Strangers On A Train Essay

Much of the storytelling in film is not explicitly stated but rather thoughtfully implied through visual methods. As it states in the textbook Film Art, filmmakers can use various components of mise-en-scene – such as costume, lighting, makeup, and performance– and cinematography – such as filters, framing, shot duration, depth of field, camera position, and focal length of lens – to convey meaning beyond the dialogue (Bordwell). In the opening sequence of Strangers on a Train, director Alfred Hitchcock masterfully manipulates the visual methods of costume, framing, and performance to reveal Bruno’s character and to foreshadow the plot. Costume is used in the opening scene to reveal the peculiarity of Bruno’s character, who is later revealed
During the shot – reverse shots of their dialogue, the framing of the actors reveals how Bruno has the upper hand and is able to force Guy into unwanted situations, a central factor to the conflict of this film. When Guy and Bruno first meet on the train, Bruno recognizes Guy for being a famous tennis player. He then promptly makes his way across to Guy’s side of the train and introduces himself. However, rather than them shaking hands with each other, it was more like Bruno grabbed Guy’s hand in both of his and shook it, clearly showing that Guy was not ready for this meeting nor did he want it. Once Bruno secures a seat beside Guy, their dialogue is shown through a series of shot – reverse shots, each which have a deliberate way of framing. The shots that show Guy have Bruno at the rightmost side of the frame, essentially becoming the right border, and the shots that show Bruno have Guy essentially as the left border. However, the key difference is that in the shots with Guy as the border, he is leaned back as if he wants to get out of the frame and thus out of this conversation. But in the shots with Bruno as the border, he is slightly bending forward as if he is closing in on Guy, trapping him. This clearly portrays Bruno as having dominance, and Guy as someone who is easy to force into situations, such as a murder