Continuity Project

https://vimeo.com/82197947

Analyzing a Scene

This is a classic scene from my favorite movie, "Goodfellas." It opens with a slow pan of the room to acclimate the viewer to the scenes surroundings. You then get a profile of one of the main characters, Billy Batts, who is clearly celebrating something. Then Tommy (Joe Pesci) enters the room, and slowly walks towards the camera. Batts sees him and says hello, and Tommy is clearly not happy about it. Batts is busting his chops, and now the camera is focused on the two men as the situation escalates. As the tension mounts, the camera slowly zooms in on each of their faces, heightening the emotion of the scene. As the first half of the scene comes to a close, I noticed that the camera was located between the two groups for most of it, panning back and forth. There was no need to show it from different angles, as the emotion of the scene is enough stimulation for the viewer. Then the scene breaks to when the bar is closing, and you see the last patrons leave. Tommy then walks in, and the camera quickly pans to Henry (Ray Liotta,) who knows something is wrong. You also see a quick shot of Batts and Jimmy (DeNiro) talking at the bar, including them in whats about to happen. Tommy walks over to them and he and Jimmy proceed to give Batts a brutal beating. The close up of this part really gives it a startling effect. I especially loved the close up of the gun breaking when Tommy hits Batts with it. In my opinion, this is one of the best uses of music in a film. As Donovan's "Atlantis" plays in the background, Batts is getting beaten to near death. It is such a beautiful song, but what you are seeing on the screen is not beautiful at all, and I love how they play off each other. Scorcese has a way of picking the best songs for his movies and using them at the perfect time, and this is no different.