Analysis of Carlito
A key sequence in Carlito's Way, which was directed by Brian De Palma, is when Carlito seeks to find the one woman that he loved before he was incarcerated. He decides to seek her out after he realizes that everyone has changed in the five years that he was incarcerated, and he wants some truth and honesty around him as he tries to change his life. The sequence ends as Carlito and Gail (his lost love) embraced each other in their arms. The aspects of the sequence that made it special were the mise-en-scene, camera angles/shots, and the lighting that was used to erect this passionate sequence. This sequence contains emotions and feelings that De Palma gets across by efficiently using a variation of shots and angles. The mise-en-scene in this sequence is crucial because it shows the relationship the characters have with each other. The placing of the characters is very critical along with the amount of space that they put between each other In Carlito's Way the mise-en scene is very constructed as the scene starts as Carlito is watching Gail from a public distance as he follows her from her house to the dance studio, then he goes on the roof of the building across the street so he can watch her dance
De Palma uses the back to the camera shot to make us speculate what Carlito is thinking internally. The sequence starts with an eye level angle of Carlito waiting for Gail to leave her building and as he follows her it fades into a long shot. The lighting is lighter in the cafe when Carlito and Gail are having coffee. The scene where he is waiting for her to come out of her apartment building and following her to the dance studio the scenes are very dark, so dark you almost lose characters. The cafe scene is shot at the eye level angle with continuous close-ups of the person speaking which is kind of similar to the over the shoulder shot but not quite the same. The shots in the film are close-up, full shots, over the shoulder shots, and long shots. This angle was used because De Palma wanted everyone to see its' importance because it would allow Carlito to further watch Gail. The placing of the characters is very critical along with the amount of space they put between each other because space between characters can convey passion and feelings. As soon as Gail enters the dance studio a low angle is taken of a building across the street that Carlito uses the roof to watch Gail dance through the window. The sequence is lit in low key it has lots of subtle shadows and pools of light. The background helps this scene because they are sitting in front of the glass window and its backlit with streetlights, car headlights, and nicely lit lights in the cafe. This shot gives the audience a general overview and conveys to the audience that he doesn't want to cause Gail any harm. The dark scenes help De Palma depict the sequence as mysterious and anticipate the unknown events to come.
Common topics in this essay:
De Palma,
Carlito Gail,
Palma Carlito,
de palma,
Sequence Analysis,
dance studio,
carlito gail,
eye level,
sequence sequence,
de palma efficiently,
feelings de palma,
using variation shots,
palma efficiently using,
using variation,
feelings de,
efficiently using variation,
efficiently using,
emotions feelings,
palma efficiently,
|
Acceptance Essays
