The reading in Chapter 5 discusses the various techniques used in films to create a shot, particularly the lighting of a scene, different focal lengths employed, and camera movement. While reading I found the images and examples in the book helpful in understanding the methods of cinematography, and they also helped me imagine how I might use some of these methods if I were to create my own movie. As such, I thought it would be helpful to take a look at one of my favorite scenes in recent memory, a tenuous chase and battle scene in the Coen brother’s No Country for Old Men.
The necessary backstory is that the man with the mustache we see initially in the scene is LlewIyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin), the film’s protagonist, who has stolen a briefcase of two million dollars from Mexican drug runners he found dead in the desert. The antagonist, Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) is a murderous psychopath indefatigably set on retrieving the money Moss has hijacked. We only see brief glimpses of him in this sequence, and that decision adds to his mythic level of villainy. I have attached the scene below if you would like to watch it and follow along, but I will be looking at three shots in the sequence and analyzing, briefly, how cinematography aided that shot in completing its goal.
The first shot I want to mention is at 2:02 in the YouTube video I have attached. Here, I believe the filmmaker’s use of lighting is exceptional, as not only does it make for an aesthetic still, but it also uses the lighting to captivate the attention of the viewer. In this scene, Moss is in the hotel room with the briefcase of cash, waiting for Chigurh’s ambush, as he has recently discovered that Chigurh has been tracking him for the last few days. As Moss waits he turns off his bedside lamp, and the camera cuts to a shot of his silhouette traced onto the wall by the light from coming in from the street. However, crucially, the light streaming in from his window also illuminates the door, highlighting what Moss is observing and waiting for anxiously. The filmmakers seem to have made a very intentional decision here. They could have let the entire room go dark, or only shown Moss’s silhouette, or even increased the exposure so the audience could see clearly. Instead, they highlight the door and Moss, building the suspense within the audience for Chigurh’s arrival behind that door and the ensuing action. I also believe that the selective lighting is meant to draw the audience into the scene. Especially for someone in a movie theater, making the scene that dark before an outburst of action would make the audience’s connection to the characters more intimate. The audience would be in the same setting as Moss, and the dark would make Chigurh that much more intimidating.
The shot beginning at 4:03 is one I wish to highlight as well, for its use of depth of field to keep the viewer engaged in the action of the scene. The shot is very simple, but when I rewatched this scene after reading Chapter 5, I noticed something I would not have seen before. It was the very subtle use of focusing on different parts in the depth of field in a shot to keep the viewer oriented through the action. In this scene, Moss is running from Chigurh, and we see him run at the camera towards the corner of a building, before he rounds the corner and hides behind the wall. As Moss is far away from the camera, the edge of the building is in the shot, but out of focus, so the viewer naturally looks at Moss, even though he is still and distant in the beginning. As Moss rounds the corner, the wall and his face come into focus and we are now able to see his expression of fear and pain from the injuries he has just endured.
Finally, I also noticed the camera movement in the shot at 6:27 for the first time in this scene after rewatching Chapter 5. In this part of the scene, Chigurh is tracking Moss. Though Moss has attempted to leave a trail that makes it seem like he is in a pick up truck, he is actually hiding on the other end of the street behind a parked car. At first, Chigurh is taking the bait. However, as he prowls toward the car, gun in hand, he notices something that the audience has not yet seen. Putting the audience in the perspective of the antagonist now, the camera cuts to Chigurh’s view of the pick up truck, before briefly panning down to a splatter of blood on the street, that signifies that Moss has fled the truck and now Chigurh is facing a potential ambush. As a viewer it is very subtle, and almost unnoticeable, but as a filmmaker the decisions made here are crucial. The slow camera movements build suspense for the ensuing action yet again, and it prepares the audience for Moss’s leap from behind the car. At the same time, it helps the audience understand how the mythic Chigurh is able to predict and survive Moss’s ambush.
As someone watching these scenes “in the filmmakers shoes” for the first time (as the book suggests we do), I found these subtle moments of filmmaking fascinating in a way I never would have before. And so, I would love to hear what moments you noticed in this scene that use cinematographic techniques. Are there any scenes you now view differently after reading Chapter 5? I would be fascinated to see those, and dissect them as well.
Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL9w-3pQb5U