Technical analysis of 'The Pursuit of Happyness'

Following my first analysis of the pursuit of happyness, here's the second one based on the mise-en-scene and shot types used in the second half of the film. It has occurred to me that this is going to be little more than a summary of my notes, that's fine as long as it's well formatted.


MISE-EN-SCENE SIGNS

In the scene in the subway Christopher tries to bring to life the metaphor of the bone-density scanner as a time machine by using it to prompt young Chris's imagination. This is important because he explicitly refers to it as the time machine and invites the viewer to marvel at the magical moment in which imagination manages to make light of such an awful situation. Later on they're locked into a toilet and the mood of the scene changes to become very melancholic, this is because the music changes and the viewer is reminded that the magical moment has passed and the reality of Christopher's situation emerges more heavily than before.
EDIT: doesn't really fit in Mise-en-scene, probably more appropriate in signs.


The ray of light from Christopher's machine as it illuminates the dorm is a powerful index because it already exists in society. I think it's a religious thing like the ray of light from Heaven, but I'm not sure [Could anyone reading check this and comment before tomoro?]. The 'ray of light' is supposed to be his salvation and it does mark a turning point in the film when things get better for Christopher.
2nd EDIT: I'm renaming this category 'signs'.

SOUND

The most effective sound used (in my opinion) is the non-diegetic sheet music [EDIT: Is it really called sheet music?]. It marks every high and low of the film by mixing between fast/slow notes and high/low-pitched notes. It's quite simple and that's why the viewer instantly recognizes the clue.
The gospel music at the hospital was well done, it managed to emphasize the unity of voices singing as one, yet due to the mise-en-scene both Chris senior and junior were singled out as apart from the group (not standing up, not singing, not looking happy like everyone else there).

EDITING

I confess I didn't write anything for editing, mostly because I didn't know quite what to write. This'll be easier when I learn about editing techniques. From memory I can only think of one special transition between shots: when both Chris senior and junior are on the bus there's a fade between a shot of Chris junior leaning against Chris senior's shoulder and a shot where Chris junior is asleep on one side of the bus and Chris senior is staring out of the window. It condenses the time of their bus journey, a clue to this is the fact that Chris junior has fallen asleep.

SHOT TYPES

The continuity in shot types can be well explained by the bus scene (again). The camera is always placed right in the middle of the alley facing towards the back of the bus with both father and son in shot. The camera also pans away from the subject occasionally in street scenes to explain the wider setting. Another example of the subject moving out of shot are the various elevator scenes in which the camera lingers for about a second on the empty elevator. I have some good diagrams written in my book but haven't the time to scan them. There's good use an upwards-tracking shot between father and son when they're in the subway toilet, it starts off with the son asleep and reveals the exhausted father holding him in his arms. When both father and son are facing each other there's one quite good side-on close-up shot of them. This serves to emphasize the special moment because both subject's faces are fully shown staring at each other.