Pre production

1. EmilyMorris – Pre production
Film Analysis – The Graduate(1967)Directed by MikeNicholls
The camera constantlyfollowsthe charactersuggestinghe’sthe maincharacterthroughout.He’s
shownto be constantlylookingintodistancewhichsuggeststhathe couldbe consideringthe future
and whatto do next.He’snevershowntobe lookingstraightintocamerawhichisindicative of the
fact that he possiblydoesn’tknowwhat’scomingnext.He stepsontoaconveyerbeltwhichis
pushinghimtowardsmetaphorical futurewithnofalteringwhichsuggeststhathe isbeinghurtled
intohisfuture nomatter what.People rushpastas if theyknow whattheywantand where they’re
goingbut he doesn’t.The blandbackground makesthe entire sceneseembleakandalmostasif
there’snohope.
The onlytime that he isn’tinframe is whenwe see hissuitcase.Thisisgreyandplainjustlike him.
There’sa flashof redon it whichcouldrepresentanelementof fearandsuggeststhathe’sscaredof
what’sto come next.Thisisshortlyfollowedbythe sign‘dotheymatch?’ whichcouldbe seenasa
relationshipsymbol,foreshadowingthe ideaof alove interestlaterinthe film.
Facial expressionremainssolemn –he’snothappyaboutbeinghome.Also,the factthathe’s
wearinga suitto go home suggestshe isnotcomfortable there.Outside the airport,everyone is
pairedwithpeople apartfromhimwhichemphasisesthe factthathe’salone andpossiblyfeeling
quite isolated.
Gets home andface still solemn,suggestingthathe’s unhappytobe there.Fish tankisindicative of
containment,asif he feelstrappedbyhispredicament.
Althoughthisfilmdoesn’tfall underthe genre of psychological thriller,Ireallylike how the actorhas
beenpositionedwithinthe shotsandthe use of symbolism(muchlike withthe fishtankwhichis
usedto representconfinement) toshowa sense of isolation.These are techniquesthatIwouldlike
to incorporate intomyfilm.