Week 99: Socials Roundup

Posts from 25 November - 01 December 2024

Week 99 posts include shots from World on a Wire (1973); Time Without Pity (1957); Woman of the Hour (2024); Ladies in Retirement (1941); and Wait Until Dark (1967) and Robin Hood (1973).

Woman of the Hour

The lighting from this scene puts us in Sheryl's (Anna Kendrick) shoes as Rodney (Daniel Zovatto) subtly threatens her in a dark parking lot.

We clearly see Sheryl's face in every shot, while Rodney's is in shadow, intentionally obscured so we — just like Sheryl — struggle to discern *exactly* how dangerous he is, or what he may do next.

Plus, look how Sheryl doesn’t cast a shadow . . . but Rodney’s shadow long, making him loom even larger across the ground and on our screen.

Ladies in Retirement

When Ellen (Ida Lupino, centre) talks to her sisters about their impending homelessness because of the sisters' destructive behaviour, the sisters are framed and lit like gargoyles on either side of her — quite fitting as Ladies in Retirement is a gothic noir!

World on a Wire

Love this unconventional shot-reverse-shot from futuristic tech-noir World on a Wire.

When Siskins calls his secretary Gloria, they are each lit in warm natural tones, while the Video Columns serving as the 'reverse shots' are silver and in blue.

Though the 'real' person is foregrounded, their faces are mostly obscured, and the literal focus is on the technology.

Time Without Pity

Our longread last week looked at many scenes where Time Without Pity used architecture, mirrors, car windows, and other frames to separate and/or trap its characters.

Here's one scene which demonstrates many of those same things within a few dynamic shots, where shadows and camera and characters are all moving.

Not only the window, but the door far behind him, frames the condemned prisoner.

Wait Until Dark / Robin Hood

Now who does Alan Arkin in his grand entrance from Wait Until Dark remind us of . . .

Ooooooooh there it is!