Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures - Camera in the Suspense SequenceAt the beginning of the sequence, the audience already has information that one of the characters does not. We know that while on an outing for the day the two girls, Paul and Juliet, intend to kill Mrs Rieper with a brick in a stocking which we have al-ready seen them prepare. This instantly creates the enigma of whether or not they go through with the murder for those who have not seen the film before, and anticipa-tion of the act for those who have. There is a sweeping shot as the camera is at first travelling along a road as though it is the point of view of a passenger on the bus, before it turns around and the three female characters fill the frame. This gives us the impression that we are also on the bus and gives a bond with the two girls because we are in the same position as they are seeing as no one else knows about what they intend to do. When they leave the bus the camerawork is very different from that used in the other parts of the film. Whereas before the images were mostly very controlled like those we are used to seeing in Hollywood movies, we are now shown filming that looks alm
Her position above her mother in the frame shows that her determination is not wavering and she still has control of the scene. When Mrs Rieper declares that they should turn round and head back, she tells Juliet to button her coat. Low angle shots of their feet as they walk by show the importance of the jour-ney that they are undertaking as we know that when the walking stops, the murder will take place and we get a sense that with each step the mother takes she is com-ing nearer to her impending death. This same shot then brings us up and away from the characters as though we have suddenly been separated from them. There is a close-up of Juliet's face which shows her re-action to be close to panic and this shot then moves down to highlight her hands as she does her coat up fumblingly. This has the effect that the audience is now torn be-tween wanting to save the mother and wanting her to die so that the girls' troubles will supposedly be over. The shot then turns away from her and looks up to her mother walking to the cafe, giving us the impression that we are looking murderously up along with Paul's character. The image is very jerky and uncontrolled, like we are walking with the characters with a video camera filming them ourselves. These are the first we are given from her perspective throughout the en-tire film and so the new bond with the character makes the audience all the more anxious for her. It also gives a very calm feel to the scene which is a huge juxtaposition to what we know or suspect is going to happen. This again reinforces the idea that we are with them and sharing their nervous and tense emotions. A final close-up of the gore of the mother's death confirms and adds to the horror of the scene. The audience instantly realises that the murder is about to take place when a close-up shot of Paul unbuckling then bag containing the brick is used, creating a sudden intense anticipation. This shows that there is still a certain amount of re-spect towards the mother and that killing her will not be as easy as killing someone who has less power over them.
Common topics in this essay:
Paul Juliet,
Suspense Sequence,
paul juliet,
view shot,
towards mother,
shown view,
low angle shots,
emotions paul juliet,
low angle,
shown view shot,
tells juliet,
angle shots,
brick stocking,
creates sense,
warn character,
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