The document analyzes the cinematography in the opening scene of the 1974 film The Parallax View. It discusses how the director uses natural light instead of artificial lighting to make the viewer feel uneasy. Shots are purposefully imperfect to add realism, such as an unbroken take where a character is assassinated from outside a window. Handheld camera shots following the assassination make the audience uncomfortable by breaking conventions. The diegetic sound combined with the cinema verite style heightens the film's sense of realism and political paranoia of the time period.

1. The Parallax View(1974) Dir: AlanJ Pakula
In the openingto70s paranoiathrillerThe Parallax View,there
isa significantuse of natural lightfromthe sunsoas to take
away fromthe expectedfamiliarityof anartificiallylitset.This
createsa feelinginthe viewerasthoughthere issomethingoff
aboutthe waythe filmisbeingpresented,since itdoesnot
adhere tothe normalityof a litset. Alreadyitissettingthe tone
for somethingmore naturalistic,andsomore realisticforthe
viewer,allowingthe directortoconveyalarger sense of fear
and chaos as showninthe restof the scene.
The cinematographyispurposefullyimperfectinseveral shots
so as to add to the realismof the opening,emphasisinga
more fly-on-the-wall styleof filmmaking.Forexample,inthe
momentwhenthe senatorisshot,the camera mightbe
expectedtohave beenfocussingonhimfrominside the
building,aswell ashavingseveral cutstomark the moment in
whichhe is killed.Instead,there isanunbrokenshotwhich
was originallyestablishedtofocusonone of the characters
outside of the window inwhichwe see himshotfromoutside,
not entirelyclearastowhat hashappeneduntil he fallsback
ontothe window.Aswell asthis,immediatelyfollowingthe
assassination,thereare several handheldcamerashotsin
whichthe cameramanappearsto be runninghaphazardly
throughthe restaurant.Thisis usedincontrast tothe
conventional filmingstyleinwhich ascene like thismighthave
beendone soas to make the audience feel uncomfortable, astheirpreconceptionof how itwould
normallybe done isbroken,andthe handheldcameramovementdraws
themintothe chaos. Using abnormal camera techniques,suchas off-
centre camera anglesorunevenediting,inordertomake the audience
feel uncomfortable astheymightif theywere inthe situation
themselvesissomethingthatIwouldlike toputto use inmy opening.
The soundis completelydiegeticinthiscase,andcombinedwiththe
off-kiltercinema-verite style,thismakesforsomethingwitha
heightenedsenseof realism.ThisissomethingthatI thinkisimportant
incommunicatingakeytheme of the film:political paranoia.The
political theme of the filmissomethingthat verymuchlinkedtothe
political temperature atthe time thatthe filmwasmade,andso to
make it realisticcanplant fearinthe mindof the viewer,asisthe
primarygoal withmany psychological thrillerslike it.Again,the soundisalsobeingutilisedtothrow
the audience off anddefytheirexpectations,makingforasense of uncertainty.Althoughdiegetic
musicisgoingto be usedinmy filmopening,Ithinkthatitwouldalsobe a goodideato take away
the sense of comfortor familiarityinthe style of filmmakinginmyopening.
Figure 1: An example of natural light usage
Figure 2: Two moments from the
uninterrupted take in which the senator is
shot
Figure 3: Two examples of unfixed
camera work that emulates spontaneity