Indiana Jones

Filmic Techniques in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones :The Raiders of the Lost Ark is a Steven Spielberg film released in 1981. It is the tale of an Archeologist hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant. In the paper I will dissect a sequence shot by shot, identifying different filimic techniques used throughout.

The first shot opens with a shot of the golden sun. The characters enter the screen from the off screen space to the left of the camera. The first shot of the characters is a medium long-shot, showing them from their knees up. The camera then zooms into a medium-close up of Indy (Harrison Ford), which lights up his face. Shot two is a long shot of the Golden Idol, the camera zooms in a short distance. Shot three is a medium close-up of Indy. This shot uses three-point lighting.

The fourth shot is a tail-on shot, showing the characters backs and a long shot of the Golden Idol in the background. There is a match on action technique used in the transition between the fourth and fifth shots. As the forth shot ends the characters begin to move this action is completed in the next shot. The fifth shot is a medium close-up of Indy, that pans right to include the other character.

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Shot twenty-six the camera is positioned close to the ground making this a low-angle medium close-up shot.

Shot ten is a match on action with shot eleven. Low-key lighting is used in this shot to highlight the Golden Idol in the background. Shot twenty-eight is a medium close up, and also low-angle. This shot is taken from behind and under the arm of Indy making it a tail on shot. The final shot of my analysis is a medium shot. Shot thirty is another medium close-up. Shot eleven is also an example of eye-line match. Shot eight is a low angle close-up. Shot twenty-two opens as a close up and zooms out as the character stands making it a low angle medium shot. The statue shoots the arrow in shot ten, and the arrow is seen hitting its target in shot eleven. Shot seventeen is a low-angle, tail on, long shot. It is showing the viewers that these statues are all along this wall.

In shot twelve the camera remains is on the ground similar to shot six.

Approximate Word count = 813
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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