For my shot-by-shot analysis I have chosen to examine a scene from the film “Crash.” This film, released in 2005 and directed by Paul Haggis ran with the tagline “Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other” and the scene I have chosen for my analysis greatly embodies this idea. The scene to be analyzed comes from the middle part of the film. In it, an older man Farhad has come to the house of locksmith Daniel Ruiz to shoot him because he suspects him of being responsible for his shop being broken into earlier in the movie. Inside the house during this are Daniel’s wife and his daughter Lara. Lara’s actions in the scene are motivated by a story Daniel tells her earlier in the film about an impenetrable invisible cloak that can protect her from the bullets she fears from her old neighborhood thus making her invulnerable. Because of this, when she sees Farhad about to shoot her father she runs out of the house to block the bullet to her mother and father’s dismay; however, she is unharmed because the bullets put in Farhad’s gun by his daughter Dorri are actually blanks. The runtime of the shots I will be analyzing is approximatelynineteen seconds and covers shots 21 through 33 of the entire scene.
Shot #1:
This is a medium shot of Lara from the perspective of her mother but at the height of the little girl. There is harsh lighting and as a result she is sharply outlined by the glowing daylight coming from outside. This effect is produced by strong artificial lighting coming from outside and above. It should also be noted that the action outside the door is not able to be seen because of the extreme lighting.
Shot #2:
This is a closer shot of the mother coming from out of the kitchen and around the corner. This is filmed with the use of a Handicam as the camera smoothly and freely backs around the corner and out from the mother. This shot is part of a short shot-reverse-shot sequence between the daughter and the mother as the daughter and mother talk to each other.
Shot #3:
This is a reverse back to Lara from the same camera position from shot number one. This shot abides by the general rule of following moving shots with other moving shots. The pace of the camera backing away from the mother is perfectly matched with the camera moving in on Lara. The camera appears to be following her outside of the doorway as she runs to protect her father but it stops at the doorframe as Lara is whitewashed by the extreme bright light. The movement of the camera and then its stopping at the doorframe corresponds to the shot being from the mother’s perspective and her inability to catch her daughter and stop her from running out. It should also be noted that at this time the musical score begins to use faster and louder tones parallel to the rising action.
Shot #4:
Medium shot of the mother as she starts to run after the daughter. Again this shot abides by the general rule of matching still shots with still shots because the previous shot of Lara ended with the camera stopping at the doorway and this one starts with a stationary camera watching the mother run after her.
Shot #5:
This shot comes from behind the mother at floor level as she runs after her daughter. It only shows the mother from the torso down. Only her legs running and her hand dropping the towel can be seen.
Shot #6:
This shot comes from an angle below Lara and is taken using a handheld camera to emphasize her running. The angle of the camera being below her is most likely used to set up her action in the next shot she is in. This shot also signals the abandonment of filming at 24 frames per second and shifting to a faster rate to create the slow motion effect.
Shot #7:
This shot was transitioned to by a cut on action or match cut; as the door is shown closing on shot number six the continuation of its closing is seen at the beginning of shot number seven. This allows for continuity of action. Serving as the establishing shot for the rest of the major action, this shot can be considered the scene’s master shot. It shows Farhad pointing the gun at Daniel from the left and Lara running to her father on the right. This shot is taken from the perspective of the mother inside the house because the closing door and its shading effect can be seen from behind the doorframe.
Shot #8:
This shot shows Lara jumping from the ground toward her father. The camera angle is below her just as it was in shot number six, illustrating the continuity of camera angles between the shots and their relation to the action in the scene.
Shot #9:
This shot shows Lara landing on Daniel from behind Farhad, as his arm and torso “dirty” (block part) the shot from the left side. This shot shows no evidence of the extreme harsh lighting seen in the previous clips.
Shot #10:
This is a clean single shot of Farhad shooting at Daniel and his daughter. This shot abides by the 180 degree rule by staying slightly on Farhad’s right side (from his perspective) to show him discharging his gun. This shot also continues a shot reverse shot pattern seen between Farhad and Daniel spanning before the start of this sequence.
Shot #11:
This is an over the shoulder shot from behind Daniel showing Lara laying on him just as Farhad shoots. Farhad can also be seen on the left hand side of the frame. This shot again abides by the 180 degree rule by showing Daniel from his left side and continues the shot reverse shot between the two male characters.
Shot #12:
This is a clean single of Lara’s mother finally making it outside of the doorway and reacting to Farhad shooting at Daniel and Lara. This is a medium shot and is stationary. From evidence found in later shots this one is probably taken on a dolly jib arm.
Shot #13:
This shot shows Daniel reacting to the gunshot and screaming with his daughter in his arms. The camera in this shot begins to move in manually on the two but then uses a particular focusing technique to distort perspective as Daniel stays in focus while his surroundings stretch outward and away from him. I believe this was accomplished by using a telephoto lens zoomed on the two characters initially causing a compression of distance between objects in the background. As the camera was moved in manually (by walking or dolly-ing closer) the zoom was lessened at the same rate causing the space around Daniel to decompress and appear to move away from him while keeping him in constant focus.
By breaking this sequence down shot by shot I was able to pick out several cinematographic techniques that were used to create the emotions I felt while watching this scene, each of which relating in some way to movement. The first of three techniques I pinpointed directly involves camera mobility. Seen in shot three the ability and inability of the camera to move into a certain field can create a sense of powerlessness for the audience and in this case it was first paired with the mother’s inability to run after and catch her daughter. This technique worked because it was contrasted with the camera’s seemingly unrestrained ability to move in all of the other shots in the scene. Another instance of camera movement producing an intended feeling would be the manual zoom-in and telephoto zoom-out used in the final shot. As the camera is moved forward and the lens is zoomed out in shot number thirteen the audience sees a clear disconnection between Daniel and his surroundings which gives a feeling of helplessness and separation, as if fate had it that Lara was going to get shot and no one (especially the audience) could stop it.
The second technique was the extreme bright lighting used for Lara at the doorway also seen in shot number three. Our inability to see outside of the door and witness what Lara witnesses from her perspective seemed to signify our inability as adults to view and understand the childlike fantasy that motivates her decision to run outside to save her father. This might further explain why the camera cannot follow her outside of the doorway as she is enveloped in a flood of white light and we can only “cut” to her later.
The final cinematographic technique I was able to use to explain the emotion that the scene was able to incite was the use of slow motion filming with an increased pace in music used from shots three through thirteen. The contradiction between these two aspects of film was what I believe contributed most to the intense feelings created by this scene. Because an increase in the tempo of the music generally follows a corresponding pace shift in filming, the audience is forced to feel anxiety when the musical shift is matched with a reduction in visual speed; we desperately want to know what’s going to happen and the director is holding us back. These three techniques paired with intricate camera angles, fast paced cuts, a general adherence to Hollywood filming codes (such as the 180˚ rule, and moving and still shot transitions), and slight deviations from them (telephoto focus pull, and music mismatched with film pace) are what director Paul Haggis masterfully uses to create the strong emotions in Crash’s famous shooting scene and support the tagline that “Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other.”
Below is the clip from Crash. It runs from 2:09 to 2:28
