In the movie Rope (1948) directed by Alfred Hitchcock, certain filming techniques are used to produce, and develop, the meaning of the story. The film stars Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger) who after killing their high school friend, Dave, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family for a dinner party in order to challenge the “perfect crime”. However the concealment of the crime begins to crumble as Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) slowly begins to pick-up on the clues of the murder. The film ends when Rupert eventually catches Brandon and Phillip, showing that the murderous scheme was indeed flawed. In the movie Rope, elements such as shot variety and traditional cuts help create meaning to a specific …show more content…
This type of shot looks down on a specific subject, usually portraying dominance (class notes, 9/8). While Rupert is giving his hypothetical step-by-step method on how he would have killed Dave, the high angle shot looks down on the chair. Rupert explains that Dave would be sitting in that chair, and then he would creep up on him as soon as he wasn’t looking, and then knock him out. The high angle shot is applied here to show dominance of the killer against the victim, right before he is about to strike. In addition, Brandon and Phillip literally say in the movie that Dave was “inferior” to them, hence why the high angle shot is …show more content…
The ‘medium shot’ is a type of camera shot that is somewhat close to the objects. In some instances, medium shots are used to emphasize characters and their actions (class notes 9/10). This scene opens with a medium shot of Brandon and Phillip standing, and Rupert sitting down. In comparison, the end of the scene closes with the very same medium shot; only now Rupert is standing up in level with the two murderers. This filming technique is another way of showing the audience Rupert’s moment of realization, without actuality telling the audience he knows they killed