Shade

I chose this part of the film SHADE for my first scene because it was a very good combination of two different styles of shots: The first is the medium shot, here we can see the character Verne (Stuart Townsend) holding a shot gun in the middle of a shoot out with mobster muscle, the other type of shot is a reaction shot. Now it is not a dramatically close up shot to truly see the reaction, but a reaction can certainly be seen, because at this point in the film, he has ducked behind the bar and took the gun from the shot bartender, he stands up to take a shot, pumps the shot gun… and click. It’s empty and his face shows that ‘OH NO!’ look.

The next scene I chose was a breathtaking panoramic view of downtown LA at night. This shot facilitates the understanding that the time of the movie has shifted from the mid-afternoon to night. It is at this point that the climax of the movie is about to take place, and the fact that it is taking place at night signifies the idea that there is a bit of suspicious behavior is about to take place.

The last scene I chose was that of the first deal of the cards in a very exclusive poker game. In this scene, The Dean ( Sylvester Stallone) is like the Godfather of the ability to stack a deck of cards, and this is just after a new deck was opened, and he is shuffling the deck. But because of his ability, he knows exactly how to manipulate the deck “and there for control the cards, you know… cheat” – Verne. This scene utilized the shot style of the close up well. showing just the cards and the hands shuffling them.