Super 8 is a fantastic science fiction film about a military cover up of an extraterrestrial being in Lillian, Ohio and a few brave, curious kids who find themselves in the middle of unraveling the secret. The movie begins with a tight frame on a sign hanging inside of a factory. As the form becomes more and more closed, the viewer is able to read it: it states the number of days since the factory’s last accident. A man then pops up on the right hand side of the frame and changes the number: 784 to 1. This would be an example of a very densely detailed scene. It is obvious in this that some sort of tragedy has happened.
The picture I have chosen is the missing piece of the puzzle to the opening shot. In this scene, we learn Alice’s father, Louis, was too drunk to go to work one day so Joe’s mother went in his place. During that shift she was killed by a steel beam. This information is previously unknown to Joe or the viewer. All he and the viewer know is that the Deputy hates Louis for some reason and does not want Joe to be hanging out with his daughter. In this scene, Alice tells Joe what really happened the day his mother died. Joe and Alice had slowly been forming a bond throughout the movie, but this revelation would naturally tear them apart. The space between their characters mirrors this distance that comes between them; is not at all intimate or personal. There is a very large gap between them and their placing is in a very open form. This space stands for this great tragedy that has separated yet intertwined their families forever. The ample amount of space in this shot is designed to give the viewer a sense of separation: Joe's mortal separation from his mother and his emotional from his father, the Deputy's separation from Louis, Alice's separation from her alcoholic father, and now Joe and Alice's separation after Alice's revelation to Joe.
Wonderful set up to your post! I love how you lead into the picture by referring to the beginning of the movie.
ReplyDeleteI love how you bring up that first scene because it almost passed me by the first time I saw it. A shot beginning wide and closing serves as a great way to set a scene. We first take in the setting and then the detail--the tragedy.
I like how you talk about the open form between Alice and Joe because there is space in-between them (the objects between them also form somewhat of a barrier, furthering this idea), but there's also a lot of space around them. The world is big and scary for two kids, and they've both gone through a lot. While this news pushes them apart, they're still united in that they are surrounded by the same situation.
Kaitlin, After reading most of the posts e thought that it would be approprite fo me to respond to yours, even though somone else already had. Long story short, my wifes grandfather passed away this week. He was married to his second wife after he was widowed 20 years ago. It has been an intresting 20 years intermingling the families together. Much like the characters in this scene the families have been thorug a lot. Naturally with deaths people tend to either become very close or drastically fall out. in our situation, with STEP relatives our families have now found ourslves with space between us, and as you said, "This space stands for this great tragedy that has separated yet intertwined their families forever".
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this as this scene in the movie was powerful for me. I was holding back tears while hearing what happened to Joe’s mother. I don’t exactly agree that there is now a separation between the children. While this was tough for Joe to learn, and it no doubt brought him pain, I think this moment in addition to the other events in the film actually bring them closer together. To me, it does appear that there is personal space between them, signifying that they are close, or at least becoming close. I do agree that there is symbolic meaning in the scene about the separation between Joe and his father, and Alice and her father, which also begins to be resolved by the end of the film.
ReplyDelete