How Does Steven Spielberg Use Deception In Catch Me

In Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me if you Can, the main character, Frank Abagnale Jr. runs away at the age of sixteen after his parents split. After several years Frank is finally caught by Carl Hanratty. He is sentenced to life in prison but Carl gives him a chance to make things right. Frank goes to work for the FBI, helping with cheque fraud cases. In this scene we see the process of Frank getting away from Carl once again, using college students and a driver in a pilot suit. Several film techniques are used to show the theme of deception. People deceive others because it can make them feel better about themselves. Frank has deceived many people to get where he is. Techniques such as gestures, cross-cutting, lighting, and music help show deception.

He thinks it’s normal. In this case, we see the combination of the song ‘Come Fly With Me’ and a yellow filter. This gives off positive connotations, as the song is upbeat and the colour yellow is associated with happiness. Frank feels powerful when wearing the uniform, he knows that people will respect and trust him. We see lighting and music come together at the end of the scene to show Frank’s mood, happy, knowing that he has got past Carl once again. When it cuts to Carl on the phone the song stops and the yellow filter goes away as Carl is flustered as he has still not caught Frank. Spielberg has done this to show us that Frank and Carl view this situation very differently. Frank is happy and confident with his plans, hence the filter. However, Carl if not feeling the positivity from Frank. Carl is struggling to keep calm even though Frank is slipping away. This shows that Frank has learnt that deceiving people is the only way to get the things you want in life. It’s as if Frank has ‘rose coloured’ glasses on. He is unaware of what he is doing and the consequences of his actions. He is unaware how he is hurting people, like Brenda and Carl. I think Frank is like this as he only likes to hear what he wants to hear and Frank won’t do anything for other people unless it is beneficial to him. Spielberg wants us to realise that us as a community, at some point, whether that be while under the influence, running from something or going through tough times, we will ‘abuse’ family, friends and other people to get what we want in life and not realising that we are hurting them in the process. We do this to hide our problems. The world as a whole, people want to feel like they are in power, and they do this by putting others down when they feel threatened or