L.A Confidential: First Scene Shots
The scene described runs from 02:56 to 04:54 and entails two policemen on patrol who see a woman being assaulted by her partner. The first shot of the scene runs from 2:56 -2:57, and is a C.U of Officer Bud White who is watching the house where there is fighting. As he talks to his partner about the couple, the camera angle changes to a p.o.v shot of the house which fighting partners, showing clearly what is going on in the house. The change in camera angles at 02: 57 purposes to give the viewer the idea of what the police man is looking at. The shot can be described as a medium shot, which gives a lot of clarity to the objects of concern. Between 03:08 and 03:13 the camera gets back to a M.S of the police officers before giving a c.u of the same officers at 03:25. In the initial stages of the scene, the camera shots show majorly the connections between the happenings in the house and the thoughts of observers. The reactions of the observers depict annoyance with the events that are on-going in the house.
At 03:25, the camera angle changes as the viewers are shown how Officer Bud White moves from the car towards the house. There is a combination of a tracking shot and a p.o.v shot. From 03:38 to 03:41, Officer Bud White is shown moving from the car with a tracking shot which gives a perfect perception of a unified character and his environment. As he moves towards the house, his eyes settle on the Christmas decorations on the roof, an action which is best portrayed through a worm’s eye view which can also be described as a p.o.v shot depending on the viewers perspective. This runs for about 4 seconds. At 03:43 to 04:04, a series of m.s depict the interaction between the police officer and the violent man. At 04:08, the camera shifts to depict an m.s of the police fighting and hand cuffing the man of the house. The camera shifts in a series of panning shots, through which the viewer sees the reactions of the woman and also the actions that go on between the police and the man. This goes on to 04:15.
Between 04:15 and 04:49, an m.s of police talking to the woman just outside the door and giving her something to get herself fixed is shown. This particular shot purposes to show the level of connection between the savior and the victim of violence. From 04:49 to 04:54, a l.s of the police is shown as he walks away from the scene towards his car just as the scene also closes.
The changes in the camera angles throughout the scene have different effects on the film viewer. For instance, camera angles can affect the perception of the viewer regarding how the movie was shot specifically the location of the camera; the quality of the picture is also affected by the camera angle. In addition to these factors, changes in camera angle can also help the viewers to develop opinions on the relationships between characters in a film as well as the distance and timings between various acts in the movie. Consequently, it can be deduced that the combination of various camera shots in L.A confidential first scene were effective in depicting intended images in terms of timing, spatial distribution and interactions among characters.