Prisoners (00:00 – 00:15)

Prisoners is undoubtedly one of my most respected films, particularly due to the excellently written screenplay, performances and Roger Deakins amazing cinematography.

This shot takes place after Keller Dover (Jackman) has been caught coming home after being in the act of torturing a man he suspects of kidnapping his daughter by Loki (Gyllenhaal), the detective in charge of the case.

Camera

The camera tracks Jackman’s movements from inside the vehicle, showing Gyllenhaal’s perspective. The camera moves in a crescent motion, allowing Jackman to appear distorted to the viewer, assisted by the rain pouring down the window.

The shot is handheld, employing a tiny amount of wobble factor that intensifies the scene. Notice how director also pulls the camera back from the dash of the car a little as he tracks Jackman, where the camera is almost mimicking the fear that the audience feel towards Jackman at this time.

Director Dennis Villeneuve employs a long focal length, appearing the car interior in the foreground to be out of focus, whereas when we see Jackman as the window rolls down he is in focus to the viewer.

In the decision to employ a mid over the shoulder shot from the side of Gyllenhaal’s, Villeneuve allows the audience to feel like an intruder, and maintains a tone of coldness and emotional absence as we feel split from the two characters on the screen. The camera allows the audience to have the perspective of sitting in the passengers seat, watching the awkward confrontation like a fly on the wall.

The shot is quite under exposed, allowing the entire frame to appear dark and gritty, and Jackman’s character to appear even darker to suit with his characters dark intentions at the time.

 

Lighting

I am thoroughly inexperienced with lighting, and I’m sure 90% of my analysis will be wrong here but I’ll give it my best shot.

The glint on the right of the steering wheel would suggest the key light is coming from the back right of the frame, where Jackman’s hood would match this. Where I believe Villeneuve has used the front windshield of the car as a narrative source for the light.

A soft white light is being used, appearing shadows to be dissolving in and out, yet a cool tone is being projected across the frame.

A fill light then would be directed from the back right of the frame, Which is evident from the light contrast on the back of Gyllenhaal’s beanie.

A backlight then allows Jackman’s outer body to be quite bright in contrast to his face. This allows the hooded shadows across his face to cause his character to appear dark, both in his intentions, and the audiences understanding of his character’s moral compass.

I think Deakin’s use of pure shade in his choice of colours (or lack thereof in this case) creates a beautifully dark mise-en-scene. Whilst some may complain about the blue tint in the top right of the frame from the cars windshield, I would actually argue it works brilliantly as a deliberate juxtaposition to the darkness and coldness that engulfs the rest of the frame.

 

Direction

Jackman’s character at this point in the story is pretending to be driving to the liquor store, in order to hide where he is really going. Therefore it’s clear that Jackman has been directed to drink in a way that would suggest he is forcing it, and I think this is really pulled off in the shot. Jackman drinks the bottle down like a 12 year old trying to mimic someone drinking in the school playground, beautifully demonstrating his characters falsity.

 

Sound

The use of bass strings as an establishing sound for the scene immediately sets up a dark and dire tone for what we are seeing. We are almost aware that we are about to see an immoral action before it’s even happened. The sound of the windshield wipers appears to be wildsound, and it’s lack of tempo and rhythm when played next to the strings creates a definite distortion, creating a thoroughly uncomfortable soundscape for the audience. The sound of the rain is also distorted somewhat, making it sound muddled and heavy, all in all assisting in the shots distorted and uncomfortable soundscape.

 

What I can take into my own activities:

I absolutely love the use of the camera angle looking from inside the car here. It allows quite a voyeuristic perspective that I would love to include in my experiments. The lack of music for the majority of the shot is also quite interesting and something I’d love to try, it allows the awkward silences between Gyllenhaal and Jackman to be much more prominent.