#3 (Chapters 4 and 5)

Analyzing Camera Movement:

Movie used: Star Wars Episode: The Phantom Menace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQBB4YICwM

Scene: Final fight between Qui Gon Jinn, Obiwan Kenobi, and Darth Maul

The scene begins with a still shot of Qui Gon and Obiwan walking towards the camera, as they dismiss the rest of the rebel troops. Then, a still, close up of Darth Maul is scene as he removes his hood, revealing his face. The camera then moves up and to the right to follow Obiwan as he leaps into the air to strike Darth Maul, who blocks with his saber staff, in the back. Then a slow pan to the right follows the action as Qui Gon attacks Darth Maul from the front, and Obiwan does the same from behind. The next cut is a wide shot showing the fight from a distance; the camera remains still. Then  a long, drawn out pan to the right shows their fighting, and a series of still shots that portray acrobatic assaults and incredibly, superhuman leaps. Then, a super wide angle shot is shown. The camera is still in this shot and various reactor beams are seen in the background. It serves to show exactly what kind of location the Jedi are fighting in, and what kind of imminent danger (the large reactor beams that surround them can easily kill them, also the platform they are fighting on is super narrow, making it easy for them to fall to their deaths). A handheld shot is then shown, in which the two Jedi knights, and Darth Maul are mere silhouettes because of the large reactor beam directly behind them. After a series of pans and stills, which consist of closeups on Obiwan (because he separated from the fight after being kicked off a ledge) and wide shots of Qui Gon Jinn and Darth maul, a stills show The three duelists separated by plasma walls. Occasional pans are used during close up to keep the subjects faces on screen, but then, the plasma walls deactivate and the a long handheld shot that moves back and  away from the actors is used to show Qui Gon and Darth Maul continuing their fight. This goes on until Qui Gon is ultimately defeated. An extreme, handheld closeup of his face is shown. And then a moving shot that breaks the 180 degree rule is employed. This is incredibly jarring and creates great discomfort, but is intentional as it is supposed to make the audience uncomfortable with Qui Gon's death. The final shot is of Darth Maul, falling down a reactor core.