Character Introductions 005: Barry Egan
Or, When Lack of Big Introduction Speaks for Itself
Most of our Character Introductions are striking shots: sweeping camera movements; low angles looking up in awe; long tracking shots; striking lighting changes; other characters responding in awe or lust or fear or all of the above.
Punch Drunk Love takes the opposite approach; the audience meets Barry Egan small in frame, alone, still, talking on the phone.
Because there’s no Grand Meeting Scene, we’ll look at the first few scenes as Barry’s introduction, as he slowly interacts with people and the world in a series of mostly locked-off shots which do one of three things: minimise him, hide him, or crowd him.
Meet Barry
Our very first impression is Barry minimised in size, matching the wall paint.
When Barry walks outside, he is framed first in a super wide, then (my personal favourite choice) from a side angle aligning him with a telephone pole so we have to squint to tell he’s really there.
After meeting Lena, Barry ducks into his building, then peeks out; obscured in shadows and hidden by a wall.
When at work he is crowded by coworkers, clients, and paraphernalia, and when alone in his office, Barry is often wholly or partially obscured; even the closeup partially obscures his face and centres the harmonium.
Starting As He Means To Go On
The ‘minimise / hide / crowd’ shots are continued through the film, including Barry being literally put in a corner by his sister, framed in a wide that cuts him off at the waist, blocked so the camera can’t see his face, and standing so his face is in full or partial shadow.
The audience has been set up to expect these shots through Barry’s introduction, which in choosing NOT to be grand or moving or epic, but instead obscuring or hiding or minimising him in the frame, tells us a lot about how Barry feels about himself.