats
Editing cut going on inside the van. Another
invasion of privacy, as is the
Cinematography HA, stable (tripod) recording of the conversation.

Sound same as shot before, hearing the man urging them to

give him more

Mise-en-scne mirrors on the van with two women applying

makeup
Shot #25 The man still goes on as Caul
remains silent, and the women
Editing cut are having a fine day, laughing
with each other and applying
Cinematography stable (tripod), level angle makeup.

Sound same as shot before, hearing the man taking pictures

and talking

Mise-en-scne two separate windows with women on the other

side, laughing
Shot #26 Caul has let the man have his
fun and tells him to go back to
Editing cut work. The man says everything
is coming in loud and clear.
Cinematography stable (tripod), MS, pan at the end

Sound Caul tells the man to go back to work and focus, camera
shutters a couple more times, he chews his gum

Mise-en-scne the women through the window, Caul and the

man
Shot #27 The woman of the couple
becomes aware that their
Editing cut conversation is not private, as
she points out the old man to
Cinematography CU, zoomed in, handheld, out of focus for a her partner, and he turns to look
brief moment as well. The handheld
contributes to their anxiety.
Sound the conversation comes in loud and clear

Mise-en-scne people still walk across, but the man and

woman fill up most of the frame
Shot #28 As the woman points out the
 bag, spectators see a bag, and
Editing cut its revealed that the owner of
the bag is the old man.
Cinematography MS, zoomed in, handheld, tilt up to reveal the
old man, pan to follow him leaving

Sound the conversation, and the dialogue within the van

Mise-en-scne a bag sitting on a park bench, the old man with

a hearing aid, and people walking by
Shot #29 Caul itches to hear whats going
on and his assistant passes his
Editing cut headphones over to him.
Hopefully they wont be
Cinematography MS, stable (tripod) discovered.

Sound conversation continues from previous shot, some static

Mise-en-scne back in the van with Caul and the man, who
takes off his headphones
Shot #30 Caul is now directly listening in
to the conversation through the
Editing cut headphones.

Cinematography MCU, stable (tripod)

Sound conversation continues, some static

Mise-en-scne Caul holds the headphones up to his ear

Shot #31 The conversation continues and
the first position sound device
Editing cut, parallel editing is probably picking up what
spectators hear in the next shot.
Cinematography same LS, LA of the sign and the man
underneath it: first position

Sound the conversation continues, the instruments start

coming in again

Mise-en-scne the giant City Paris sign and the mans

silhouette underneath
Shot #32 The couple, as theyve realized
at this point theyve been spied
Editing cut on, find a loud drummer to hide
their conversation. They smile.
Cinematography pan left to follow the couple, out of focus for a
moment as we also lose their audio

Sound the instruments increase in volume as we no longer

hear their conversation

Mise-en-scne a percussionist in front of the couple, the man

turns to say something to the woman.
Shot #33 The old man has also realized
that they recognize him as
Editing cut having followed them, so he too
has retreated to the van and
Cinematography MCU, rack focus from Caul to the old man seek out Caul. He knocks
several times because he, too,
Sound park sounds continue, but we also hear the old man may be anxious.
knocking on the van

Mise-en-scne Caul sits on the right and goes to reach for the
door to let the old man in who we see through the window
Shot #34 The van is a tight space, but
another man in the operation
Editing cut comes in he was the old man
who had to abort the mission
Cinematography pan and push back to allow for characters within the park scene because
movement towards the camera they discovered he was
following them. He brings the
Sound the sound of the park eventually fades out to focus on bag back for Caul to begin
the sounds within the van (the old man and Cauls dialogue). We examining.
hear the crinkling of the bag as Caul opens it

Mise-en-scne Cauls movement blocks the main source of

light, but as the door opens to let the old man in, he also lets
light in. He hands the bag to Caul who begins opening it
immediately. The assistant sits on the right, drinking his coffee.
Shot #35 Inside the bag that the old man
carried was indeed another
Editing cut device.

Cinematography CU, stable (tripod)

Sound the dialogue within the van continues, bag/gift

wrapping sounds

Mise-en-scne the bag and Cauls hands opening the device

inside
Shot #36 Turns out Paul mustve just been
asked for help by Caul, as Caul
Editing cut rewards him for his work with
money. They talk of a
Cinematography MS, stable with slight movement convention the next day, and
the assistant remains playful
Sound the dialogue within the van continues, the old man while Caul still appears stressed
(Paul) opens and closes the door (while the door is opened, we out.
hear the street sounds once more)

Mise-en-scne Caul hands Paul money and Paul leaves, the

assistant drinks his coffee and they have a laugh (all while Caul
remains serious)
Shot #37 The assistant is curious as to
who they are spying on, and
Editing cut, the sniper device target look overlaid once more Caul remains pretty quiet as to
what this is about. This only
Cinematography LS, HA, zoomed-in, handheld, keeping makes the audience more
subjects in the center intrigued about who/what/why.
Sound the dialogue within the van continues and is
dominating, while the park sound remains in the background

Mise-en-scne the couple walk and sit down, a little separated

from each other. The mans head hangs low.
Shot #38 It is still a mystery as to what
this assignment is and why they
Editing cut are doing it. It is all a part of the
work.
Cinematography MS, stable (tripod)

Sound the dialogue within the van continues and street sound
seeps in

Mise-en-scne the street remains busy outside of the van, Caul

hands his assistant the headphones
Shot #39 Its clear this is not the first time
theyve recorded people who
Editing cut were unaware because the
assistant says, Sometimes its
Cinematography CU, stable (tripod) nice to know what theyre
talking about.
Sound the dialogue within the van continues, the assistant
speaks

Mise-en-scne the assistant talks to Caul while receiving the

headphones
Shot #40 Caul says that he does not care
what theyre talking about, but
Editing cut with this close-up, there is
something apparently false
Cinematography MCU, stable (tripod) about this statement.

Sound the ambience of the van (dialogue continues), Caul

answers his assistant

Mise-en-scne Caul looks out the window, looking resigned

Shot #41 Mysterious-sounding soundtrack
(our first non-diegetic) begins
Editing cut playing, as we spy on the couple
once more.
Cinematography CU, zoomed-in, handheld

Sound soundtrack (piano) begins playing with background

noise

Mise-en-scne people walk across the frame, hiding the action

we all want to see. The couple appear to be getting intimate.
Shot #42 It appears as if the couple
decided this public place was
Editing cut not safe for them, and theyve
said their goodbyes. The woman
Cinematography MS, zoomed-in, pan right to follow woman walks briskly away from the
scene.
Sound the park scene noise is muted underneath the
soundtrack (volume of soundtrack increases)

Mise-en-scne the woman walks seemingly urgently away, now

without the man
Shot #43 The couple have split up for the
day, and the man is now alone.
Editing cut

Cinematography MS, pan left to follow man

Sound the park ambience remains muted underneath the

soundtrack, which is the dominating sound here

Mise-en-scne the man walks slowly, seemingly concerned and

lost in his thoughts. He holds a brown paper bag.
Shot #44 Now that the couple have split
up, there is no longer anything
Editing cut to record and the second
position is no longer needed.
Cinematography LA, stable (tripod)

Sound the device within the window shuts down, soundtrack

continues, park ambience muted

Mise-en-scne a tree is in the foreground (out of focus), and

the device turns away from the building window
Shot #45 His main on-the-scene job is
done for the day, and Caul
Editing cut begins walking back home. The
soundtrack helps inform us that
Cinematography LA, pans left to follow Caul who remains in the this is our main character.
center of the frame, in focus

Sound street ambience heard, van drives away, soundtrack

dominant. The main theme of the soundtrack composed by
David Shire begins as Caul is the last remaining man on the
scene

Mise-en-scne the van drives away, Caul walks amidst all of

the other civilians
Shot #46 Caul is eerily silent (perhaps he
is taxed out from his work of the
Editing cross dissolve day), and does not really say
hello back to the friendly
Cinematography stationary shot (tripod) neighbor.

Sound soundtrack continues, room ambience and woman with

dog speaks to Caul

Mise-en-scne his apartment building, with light coming in the

door, a flower on the side, staircase, and a friendly female
neighbor with a dog
Shot #47 He does not say thank you to
her birthday wishes, but instead
Editing cut hesitates (turns) for a moment,
 then keeps walking upwards.
Cinematography LA, stable (tripod), dim lighting

Sound soundtrack continues, room ambience

Mise-en-scne staircase, Caul walking upwards with one pause

Shot #48 Caul continues quietly to his
apartment, and it is clear that
Editing cut he is quite the cautious
character (he has multiple locks
Cinematography stable (tripod), pan, and tilt on his apartment door). Our
eyes are drawn to the gift that
Sound soundtrack continues, his keys jingle, a phone begins lies on the floor in the inside of
ringing (loudly) as he opens the door to his apartment (and the his apartment, as the phone
soundtrack ceases) rings suddenly upon his opening
of the door.
Mise-en-scne Caul walks down a dimly lit hallway and takes
out the keys to open his apartment. He has several locks on his
door, a doormat on the inside, and a gift waiting for him (inside,
as well).