Jose Saca – Elephant (Fifth Post)

Elephant is a British TV film released in 1989 and directed by Alan Clarke. The film is essentially a series of staged killings filmed in a verité approach. Using minimal dialogue and with little-to-no reliance on plot, the film is an attempt at addressing social problems in Northern Ireland at that time (terrorism and the IRA being an example). The film is shot in 16mm film and utilizes tracking shots to an innovative effect. It influenced Gus Van Sant’s 2003 film of the same name.

Aside from looking at camera distance, lens types, camera movement, lighting (high vs. low key), framing (tight vs. loose) and foreground/background relationships in a shot-by-shot analysis of a selected scene, this post will also look at editing relationships, with transitions, shot/reverse shot, continuity and cutaways as examples of the many questions raised in the editing of a scene.

OPENING SCENE

A street in Northern Ireland. We are clearly in an urban area. The title of the film is superimposed for a few seconds. In the center of the frame, a small figure approaches the camera.

Shot One

A wide shot makes the figure seem small in the opening seconds of the film. The audience can also see a cloudy sky, a billboard for an unknown product, cars, and apartment buildings surrounding the sidewalk the figure walks on. A normal lens with slight deep focus enhances the stark realism Clarke pursuits throughout the film. The figure nears the camera’s POV. The figure is a man in a brown jacket. The camera makes a tilt pan to the right that quickly turns into a tracking shot, slightly moving to the left of the screen. The camera moves but the man keeps walking towards a brick building. Because it’s a stark exterior in an urban area, the lighting is natural-key to convey the film’s realist approach. Framing on the subject is loose. The exteriors surrounding him receive ample presence on-screen. Foreground is slightly exaggerated in opening seconds. The billboard looks unrealistically large, and as the camera makes its tilt pan to the right, the figure appears warped for a second. The background is widened as the figure approaches the brick building. The building towers over the figure as he approaches the entrance. The figure becomes smaller in the foreground until he is virtually nonexistent in the background. A continuity edit is used to transition quickly into the interior of the building. The film wastes no time in transitioning to its next shot.

Shot Two

A full shot, the subject is seen head-to-toe entering the building. The camera waits for a second or two from the building’s interior. The shot is taken with a telephoto lens, enhancing the cramped interior of the building. The camera is still for a second or two before panning to the left. The camera watches the subject enter another door and keeps focus on him for a second or two before cutting to the next shot. Lighting is still natural-key in keeping with the raw minimalism used in the prior shot. The building’s cramped interiors are enhanced by the tight framing used for this shot. In the foreground, the white walls of the building’s interior are warped and appear slightly larger than life. The background is slightly out of focus as the figure enters the shot. If one looks closely, a man looking out the window is somewhat visible in the shot’s background. Another continuity edit is used to transition into the room the man enters at the end of this shot.

Shot Three

Another full shot as the man enters the room. It’s the pool area of the building. From this information, we can gather the building is perhaps a sports club or a place similar to the YMCA. The shot captures most of the room’s dimensions, from the pool in the center to the four walls enclosing it. A normal lens is used in this shot. Lens choice seems secondary before camera movement in this shot. The camera is still for a second or two before it tilt pans to the right as the man encircles the right-hand side of the pool. The camera is still for a few more seconds before tilt panning to the left as the man reaches the pool’s left-hand side. In keeping with prior lighting choices, the lighting of this shot is natural-key. The subject is framed loosely and let free to roam the captured surroundings of this shot. The foreground is heavily distorted and creates a sense of smallness in the man as he walks around the facility’s pool area. The walls and pool are heavily warped. The man is only captured in full focus for a second as he nears the camera, but this changes once the tilt pans come into play. The background is slightly out of focus and the man is captured as a tiny figure. It’s as if he were a victim of the foreground’s distortions. A sharp continuity edit as the man completes his encircling and approaches the entrance of the pool area transitions us to the next shot.

Shot Four

A full shot captures the subject leaving the pool area and returning to where he was in the second shot. The subject is shot with a wide-angle lens. Camera movement is EXTREMELY vital in this shot. The camera is still for the one or two seconds needed for the subject to exit the pool area and walk down a few steps. The camera tilt pans to the right and becomes a tracking shot, shooting the subject with his back to the camera and following him as he walks again towards the entrance area of the facility. The subject takes a right and walks into a cramped corridor for the remainder of the shot. The camera pauses as soon as the subject enters the corridor. The subject is captured walking into the corridor and he becomes smaller and smaller. The subject reaches into his coat as he moves into the corridor. Natural-key lighting, with the assistance of lighting from the florescent bulbs on the corridor’s ceiling, light the subject in a raw yet still bright glow as he keeps walking down the corridor. The camera is still as the subject pauses, turns left, and pulls a shotgun. The foreground is exaggerated throughout. The interiors are distorted and enlarged to create a sense that the subject is alone in what he is about to do. It creates desolation and detachment the subject has to his surroundings. The background is out of focus once the subject comes into play. The backgrounds are smaller than the exaggerated foregrounds. It embellishes the sense of distance created by the foreground. A jump-cut is used to create a jarring effect as soon as the subject pulls out the weapon.

Shot Five

An extreme close-up of the shotgun being fired as the subject’s hand and arm are slightly apparent. A telephoto lens is used in this shot to concentrate more on the subject, the shotgun, over anything else in the background. The camera is still. The high-key lighting is used to emphasize the shotgun’s blast. The shot is tightly framed, with little else in the background. The foreground is completely in focus and exaggerated to create a greater impact as the shotgun is fired. The arm and the gun itself look larger-than-life. This clearly emphasizes the complications arising once someone pulls the trigger of a firearm to hurt a human being. The background is slightly in focus but is almost obliterated by the shot’s emphasis on foreground. Another jump-cut, this one to the rhythm of the shotgun blast, reinforces the jarring effect created by the prior cut.

Shot Six

A full shot of a janitor receiving the shotgun blast as flecks of blood hit the telephoto lens used to create an enclosed relationship with subject and viewer. The compressed depth of the shot proves the latter point. The camera tilt pans downward to the rhythm of the subject’s sudden collapse. The lighting is extremely natural-key. The subject would be considered under-lit if this were a mainstream or narrative feature. The lighting enhances the dread and cold monotony that comes with the act of killing. The subject is captured in a tight frame. The effect one gets watching the shot is of the subject being swallowed by the cramped bathroom he was tending to. The foreground and background relationships in this shot are similar. The foreground walls are somewhat in focus, and the walls and stool in the background are likewise. The shot is concentrated in capturing the subject and his immediate collapse. A continuity edit transitions us to the next shot.

Shot Seven

A full shot, the subject quickly pockets the shotgun as soon as he turns around and walks away. A telephoto lens keeps the focus locked on the subject as he turns his back to the camera and begins his walk towards the exit. A tracking shot follows the subject as he nears the exit of the corridor. The lighting is natural key, in keeping with the coldness exuded by the past shot. The framing is tight. The tight framing and the tracking shot bare similarities with Kubrick’s The Shining in the effect one gets with the movement of the camera combined with the tightness of the frame. It’s as if the corridors were moving rather than the subject. Foreground is focused on the subject. Background is virtually nonexistent, as the effect created by the moving camera and tight foreground strike an odd but effective balance that matches with the movement of the subject. A quick and effective continuity edit is used once the subject reaches the corridor’s exit.

Shot Eight

A full shot of the subject as he exits the corridor, heads towards the entrance door, opens the door and leaves. A wide-angle lens is used to balance the focus of the foreground and background in relation to the subject. The camera is still. The lighting remains natural-key. The framing is loose to retain the abovementioned balance between foreground/background in relation to the subject. The foreground and background are in synch. A sharp continuity edit occurs once the subject pushes open the door and leaves.

Shot Nine

A full shot with a telephoto lens captures the janitor’s corpse in full view. The camera is still, making the viewer voyeur in the most painful manner possible. The stillness of the camera captures the coldness and monotony of the room that harbors the body. The lighting is natural-key, but because of the subject’s dark clothing and the telephoto focus used to capture the stillness in which he lies on the floor, the lighting does seem a bit low-key if the film is paused and looked at closely. For once, the foreground isn’t the dominant partner in its relationship to the background. With the exception of the subject’s legs and feet, nothing in the foreground is distorted or altered in this shot. The background is in perfect synch with the cramped interior, to the point where the subject’s upper-body seems to blend in with the background itself. The camera remains still for about five more seconds. A continuity edit transitions us to the next scene.