Semester Exam - Film Analyses of Black Mirror (season3, episode 4, San Junipero)

    Black mirror is an anthology series on Netflix that some might consider a modern take on the 1950s show "The Twilight Zone." Black mirror is known for having their stories end with a dark twist that leaves the audience with a moral that's along the lines of "technology is dangerous" or "be careful of what you wish for." San Junipero is one of the episodes that has a very intriguing beginning that might be setup for a dark twist in the second half that blindsight's the audience.

The episode in question opens up with an establishing shot of a fast river and then an overview of a city that's safe to assume is San Junipero. While the main character, Yorkie, is seen walking on the sidewalk. The camera follows Yorkie as she enters a dance club. Before that 2 new characters are introduced, Wes and Kelly. The first interaction Wes and Kelly has with each other is an argument while they enter the dance club. The camera then starts to pan across the dance club and shows how packed the club is with people. While Yorkie is in the arcade an unnamed male character greets her and starts talking about the game Yorkie's playing. The male character then asks Yorkie if she would be interested in playing a game with him, the game in question has a start screen of cars racing but then one of the cars flip and the camera cuts right before it crashes. Yorkie sees this and emphatically declines the guy's offer and leaves. She then has a drink and sits down at a table where she meets Kelly and Wes. Kelly sits down next to Yorkie and tells her "whatever I say, go along with it." When Wes tries to talk to Kelly, Kelly says that she's busy talking with Yorkie saying that they're friends despite Kelly and Yorkie not meeting each other before this exchange.

The technical use of mise-en-scene and camera angles all play into what the personality of these characters, specifically Yorkie, are and how they'll potentially interact with each other after the clip shown. The camera's pan coupled with the diegetic sound of the music playing when Yorkie enters the dance club both contribute to how lively the dance club is and makes Yorkie's decision to not start dancing and head for the arcade that's hidden in the back makes her out as a shy character that prefers doing things on her own than starting conversation. The acting between Wes and Kelly in the form of their arguments sets up their relationship to be dysfunctional and may end some time during the rest of the episode. The close up of Kelly before she sits down with Yorkie also does this to express how worried Kelly is of Wes trying to talk to her. The episode also uses editing techniques to help foreshadow events that might happen later as well. The rushing river in the establishing shot and the camera cutting away from the car crash in the arcade machine might be foreshadowing how the main characters or a loved one of theirs's might die by the end of the episode. 

Overall San Junipero is an example of how the writers of Black Mirror can leave the audience interested in what the characters of their episodes will do after unique introductions. The contrast of how Yorkie and Kelly act is keeps the audience invested in the episode to see how their interacts with each other will evolve after their unique introduction of Kelly telling Wes that Yorkie has a terminal illness and is too busy catching up with her to talk to Wes.