Five Shots: WOMAN ON THE RUN
Five (six with this example of them using frame-within-frames to ‘hem in’ Eleanor) of our favourite shots from underrated noir Woman on the Run.
Shadows of Insinuation
This shot shows the assassin aiming at Frank’s shadow . . .
In the following scene, a series of shots cast Frank’s shadow over the bullet holes, clearly displaying the headshot the assassin was attempting.
Leading Lines
The cinematography (by Oscar winner Hal Mohr) uses doorways and hallways to both separate people and hem them in (1-4), uses lights arranged as a vanishing point to make people seem small in a big space (5), and uses a stairwell to make one detective look as though he’s far off at the end of a long tunnel (6).
Show Off Your Sets
If one of your characters is an artist, it makes sense he’ll parlay that into something which makes money . . . such as designing mannequins.
If he designs mannequins, you better go to that workshop, the better to pose characters in and amongst those disembodied parts!
POV from Windows
Eleanor runs to various windows in her house looking for escape, then every time she looks out, the film cuts to a POV shot to show what she sees: she’s trapped.
Parting Shot
Lookit that thick haze in the background of this interior closeup, showing starkly through a wired-window, signifying jail, showing off San Francisco’s defining feature of fog and clammy gloom!
SWOON