http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGDvy4rgNMA
Scene from the movie Crash
(the part of the scene I analyzed doesn’t appear until the sceene in the house of the couple that got robbed)
This film was released directed by Paul Haggis and released fall of 2005. It stars Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Dashon Howard, Ludacris, Thandie Newton, and Ryan Phillippe
Personal:
I specifically chose this movie because it won an academy award and I figured it would have good use of lighting, framing, signifiers etc. since that also seems to be what critics look for in a movie. However, that is not the only reason why I chose it. I think “Crash” is a really good movie and figured it would be an interesting one to analyze, which turned out to be true. I thought there were better scenes in the movie, but I had a hard time finding them on youtube. There are tons of intense and emotional scenes in this movie and although I was not able to find one of the scenes I really enjoyed the scene I did choose isn’t bad at all . I also think the themes in this movie are partly what makes it such a good movie along with the actors in it.
Historical:
I had a hard time finding the historical aspect of this scene but if anyone has any ideas please let me know it would be very intresting to see what historical aspect might be in this seen that I missed
Technical:
The scene starts out with Sandra bullock walking down the stairs towards the Hispanic man fixing the door. The lighting is warm and gives the viewer the feeling of night and adds to the feeling of how the lighting of a house usually appears at night. Sandra standing and the young man kneeling on the floor is a signifier which signifies the superiority bullock has over the young man. Bullock then proceeds to walk through the hall into the living room and the hall she walks through creates a graphic vector. The camera shows a visual of both the dinning room and the living room which although surrounded by Christmas decorations which attempt to give it the “homey” look the paperwork, computers, people in suits, and all the fuss undoubtedly overwhelms the scene which signifies how the robbery at gun point has affected both Bullocks and her husbands home life. Furthermore, as the two talk the camera zooms in on both their faces as they talk rotating back and fourth between the two during the conversation (the camera looks up when the man talks and down when Bullock talks. I know there’s a word for this but I can’t think of what it is). By the camera doing this it gives the viewer a sense of closeness and connects the viewer with the actors on a personal level so that the viewer almost can feel the sense of anguish the couple is suffering from. Moreover, as Bullock begins to talk about color and race the camera shoots over and focuses on the black women in the living room where she gives off the facial expression that shows her feelings of vulnerability. Finally, Bullock walks to the kitchen and stands for a moment, then the camera turns and focuses on the young man through the gaps/holes in the stairs. This does 2 things, gives the viewer the impression they are looking at the man through the eyes of Bullock, and gives the viewer a specific focus on the young man’s head without actually zooming in and focusing because the holes in the stairs create a frame just around his head so that the camera doesn’t have to. Oh and throughout the scene I was attentive to the lighting however I didn’t see anything unusual or unique about the lighting whether it be a change of lighting to better suit the conversation or a specific sort of lighting to make the viewer feel a certain way, but if anyone notices anything different please point it out.
The movie has various themes, but I think one of the main themes is race and gender. I don’t feel like there are any ethical issues with this movie and I think it does a good job addressing various stereotypes as well as issues people seem to have with different cultures, races, and ethnicities in the U.S.
