The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
Shot Lengths:
I felt like the film over all was a little slow but I think that mostly had to do with the fact that the movie had long takes. A lot of the scenes were long and had little dialogue among the characters but the camera stayed on them while they looked at each other to see who would break first, it was a starring contest and no one trusted each other and they were all sleeping with one eye open, trying to stay ahead of the game; the long takes during scenes like this added to the suspense, gave the viewer the feeling of anxiety that the characters where feeling like when Jesse stopped to visit Ed Miller or just before Robert shot Jesse.
Images:
One scene in particular that stands out the most to me that displayed a lot of information without using dialogue from the characters or showing any emotion from the characters was when Robert shot Jessie. The camera cut back and forth from the gun to Robert and Robert had a blank expression on his face so we didn't know what was going to happen or who was going to make the first move but when the camera was on Robert then on to the gun then it all became very clear.
Over all look:
The over all Look of the movie just seemed to be dark but light would shine and come out from somewhere. It seemed as if the light they chose to put in the film was all made to look as natural as possible, light coming from the top; the sun light, lots of dark shadows at night and only light coming from the moon outside or a candle near by. This also added to the characters look, putting Jesse or Robert in the dark to make them more mysterious and dangerous. Jesse was given a lot of back light as well to make him stand out, make him look desirable because that is what Robert saw in him; Robert idolized him, wanted to be him. the set up of most of the shots resembled photos of that time period; from the furniture and light and even the positioning of the actors.
Shot Types:
There was a lot of extreme long shots in the film and I think they were intended to add suspense and make the viewer feel what the character feeling, anxiety, anger, distress and suspicion. Also most of the time when the camera went to Jesse, it was almost always at eye level even tho the person he was talking to was not and I think that was to give him a sense of superiority, respect and admiration to the character.
Camera Angles:
The story was about Jessie James and Robert Ford. The story was told by a third person but through what Robert herd and felt. Jesse was always under back light and the camera was at eye level because that was How Robert saw him, showed us how much and why Robert admired Jesse so much. When Robert wasn't around Jesse we see Jesse with key lighting and he casts a big shadow. He is now in the darkness because Robert no longer has Jesse on this pedestal, he is no longer the hero he once idolized and he is jealous of Jesse. All of these shot are from Roberts point of view. Robert is shot in several different angles because he is unstable and confused about how he feels about Jesse, when his feelings of admiration turn to jealousy.
Composition:
The composition of the film was all mostly complying with the rule of thirds put there were some scenes where it seemed to look more like a portrait, light how a picture or a painting would have looked like during that time but yet it was still balanced and harmonized.
Camera Movement:
There was not a lot of camera movement and when there was it seemed to move to fallow a character during a conversation, monologue or simply move back to get a wide shot or closer to see the emotion and expression on an actors face. I think the camera would stride with an actor to make the viewer focus and know that this is where their attention needs to be. There was no fast action movements and if the camera did move or zoom in, it would do so slowly, almost like to make you feel curious and make you wait for the answers to reveal themselves before your very eyes.
Cinematography Style:
I think when ever the cinematography calls attention to itself in this film it was most likely intentional and was made to wake up the viewer and signal the end of something or that something big that everyone was waiting for is finally going to take place. An example of when I started to pay attention to the cinematography was the very end when they showed the viewers how Jesse James was being displayed after his death and how life was for Robert Ford after he publicized the fact that he himself took the life of the notorious Jesse James.
