Liberty City Mise En Scene
Leah Lipsey
Identities in Film
Shot Analysis 1
Friday, June 15th, 2018 The Reality of Liberty City
The opening shot in Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight establishes the plot as well as introduces crucial themes which play a major role throughout the film. The film essentially begins with one lengthy medium shot which allows the viewer to visualize Juan and his surroundings. In the medium shot, the neighborhood of Liberty City is seen, as well as Juan coming to a stop in his car (0:00:40). While Juan pulls up in his car, Boris Gardiner’s “Every N----r is a Star” is played. The n-word is normally used in a derogatory manner however, this song emphasizes how each referred to is actually ‘a star.’ Meaning, every person who is referred to in the song …show more content…
is special. They are important and their life is worth something. The derogatory term is therefore transcended and proven wrong.
On the dashboard of Juan’s car, there is a crown and a pack of cigarettes (0:00:48).
The crown carries a positive connotation suggesting the positive influence Juan has on Chiron throughout the film, whereas the pack of cigarettes suggests an addiction to drugs and symbolizes a darker part of Juan’s life, his drug dealing career. The reason the pack of cigarettes is in the same shot as the crown is to show Juan’s conflicting traits. However, these conflicting traits do not make him two different people rather, they are all components which make Juan who he is. The reason Juan is the way he is, is largely due to his environment and community. The camera establishes the importance of environment and community by firstly showing the rundown neighborhood of Liberty City and a common occurrence, a drug deal. By moving the camera in a circular motion and in doing so including the camera creates a sense of community. A community in which the people who want to get out are trapped by the commonalities of their environment. This becomes much clearer throughout the film, when Chiron is trapped in his community. The community itself is in desperate need of rejuvenation in order to reform its residents. In addition to this, the 360 camera, allows all three characters to be in shot consequently allowing the audience to feel a part of the shot and observe each character’s point of …show more content…
view.
With the help of the camera’s circular motion, the audience comes ‘right in between’ a conversation between the junkie old man and the young drug dealer (0:01:20).
The men are facing each other as though they are looking in a mirror at their reflection (0:01:20 - 0:01:32). Similar to Lacan theory of the mirror stage which states that an infant will come to a stage in its life when it will recognize themselves in the mirror, the young drug dealer looks at the ‘reflection’ in the mirror and is confronted with what could become his future. The medium shot during this conversation allows the viewer to experience the emotions which are taking place throughout the conversation.
As this conversation is taking place, Juan exists his car and the camera slowly and softly follows him (0:00:59). The cameras soft motion suggests that Juan is comfortable and confident in this setting. This is further proven when Juan reaches the drug dealer and junkie (0:01:11). He stands to the right which is signified in movies as the place in which the most dominant figure stands. From the right till the left, the order goes from highest to lowest, implying that the junkie possess the least amount of social status in the
neighborhood.
The drug deal takes place in broad daylight. One would assume an illegal activity would take place in the dark and in a private place however, the light is purposeful and shows the practices of the community. In the film, Liberty City is a poverty stricken African American neighborhood where crime and drugs are a daily part of life. For this reason, these men are not trying to hide what they are doing as it appears to be an acceptable practice.
When the junkie is denied drugs, he leaves and the only characters left in the shot are the drug dealer and Juan (0:01:49). Juan precedes to ask the drug deal how his mom is doing and tells the drug dealer that his mother is in Juan’s prayers (0:02:06). This shot shows that despite stereotypes that have been created, drug dealers have complex lives. They are not only focused on drugs, they have families and friends as well. While stereotypes group them as ‘all the same’, they are ‘all the same’ in that they all have different life stories and are unique.
Work Cited
Jenkins, Barry, director. Moonlight. A24, 2016.
Identities in Film
Shot Analysis 1
Friday, June 15th, 2018 The Reality of Liberty City
The opening shot in Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight establishes the plot as well as introduces crucial themes which play a major role throughout the film. The film essentially begins with one lengthy medium shot which allows the viewer to visualize Juan and his surroundings. In the medium shot, the neighborhood of Liberty City is seen, as well as Juan coming to a stop in his car (0:00:40). While Juan pulls up in his car, Boris Gardiner’s “Every N----r is a Star” is played. The n-word is normally used in a derogatory manner however, this song emphasizes how each referred to is actually ‘a star.’ Meaning, every person who is referred to in the song …show more content…
is special. They are important and their life is worth something. The derogatory term is therefore transcended and proven wrong.
On the dashboard of Juan’s car, there is a crown and a pack of cigarettes (0:00:48).
The crown carries a positive connotation suggesting the positive influence Juan has on Chiron throughout the film, whereas the pack of cigarettes suggests an addiction to drugs and symbolizes a darker part of Juan’s life, his drug dealing career. The reason the pack of cigarettes is in the same shot as the crown is to show Juan’s conflicting traits. However, these conflicting traits do not make him two different people rather, they are all components which make Juan who he is. The reason Juan is the way he is, is largely due to his environment and community. The camera establishes the importance of environment and community by firstly showing the rundown neighborhood of Liberty City and a common occurrence, a drug deal. By moving the camera in a circular motion and in doing so including the camera creates a sense of community. A community in which the people who want to get out are trapped by the commonalities of their environment. This becomes much clearer throughout the film, when Chiron is trapped in his community. The community itself is in desperate need of rejuvenation in order to reform its residents. In addition to this, the 360 camera, allows all three characters to be in shot consequently allowing the audience to feel a part of the shot and observe each character’s point of …show more content…
view.
With the help of the camera’s circular motion, the audience comes ‘right in between’ a conversation between the junkie old man and the young drug dealer (0:01:20).
The men are facing each other as though they are looking in a mirror at their reflection (0:01:20 - 0:01:32). Similar to Lacan theory of the mirror stage which states that an infant will come to a stage in its life when it will recognize themselves in the mirror, the young drug dealer looks at the ‘reflection’ in the mirror and is confronted with what could become his future. The medium shot during this conversation allows the viewer to experience the emotions which are taking place throughout the conversation.
As this conversation is taking place, Juan exists his car and the camera slowly and softly follows him (0:00:59). The cameras soft motion suggests that Juan is comfortable and confident in this setting. This is further proven when Juan reaches the drug dealer and junkie (0:01:11). He stands to the right which is signified in movies as the place in which the most dominant figure stands. From the right till the left, the order goes from highest to lowest, implying that the junkie possess the least amount of social status in the
neighborhood.
The drug deal takes place in broad daylight. One would assume an illegal activity would take place in the dark and in a private place however, the light is purposeful and shows the practices of the community. In the film, Liberty City is a poverty stricken African American neighborhood where crime and drugs are a daily part of life. For this reason, these men are not trying to hide what they are doing as it appears to be an acceptable practice.
When the junkie is denied drugs, he leaves and the only characters left in the shot are the drug dealer and Juan (0:01:49). Juan precedes to ask the drug deal how his mom is doing and tells the drug dealer that his mother is in Juan’s prayers (0:02:06). This shot shows that despite stereotypes that have been created, drug dealers have complex lives. They are not only focused on drugs, they have families and friends as well. While stereotypes group them as ‘all the same’, they are ‘all the same’ in that they all have different life stories and are unique.
Work Cited
Jenkins, Barry, director. Moonlight. A24, 2016.