Movie: 1931, black and white, 87 minutes
ß Director: Charlie Chalpin
ß Actors: Charlie Chaplin Virginia Cherrill
Summary:
City Lights shows the struggle of a poor tramp who is trying to woo a beautiful blind woman. He befriends a wealthy drunk, constantly spending time with him when he can to give him opportunities to appear rich to the blind woman. While under the impression that he is rich, the blind woman tells him about her money troubles. He offers to pay for her rent as well as surgery to repair her vision. After getting into trouble with the drunk, he is imprisoned, only to return and see the blind woman with restored vision. In an emotional reunion she recognizes him on the streets and sees him for who he really is.
1. How does Chaplin make the context of the scene different after the Chaplin character starts to help the girl.
After Chaplin’s character finds out that the blind girl, who is trying to woo, needs money to prevent her house from becoming repossessed, he gets a job in order to make some money. Instead of dressing in his typical, darker, tramp costume, he dresses in a brightly colored wardrobe. Also the cinematographer uses high key lighting to illuminate him while he is on the job. It gives the scene a painterly style rather than the linear style, which is used throughout the rest of the film. It also gives Chaplin a more angelic, lighter aura. Chaplin may have used this look to show the tramp’s changes after he is finished with taking advantage of the rich drunk, and caring more about the blind woman. Throughout the film, whenever he is around the blind woman the aura of the shot is lighter. When he is around the drunk, it is a darker setting and mood. There is a large contrast between the shots when Chaplin is with the blind girl and when he is taking advantage of the rich drunk.
2. Why does Chaplin use mostly eye-level and medium shots in the film?
Using the eye-level and medium shots make the audience feel like they are in the film. Toward the end of the film in the scene where the blind girl recognizes the tramp, it is important to use the eye-level shots to give the audience the full emotions of the shot. When the audience feels like they are in the film, they will be more emotional and draw to the characters. Using fancy shots such as birds eye shots or oblique angles take the audience out of the movie. It is often difficult to feel emotionally invested in a character that one cannot connect with. Chaplin only uses the more oblique shots occasionally so that the audience is fully involved in the story for most of the film. Chaplin is very effective despite a small diversity in camera angles. He creates the depth in the framing of the shot and with the acting.
Bladerunner
Movie: 1982, color, 117 minutes
ß Director: Ridley Scott
ß Actors: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young
Summary:
Bladerunner is about a retired bladerunner, a man who kills humanoid robots called replicants attempting to return to Earth after being exiled, named Deckard who is called back into duty. He must hunt down four replicants that have returned to Earth to find their creator. It takes place in a dreary future Earth, where skyscrapers and advertisements have taken over the culture. Deckard meets the creator of these replicants, Tyrell, as well as a replicant named Rachael who believes she is human. He eventually hunts down two of them while the other two search for Tyrell. The two remaining replicants kill Tyrell because he is not able to make them live longer. Deckard kills one and while fleeing from the final replicant its life span runs out and he dies. Deckard returns to Rachael and they go off to live together.
Questions:
1. Why does the director use numerous establishing shots in the beginning of the film and other times throughout?
The film is set in a future world much different from the normal society. The establishing shot is important to show the audience what the society is like, and this is done with the many establishing shots. It is shown as a dark, technology run metropolis with high skyscrapers surrounded by advertisements. There are giant factories and people are shown to just be part of a society run by machines. The futuristic design was the best for its time, and this was shown early and often in the film. Throughout the film, Scott constantly uses the establishing shot of the giant advertisement of the Chinese woman on the side of a skyscraper. The massive advertisements show the dominance of technology and companies over the average person, who is shown as small dots on the ground. Scott uses these long establishing shots to introduce the audience to this futuristic world and show the dominance that technology has in it.
2. How do the dialogue and the tone of the characters affect their portrayal?
With many different personalities in this movie, the dialogue and tone of the actors were important in establishing personalities. Because there are robots and humans in the movie, and part of the challenge is distinguishing which character is a robot and which is human, the tone and dialogue help decide that. The replicants use slightly more sophisticated language, and sometimes over exaggerate emotions. Even though the replicants do not feel emotions, they feel the desire to be more like humans and therefore exaggerate what they see as the human emotions. Rachael, a replicant who believes she is human, is much more monotone than the rest of the characters because she sees no need to exaggerate the emotions that she cannot feel. Deckard is passionate in finding the missing replicants, and often expresses anger and frustration in the language. Tyrell and Sebastian, both helping in the creation of replicants, sound much more intelligent in their speech than the rest of the characters. It established them as much smarter than the others and also slightly weaker physically because of this. The way each of the characters talk reveals something about their character.
The Godfather
Movie: 1972, color, 175 minutes
ß Director: Francis Ford Coppola
ß Actors: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan
Summary:
The Godfather is about the Corleone Italian-American mob family living in New York. After the head of the family is shot, Mike, the most reluctant son to get into the family business, gets revenge on the man who tried to kill his father by shooting him and the police chief who was under his control. He then must flee to Italy until it is safe to return. Meanwhile more of the Corleone family is being murdered by the other mob families. Eventually when Mike returns to New York he takes control of his father’s empire and attempts to restore peace among the families. But when he learns of his attempted murder he takes action does anything he can to protect his power.
Questions:
1. How does Coppola use shadows in this film?
Coppola uses shadows throughout the film to signify a characters power and secrecy. In the very beginning the Don is enveloped in shadows in his office while he is asked a favor from someone. Even though he is sitting, the shadow gives him mystery and power in the shot. Coppola also uses wardrobe to shadow some of the characters to give them a sense of protection and power. When Luca Brosi is sent to infiltrate one of the other families, he is wearing a hat that shadows his face and makes him seem powerful. When he is killed because the family knows that he is a trader, the hat comes off and his face is exposed. He know longer is in power in the shot while the murderers stay in the shadow. The same happens when the Don is shot. He falls and his face is exposed to the world, no longer being hidden like a mob boss would desire. Coppola does this because in an underground mob like this, it is always important to stay hidden and low key. So the shadows show that the character is in control. Another example is when the police chief under the influence of one of the families comes and beats up Mike, his face is shadowed by a gate that surrounds them. It shows that he is now part of the illegal underground system and is much the same as the other mob bosses.
2. How does Coppola use changes in wardrobe to show changes in character?
Throughout the movie many of the characters change their style or clothing to represent the change in their character. The Don starts the movie as a calm collected man who dresses very classy. He always wears expensive suits and wants the people who surround him to do the same. After he is shot and begins to lose control of the family, he dresses more casually and lets his hair become slightly loose instead of the slick look. He no longer is the strong front of the family and he does not need to dress the part. However Mike goes in the opposite direction. He begins the movie at the wedding in a soldier’s uniform, showing his support for the country where he lives and not for his Italian mafia family. He becomes confused as to who he is and what he wants to do with his life in the middle, and wears bland clothing that doesn’t attract attention. As he becomes the head of the family, he then dresses the part. He becomes much like his father with slicked back hair and expensive suits. The wardrobe shows how the Mike and his father slowly switch roles in the family.
Psycho
Movie: 1960, black and white, 109 minutes
ß Director: Alfred Hitchcock
ß Actors: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles
Summary:
Psycho shows the path of a real estate secretary, Marian, after stealing $40,000 from her boss after she is entrusted to put it in the bank. She hits the road and stays at a rarely visited motel called the Bates Motel, run by a soft-spoken gentleman named Norman Bates. Mr. Bates keeps her company, but the owner’s mysterious mother murders her during the night. As the police and a private investigator get involved in order to find Marian and the money, the sister and lover become involved. The private investigator disappears as well and the son continues to attempt to cover up the murders. The son, who is actually acting as mother in an attempt to conceal her death from himself, is caught and institutionalized as he attempts to kill the sister.
1. Why does Hitchcock constantly shoot the motel owner from different angles while he is talking with Marian during the dinner?
During a dinner with the motel owner, Norman Bates, has a long, revealing talk with Marian. Hitchcock begins the conversation with eye-level shots on both of them, as it is a normal friendly conversation. When the conversation shifts to his mother, Norman gets very defensive and emotional. As Marian suggests institutionalizing his mother, Norman gets angry, leaning forward in his seat. Hitchcock switches to a lower angle shot to show his dominance in the conversation. But just as soon as they switch topics he goes back to leaning in his seat and it shows the eye-level. In every instance where Norman gets angry, normally with mention to his mother, the camera switches to the low angle of him leaning forward in his seat. And when Norman reveals his anger and he realizes it he shrinks back in his seat and Hitchcock uses a high angle. It shows his vulnerability in the topics about his mother and how he isn’t very comfortable with it. Throughout the conversation, the shots of Marian are consistently eye level, showing her level-headedness in the conversation. It reveals Norman to be emotionally unstable and possibly dangerous, foreshadowing the damage he does later.
2. How and why does Hitchcock use a bird motif throughout the movie?
Throughout the film there are many instances where Hitchcock uses a bird motif. Marian’s last name is Crane and she is from Phoenix. But the main references of birds are in the Bates Motel. In Norman’s office there are many stuffed birds placed along the walls, and Norman says it is his hobby. His obsession with birds may stem from his desire to be free and fly away like the birds. He feels powerful when he takes the life and ability to fly away from the birds when he stuffs them. He himself is not able to be free and is controlled by his mother, so he is jealous of the birds’ freedom. He also tells Marian that she eats like a bird, possibly foreshadowing that he may end her just as he has done with all of the birds that he stuffs. Each of the birds in his office are dominant predator birds, while there are numerous pictures of smaller birds of prey in the room that Marion stays in. This shows her as the prey in the situation, as Norman kills her soon after their meeting in the office. Interestingly, Hitchcock’s next movie was The Birds, possibly showing that the motif was a marketing ploy, or that Hitchcock simply had a fascination for birds.
Pulp Fiction
Movie: 1994, color, 154 minutes
ß Director: Quentin Tarantino
ß Actors: John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson
Summary:
Through four different nonlinear stories, Pulp Fiction intertwines the stories of many characters living criminal lifestyles. In the first section, a man and woman decide to rob a restaurant and it ends just as the robbery begins. It then moves to one of the two main characters, Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, on their way to meet their boss. Their boss, Marsellus, asks Vega to take out his wife while he is away. It ends with Vega saving the wife who has overdosed on heroin. In the next segment, boxer named Butch is paid by Marsellus to lose a fight, but he then kills the other boxer in the ring. He runs into Marsellus and after a chase they are captured, but Butch helps Marsellus escape, ending the feud. In the third story, which takes place before any of the others, Vega and Jules kill some men who have gone against Marsellus and witness a miracle when they are shot at from point blank range and don’t get hit. They then accidentally shoot one of their associates and go through great lengths to clean up the mess. At the end of the movie, it transitions back to the restaurant, where Vega and Jules are also sitting, while the two criminals are still robbing it. Jules talks them out of it and he and Vega leave the restaurant unharmed.
Questions:
1. How does Tarantino use the characters and props to help establish his settings?
With the many different setting because of the story lines there are a large amount of establishing shots need to establish each new setting. Rather than simply just panning the setting each time, Taranatino uses different ways to show the entire setting while still conveying important information. At Jack Rabbit Slims, a 50’s restaurant where Vega takes out Marsellus’s wife, there is a unique environment that is important in establishing the time period and essence of the setting. Tarantino has Vega walk around the entire restaurant before sitting down, establishing the setting, while still having him talking and moving the storyline along. The audience is able to see the entire restaurant but also learn more about the story. After Butch escapes from the rapist gang, he goes upstairs to the groups shop. The purpose of the shot is to reveal how odd the shop is because of the random assortment of goods, but Tarantino does this by having Butch search the shop for a weapon to kill the gang downstairs with. He goes all the way around the shop, finding a hammer, chainsaw, and eventually settling on a sword, while still establishing what the shop looks like. Tarantino also uses spacing of characters to allow the camera to shoot many different parts of a setting. These ideas allow Tarantino to waste little time with establishing shots and continue moving the story along.
2. How does Tarantino use doorways to show secrecy in conversations?
Because this is a kind of crime film that contains a lot of mystery as to some actions, Tarantino shows how a conversation is more low-key and secretive by showing the characters on the opposite side of a doorway. Whenever there is a shady plan or deal going on, Tarantino tend to use a doorway to show that the audience should not really be in on the conversation. He also uses the other side of doors to represent secrecy. In the beginning of the film the unnoticed gunman comes through a door that no one bothers to check and nearly kills Vega and Jules. A doorway also hides a room where Marsellus is being raped. There are many examples where a doorway is just simply being shot through to convey secrecy. When Vega is buying drugs from his dealer, the conversation is shot through a doorway. The same goes for when one of the men is discussing how to handle a dead body. Tarantino often uses doorways in the film to establish something that the audience is not supposed to know.
Fargo
Movie: 1996, color, 98 minutes
ß Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
ß Actors: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi
Summary:
Fargo, a dark comedy based on a story, tells the story of a greedy man who tries to scam his father-in-law out of a million dollars by paying two criminals to kidnap his wife. The plan goes downhill from the beginning when Jerry, the husband, attempts to call of the plan when his father-in-law agrees to an investment idea, but is unsuccessful. The two criminals are pulled over and resort to murder to escape, bring on an investigation led by Marge Gunderson. In the end the police catch up with the criminals, but not before the one of them, along with the father-in-law and the wife, are killed. The other criminal and Jerry are arrested, ending the film as a sad tale of a tragic series of events.
Questions:
1. How does the opening revealing that this is based on true events change the way the audience views the movie?
In the beginning of the film, it opens by saying that these events took place in Minnesota 1987. It also says out of respect for survivors, the names were changed and in respect of the dead, the story is told exactly as it occurred. Because it mentions survivors and dead, the audience is already told that there will be killings in the film, causing the information to be a good hook. It makes the viewer anticipate who will die and when it will occur. This information is not actually true, because the murders took place outside of Minnesota and all of the characters and fictitious. The fact that the message in the beginning is not actually true shows that the Coen brothers had a reason for doing this. Joel Coen is quoted as saying, “If an audience believes that something's based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept." The Coen brothers believe that by saying this story is true, the audience is forced to believe that everything that happens in the film is true, allowing them to be more creative without worrying that the audience will think it is unrealistic.
2. What is the importance of the Minnesota accent being used?
Although it is not realistic that everyone in the film talks in this Minnesota accent, the Coen brothers have every character speak in it. It apparently took a lot of time and effort to get the dialect down, so it is interesting that the Coen brothers found it necessary to speak in. Accents can play a big part in how an audience views characters. Viewers unfamiliar with this accent may add to their thinking that this must be true because the actors are all using an accent that seems unnecessary unless it took place in the exact place in which the events took place. It also makes the characters seem less educated than they actually are because they accent gives them a farmer way of talking. The fact that it is emphasized so greatly throughout the film shows how important it is in the interpretation of the film. The way that characters talks tells a lot about their personality without needing to convey it through dialogue, which makes this accent well used in this film.
Shawshank Redemption
Movie: 1994, color, 142 minutes
ß Director: Frank Darabont
ß Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and Bob Gunton
Summary:
Shawsank Redemption follows the life of a falsely accused man as he passes his life sentence in Shawshank Prison, eventually escaping through a self-carved tunnel. During his stay he makes life-long friends with a convicted murderer named Red and many other convicts. He is a well-educated banker, so he helps many of the prison’s guards and officials with their banking, and he becomes the centerpiece of a scandal put of by the warden. He also helps the other convicts raise their education by starting a larger library and getting some convicts their high school diploma. After escaping, he leads Red to find out where he is after he is released and it ends as they find each other in Mexico.
Questions:
1. How does Darabont use open and closed form to show the restrictions of the Shawshank prison?
Throughout the film, certain shots show how the character is feeling within the prison based on it being an open or closed shot. When Dufresne first arrives at the Shawshank one of the men who arrives at the same time has a break down in his cell. There is a close up shot between the bars showing his crazed eyes needing to get out. The bars entrap the man’s face showing no escape. When Andy is trying to escape he has to crawl through many tight spaces, and the closeness of the shot makes the audience feel how small a space it is. But after he gets out they have him stretch out in the open because he is finally free, and he is no longer confined to the prison. In each of the scenes where the estranged members of the prison are beating up Andy, he is always trapped in a small space, and the shots helps show the helplessness Andy feels as he is trying to defend himself. In contrast, there are many shots that reveal tastes of freedom within the prison. When Andy earns the workers some beers for helping a prison guard with some banking advice, the shot on the rooftop is very open. It scans the whole background and the convicts are spread out across to show a very open feel. In the last scene, Andy is shown fixing up his boat on a shoreline. In the background it seems like the shoreline runs on forever, showing how Andy and Red are finally free and have no more restrictions.
2. How is the time passed shown without using dialogue?
The film takes a place over a large course of time, starting from the time of a man’s imprisonment to 20 or 30 years into a life sentence. It is very difficult to keep the audience aware of how much time is passing without constantly needing to remind them through dialogue. The directory does this by the use of different props and background objects. In the beginning of the film Andy meets an old man with a baby crow as a pet. Later after he has been there for a while it shows the crow all grown up. Andy also has a hobby of making stone objects. In the beginning it shows how long it takes to craft one object, and as the movie progresses he makes more and more, eventually creating a whole chessboard as well as many other trinkets. His success in creating a library by writing a letter to the government every week eventually shows the time passed because the government gives in out of pure annoyance that they receive a letter every week. He also slowly builds up the library until it becomes a solid size. It is necessary to use these clues in film because a director must use the pictures on the screen to tell stories just as much as the dialogue. Darabondt does this very well throughout the film.
Taxi Driver
Movie: 1976, color, 113 minutes
ß Director: Martin Scorcese
ß Actors: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and Cybill Shepherd
Summary:
In Taxi Driver, A socially challenged and mentally unstable taxi driver from a run down, dirty, criminal city wants revenge on the criminals who ruin the city. He see-saws back and forth from insanity during the film until he loses it at the end and kills some gangsters in order to save a teenage prostitute. Throughout the film, it is questionable as to whether he knows how to function in a society as he takes a date to a pornographic film on a first date and rarely responds when people try to talk to him. Travis Bickle, the main character, is a very interesting character and in the end he tries to do what he believes is right by rescuing the teenage prostitute.
Questions:
1. Why does Scorcese use the camera to show the shot in the point of view of Bickle?
Starting from the very beginning scene of the film, Scorcese uses shots directly from the point of view of Travis Bickle. He sets up the point of view shots in the opening scene as there is a close up of his eyes darting back and forth, and then the shot moves to a perspective from his eyes. It shows a warped view of the world out of his cab, introducing very early that he looks at the world a little differently. Also at various points throughout the film the shot shifts back to what Bickle is looking at, moving with his eyes as he moves them. When he is in his cab with the character played by Scorcese, he is asked to look up to a window in a building. The shot moves all over the building up and scanning each window until it finally lands on the window with the woman. This perspecive is exactly how Bickle sees it, showing the audience how Bickle sees it. It reveals that he is kind of slow, and he takes everything in slowly. He is also not all the way there sometimes, shown by how long it takes him to locate the window. In another shot while he is buying the guns and checking them out, it moves to a shot with the gun in his hand while Bickle is looking out the window pointing it at the people down below. Again it scans the whole area very slowly from the perspective of Bickle. This shot reveals the power he feels while holding the gun because it is taken at a high angle, and Travis likes the feeling of having the power over the people below. Shots shown directly from the point of view of a character are useful in showing the audience how a character views things at a certain point.
2. How are colors used to show emotions and characteristics of the shots without revealing them through dialogue?
Scorcese reveals many things in the film using color. He uses tints or signage in shots to reveal the emotions of the shot, or to reveal things about the setting or situation. While in his cab, Bickle is always shown in a green tint because he feels safer inside where he is isolated and alone. But on the outside there is usually a red tint on the characters. This reveals the danger that is part of the city that they live in, as well as the discomfort brought on to Bickle by being out in a crowd with so many people. Emotion is also shown by the way he dresses at certain parts of the movie. When he meets Betsy and gets to go on a date with her, he changes from his dirty dark green army jacket into a colorful red suit. He is trying to fit in with rest of the world and is finally having a normal situation in his life. But when he is ignored by her he comes to her work office dressed in his darker jacket again, showing his feeling of anger and resentment because he must go back to the way he lived before. Color is important in revealing things that cannot be expressed in dialogue or actions. They can give subtle clues to how characters are feeling.
Crash
Movie: 2004, color, 112 minutes
ß Director: Paul Haggis
ß Actors: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock and Thandie Newton
Summary:
Crash follows the lives of many interlinking stories spread throughout Los Angeles. It shows many different races of characters, who’s lives are all greatly affected by racism. But each character also has an emotional side which is shown through family, despite their racism towards the other characters. A racist white cop must take care of his sick father, and a black lawyer is always shown checking in on his drugged up mother. In the end the racist cop rescues a black woman whom he sexually assaulted previously, showing a change in his character. The entire film is a commentary on racism and makes the audience think about how they treat other people.
Questions:
1. How are transitions used in the constant rotation of characters?
It is very important in a film with this many storylines to have an effective way to transition between plot lines so that the audience is not confused. The director uses very quick and precise cuts as opposed to lengthy fades and introduction. Introductions can be necessary when there are only a few changes in storylines, but with this film quick cuts are more impactful. It also would take to much time to transition between shots using long fade-outs and introductions. Because this film eventually intertwines the lives of many of the characters, the quick transitions are also helpful in showing that the storylines are not entirely separate. A bold transition might suggest that the story is moving to an entirely different setting and story, but in this film all of these events happen very close to one another and therefore only need the shorter transtition.
2. How is wardrobe used to show the various ethnicities of the characters?
In this film, race and ethnicity play a very crucial factor in the lives of each of the chararcters. The wardrobe can help show the differences in each of them. The rich lawyer and his wife and both very well dressed and pampered. The wife wears a lot of makeup and it is easy to tell that her life is easy. The two carjackers wear dark bulky clothing representative of their ethnicity. But the other black couple wear very classy clothing, showing that they too are well off. But the white cop still disrespects them in spite of their clothes. The cop is just a pure racist and solely judges people based on their race. The Mexican locksmith wears very plain clothing and always has his tool with him. The subject of stereotypes is also very prevalent in the film. It also reveals that although people may dress stereotypically, such as the locksmith, the Persian shop owner, and the carjackers, they do not always act stereotypically. As the film moves on the wardrobe is not as much of a deciding factor as in the beginning.
Bicycle Thief
Movie: 1948, black and white, 93 minutes
ß Director: Vittorio De Sica
ß Actors: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola and Lianella Carell
Summary:
In post World War II Italy, an unemployed man named Antonio Ricci finally finds a job putting up posters for a living in the Bicycle Thief. He is forced to buy a bicycle, and must sell his sheets to do so. On his first day on the job his bicycle is stolen and he searches for the rest of the day with his friends and his son Bruno for the thief. He struggles to keep his composure as he searches aimlessly for the bicycle. The next morning he encounters the thief and catches him, but the thief denies knowing anything about the bicycle. As Bruno gets a policeman the thief has a seizure and the town people blame Ricci. The policeman says he does not have a strong enough case so Ricci leaves dejected. He eventually winds up on a street full of bicycles, and in desperation attempts to steal a bicycle but is caught. Embarrassed in front of his son, the bicycle owner
Questions:
1. How does the editing and types of shots contribute to the realism of the film?
The Bicycle Thief is a classic Italian Neo-realism film, and it is evident through the editing and types of shots used. There is very little editing throughout the film, and there are many long pan shots. As the Antonio chases the bike thief through the city there are many shots that simply follow him, with very little variety in the shots or angles. Also as Antonio and Bruno walk around looking for bikes, there are just long shots of the two. Also throughout the film most of the transitions are quick and to the point, with only few fades or fancy camera work. The simplicity of the shots and angles all contribute to the realist quality of the film. It seems more like the director is just showing the story of the characters, rather than making a movie. De Sica is very consistent throughout the film in using the realist qualities.
2. How does the director use the setting to his advantage in the film?
The post World War II backdrop throughout the film is very important in setting the tone. The entire film was shot on location which captures the depression and tragedy in Italy at this time. It helps exaggerate the struggles that Antonio is going through at this time, and makes the audience feel for him because of the harshness of the time. Shooting on location is also very useful to the director because the whole city is available to the director. Because the film tracks the journey of Bruno and Antonio throughout the entire city in order to find the bike, it is very useful to be able to travel around in order to show the many places the characters had to go in order to search for the bicycle. De Sica also uses many establishing shots and long shots to show the background and its relevance to the scenes. Because this is an Italian Neo-realism piece, the setting is almost as important as the characters themselves.
Works Cited
Psycho (Collector's Edition). Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam. Universal Studios, 1960. DVD.
"The Mother of All Modern Horror Movies - Psycho - Epinions.com." Reviews from Epinions. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
