Heat Film Analysis

The crime drama ‘Heat’ (Mann) tells the story of a criminal, Neil, and a cop, Vincent. One is content, calm, and has a budding love interest. The other is unhappy, brash, and is at the end of his third marriage. In any other movie, the first description would describe Vincent and the second would describe the Neil. ‘Heat’ flips these roles and makes the criminal act like a cop and the cop act criminal. Michael Mann, the director of ‘Heat’, chooses to portray these characters as opposites to show that the way society thinks about cops and criminals is incorrect. Mann utilizes various film techniques during the bank heist and shootout to show how cops and criminals are more similar than different. Mann utilizes screen direction and blocking

In the beginning of the shoot out one of Vincent’s partners are shot and killed almost immediately. The kill shot is very short and when the camera cuts to his body, it is in a medium shot and a high angle shot and the diegesis continues. In contrast, when one of Neil’s entourage is shot he is not immediately killed. When he is shot the shot takes longer than Vincent’s partner and the camera pans down as he collapses and the diegesis slows down slightly. Even when Neil notices his partner has been shot, the camera cuts back to his partner in a medium close-up and is level with Neil’s partner’s eye level shot. When other cops are shot they usually die with quick cuts from long shots or medium long shots and are covered by the surrounding mise-en-scene. When Neil’s other partner is shot by Vincent the camera holds the shot for much longer than the policemen and is a close-up shot. During the kill shot the camera flips to slow motion, thus prolonging the shot even longer, and the camera tilts to follow his body as he collapses and only pans out to a medium close-up. By using the camera this way, Mann suggests that the deaths and injuries of the cops are forgettable and non-important. In contrast, the deaths and injuries of the criminals are noteworthy and important. The audience, thus

According to Youtuber NerdWriter1’s analysis of Heat “The first thing you notice about Michael Mann's Heat is that it's all long lenses in a wide screen twenty-three by nine format meant to allow for a broad scope so that you can see how Mann crowds his subjects into the frame as if you were always watching them on a stakeout from some hidden vantage on the building. The telephoto lens is really the perfect lens for this film it has the effect of keeping everything at a distance while at the same time separating people from the background while also at the same time turning the background into an almost liquid plane of lights.” (NerdWriter1) By using this camera lens and aspect ratio Mann makes it feel like the audience is constantly spying and viewing the other party. Utilizing the telephoto lens helps to create the feel of parallel shots between Neil and his entourage and Vincent and his partners. These parallel shots help show to the audience that, despite their conventional differences, Neil and Vincent are just doing their jobs and thus are not that different from each other. Mann can create a unison between cops and criminals by using a specific camera lens for the aspect