John Ward Essay
John Ward
ARTH 334
02Feb15
12 Angry Men released in 1957 by Sidney Lumet
The director of “12 Angry Men” used a basic approach to captivate the audience. The camera angles, sound, and editing techniques are all used together to gain an emotional response from the audience. The cast that starred in the film also played a huge part in making this movie so great. The use of facial expression, body gestures, and a strong dialogue the actors were able to make a connection with the viewers.
In the film “12 Angry Men” nearly the entire film takes place inside a small room for the jurors, and it follows with a camera that is limited by the containing boundaries. By establishing a close intimacy between the characters this allows the audience to view the body gesture of all 12 jurors. The camera angles that I noticed in the film were above eye level, eye level, and below eye level. The above eye level camera angle in this film gives the audience a visual perspective of the 12 jurors; this allows the audience to study the body language of each of the characters.
As the film progressed and the characters begin to show their emotions I noticed that the camera angle began to switch from above eye level to eye level. Changing the camera angle to eye level allows the audience to focus more on individual characters and their facial expressions throughout the film. The eye level technique felt like the director wanted the audience to connect to each of the characters. In the late scenes of the movie the camera angle switched from eye level to below eye level. I felt the below eye level camera angle allowed the director to catch the true emotion that the characters were projecting towards the audience, once that was accomplished the director can trigger an emotional reaction for its viewers.
The editing in this film has a smooth cohesive feel to it. Sidney Lumet used the cross -cutting technique, by using this technique I felt mesmerized to the screen watching the jurors battle it
ARTH 334
02Feb15
12 Angry Men released in 1957 by Sidney Lumet
The director of “12 Angry Men” used a basic approach to captivate the audience. The camera angles, sound, and editing techniques are all used together to gain an emotional response from the audience. The cast that starred in the film also played a huge part in making this movie so great. The use of facial expression, body gestures, and a strong dialogue the actors were able to make a connection with the viewers.
In the film “12 Angry Men” nearly the entire film takes place inside a small room for the jurors, and it follows with a camera that is limited by the containing boundaries. By establishing a close intimacy between the characters this allows the audience to view the body gesture of all 12 jurors. The camera angles that I noticed in the film were above eye level, eye level, and below eye level. The above eye level camera angle in this film gives the audience a visual perspective of the 12 jurors; this allows the audience to study the body language of each of the characters.
As the film progressed and the characters begin to show their emotions I noticed that the camera angle began to switch from above eye level to eye level. Changing the camera angle to eye level allows the audience to focus more on individual characters and their facial expressions throughout the film. The eye level technique felt like the director wanted the audience to connect to each of the characters. In the late scenes of the movie the camera angle switched from eye level to below eye level. I felt the below eye level camera angle allowed the director to catch the true emotion that the characters were projecting towards the audience, once that was accomplished the director can trigger an emotional reaction for its viewers.
The editing in this film has a smooth cohesive feel to it. Sidney Lumet used the cross -cutting technique, by using this technique I felt mesmerized to the screen watching the jurors battle it