Agent Carter Essay

In the film, Agent Carter, the director uses camera shots, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene to convey Agent Carter’s struggles as a woman in her job after the end of World War II. The combination of over the shoulder and close up shots to show the discrimination that Peggy faces in the office. It shows the men from a low angle to demonstrate their superiority over her. After Agent Carter decides to go off on her own, they use more zoomed out shots to show her increase in confidence once she enters the field where she specializes. In the scene where Peggy approaches the building where zodiac is hiding, the radio is playing in the background and the camera angle shows the main guard sitting while Peggy is talking to the other guards outside. The music and Agent Carter being in the background tell the viewer that the main guard is not paying any attention to what is going on outside and he does not see Agent Carter as a threat. This explains why the guard is confused once he sees one of his coworkers on the ground and the other thrown through the window. The low-key lighting of all of the scenes foreshadows what is going to happen throughout the rest of the show. The lighting is dark and there are many shadows throughout the scenes. This tells the viewers that this movie is going to be an action, spy movie, and have more of a dark mood. Most of the sound in this clip is diegetic and there is little to no background music. This forces the viewer to really listen to what is going on in the clip and gives no information on what is to come which leaves the viewer wondering themselves. The director used deep space in this clip so the viewer could pay attention to the background and surroundings of the characters. The scene that shows the guard and Agent Carter talking to the other guards outside in the background was a great use of deep space. The costumes of the characters let the view know that this film is set in the 1940s. This is important to the development of Agent Carter’s character because there was lots of sexism in the 1940s and women typically did not have jobs. All of the actors use a British accent when speaking their lines. This tells the viewers where the setting of the film is without directly stating it. The director of this film used the contrast editing technique to transition from the recap of Captain America to the Agent Carter film. The recap ends with Agent Carter alone in a dark control room and then transitions to a bright skyline of a city. This transition shows the time that has passed in between the films and suggests that Agent Carter may have gotten over the loss of Steve Rodgers. Overall, the director of this film did a great job of using camera shot, editing techniques, sound, and mise-en-scene to create the first clip of the Agent Carter film.