Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Minority Report: Still Image Fun


Let's kick things off with a little analysis shall we? And what better way to look at a film than when it's viewed as a picture. I can't think of any. There are things that you only notice this way that would otherwise be overlooked when watching in full speed. This shot most likely didn't last more than 5 seconds, so now that we have the opportunity to look at it for as long as we want, we can really break down what the director wanted us to get from this.

To start, this shot is one of a medium shot of Tom Cruise's character. However, at the same time, it is a medium-long shot of the woman behind him and the environment that they are both in. This allows for the focus to remain on Anderton's face and his expressions, while not losing the physicality and minor reactions of the older woman in the background.

The background was something that told a lot about what was happening within the scene at the time. During this moment, Anderton is dealing with a venomous vine that is effecting him while he is trying to learn about the Precogs from this woman. The plants, a prop, and the greenhouse, the setting, constantly remind us that the vine is a constant pressure along with the problem at hand, raising the tension.

These pieces in the scene are highlighted with what seems to be a natural lighting of a foggy or cloudy day in mid morning. The inferences that can be made from the weather can easily reflect the feeling of the situation. As we all know, movies constantly use weather to reflect a scene, like when it rains during the climax of the film (i.e. The Lion King when [SPOILER] Simba kills Scar). This is equally being done here with confusing in our protagonist that is symbolized by cloudiness both in his mind and in the sky.

 This kind of analysis can be done to every shot of this movie. Spielberg puts a lot of time and thought into every angle and camera movie within Minority Report and there is more within it than most people would ever expect.

And if you've made it this far than you have hopefully read the entire thing. If so, Kudos! Keep up the quality work.