The setting is in ‘Sonny’s Bamboo lounge’. It is a Hawaiian style lounge bar with tables and chairs and a bar with stools. The mood is low-key and the atmosphere is relaxed. It is filled with mainly men and men accompany the women that are there. This is typical for the kind of establishment it is and the people who frequent there who are mainly gangsters and ‘mafia types’. There are also waiters walking around carrying trays of drinks and taking orders. Props present are characteristic of a lounge bar such as an abundant amount of small tables with low-light lampshades. There are bottles and glasses of drink all around. There is superior attention to detail, down to fire extinguishers on the wall and health and safety signs on the doors of the kitchen.
The costume of the characters is representative of the era and community in which they associate with. All the men seen are wearing suits and ties and the majority, white shirts. The suits are in dark shades of colour, are narrow and have a slim fit; some of the shirts have narrow collars that meet at the points concealing the knot of the tie. This was an American-Italian fashion amongst the gangsters of the 60’s. The woman that are present are dressed in 60’s style evening dresses with pleats and floral patterns, another fashion amongst woman in the particular era. The waiters are all dressed in the same Hawaiian style shirt with white coloured trousers and a ‘garland’ decoration around their neck.
The majority of men are sitting down at tables and movement is to a minimum. This is representative of a lounge bar because as a customer, you were encouraged to stay seated and let the waiters serve your table. The few men that are walking and moving are doing so in a cool fashion, which is in parallel to their attitudes and social values and morals, this is represented in the way they dress and talk. This in turn is relative to the narrative form and genre of the film. The waiters are walking around in a normal fashion, basically doing their job, walking to and from the bar with drinks, bottles and empty glasses. The contrast in the movement and body language of the two collectives of individuals present, highlights the performance of the actors and this is evident in the sequence. The movement and body language of the waiters highlights the way that the ‘mafia types’ behave.
Lighting in the sequence is low and visibly dependent on the lighting of the lounge bar, which includes table lights and minimal wall lights. This amount of lighting is an intentional technique because it creates mood and atmosphere relevant to the narrative form. The lighting in the sequence could be closely familiarised to film noir, due to the low-key style. The lighting in the sequence is also limited due to the nature of the camera work and cinematography, which will be discussed next.
The camera shot throughout the entire scene is one long take, also known as plan-s�quence, a French derivative. The camera motion is slow and definite and remains at eye-level at all times, point of view shot. The entire sequence is shot with a shallow focus format, leaving the background out of focus. The motive behind using this technique is to enhance the sense of being in the characters shoes (point of view). The diagram following, illustrates the movement of the camera in a three-dimensional format. You can see from this diagram the difficulties the film crew may have had with incorporating lighting techniques. The diagram also highlights how the camera pans around to achieve the shots of establishing each character.
The screen-direction in the sequence has been evaded by filming a three-dimensional sequence. This is unconventional in the sense of the ‘axis of action’ or ‘fourth wall’, this is an imaginary line which divides the viewer from the action on screen. The entire sequence strives to give the impression that as a viewer, we are walking through the lounge bar meeting the characters for ourselves. It is successful in achieving this objective through the use of technical means, style and form.
Bibliography
An Introduction to Film Studies – Second Edition Jill Nelmes Routledge, 11 New Fetter Lane, London
