Scene Deconstruction:
‘The Judge’ – Director ‘David Dobkin’
Duration: 1:28:41 – 1:31:17
Shot List:
Shot_01: Long Shot Hank – Front view, backwards tracking
Shot_02: Long Shot Hank
Shot_03: Mid Shot Hank
Shot_04: Long Shot Judge from behind Hank
Shot_05: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_06: Mid Shot Judge
Shot_07: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_08: Mid Shot Judge
Shot_09: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_10: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_11: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_12: Mid Shot Judge
Shot_13: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_14: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_15: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_16: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_17: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_18: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_19: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_20: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_21: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_22: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_23: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_24: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_25: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_26: Mid Close Up Judge
Shot_27: Mid Close Up Hank
Shot_28: Mid Shot Judge from Behind Hank
Shot_29: Mid Shot Hank – Front view
Shot_30: Mid Shot Judge – Close Up Hank
Shot_31: Mid Shot Hank – Front view
Shot_32: Mid Shot Judge – Close Up Hank
Shot_33: Mid Shot Hank
Shot_34: Mid Shot Brother
Shot_35: Mid Shot Hank
Shot_36: Mid Shot Brother – Hank exits
Analysis:
The 2014 film, ‘The Judge’, Directed by David Dobkin, is a dramatic story that represents the dynamics of a dysfunctional family with re-emerging unresolved issues. The premise of the film is based around a successful lawyer, Hank Palmer, who returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral, only to be faced with the resurfacing conflicts from his past. His father, ‘Judge’ Palmer, is suspected of murder when convincing evidence ties him to the crime. Hank aids his father representing him as his lawyer. Within close proximity of one another, the two characters begin to spill out their suppressed resentment for each other. A raging cyclone tares through the town forcing everyone into bunkers for protection. Hank and the Judge are at breaking point. Eager for seclusion, the Judge retreats to the house through the storm. Hank follows after him and they both confront their underlying conflicts, erupting in a verbal argument. This particular scene is the resonance of the film. It is the turning point for both of the characters as they attempt to resolve their ongoing dispute. Mise-en-scene, lighting, sound and camera coverage has been effectively constructed in order to aid the progression of the narrative and leave a lasting impact on the audience.
The filmmakers constructed this sequence very effectively. They split the fight into two segments. This may have allowed them to shoot them separately in order to raise the emotion of the actors slowly and to give them time to build their performance.
The entire sequence was shot ‘hand held’ or at least with a rig. The two opening shots set’s the scene for the argument. Hank walks through the front doors. The only lighting that we see is coming from the windows. The curtains wave vigorously in the wind appealing to not only the external chaos that is arising but also paralleling Hanks inner chaos.
Hank moves at a fast pace towards the camera. This makes the audience feel his urgency to confront his father. The camera tracks backwards. The second shot is a long shot of Hank from side on as Hank storms into the kitchen. The shot follows Hank and finishes in the kitchen with a mid shot of the Judge from behind Hank. The showdown begins.
The mise-en-scene of the kitchen tells us a lot about the characters. It is evident that this is the Judge’s kitchen as everything is quite old and dated. For example, the wallpaper on the wall and the fact that there is only one chair at the table suggest that there is a connection with the past. This makes the audience feel as though there is a lot of history within the home. The house is lit with two windows that pour in light creating harsh shadows. It is not a traditional soft-lit room; it is dark and over exposed at times. Hank moves towards the sink and is exposed to the harsh sunlight coming from the window. There may be underlying symbolic reason behind this, although, it may be assumed that this was a result of the organic method involved in producing this scene.
The back and forth argument begins. A simple two shot of mid close ups, follow the argument. These are hand held using a rig, with quite a wide depth of field. The camera’s follows each character as they move within the space. The wider depth of field indicates that perhaps the camera operators were preparing themselves to be manoeuvring around the kitchen.
A wider mid shot of the Judge from behind Hank is the key to pushing the scene forward and allowing the Judge to exit. Hank turns and retreats to the doorway towards the camera, resting his head on the wall. The framing is close. From here the camera changes focus to the Judge’s dialogue and then back to Hank’s reaction as he turns and faces away from the Judge. When Hank fires back the shot cuts to a mid shot of Hank from the front view. This is a very effective way of representing three different components; The Judge’s arguments, Hanks reaction as the Judge is speaking and Hank’s rebuttal. Hank changes direction from confronting his father and then turning away and allowing the audience to see his reaction. Hank is showing the audience his pain that he has been reluctant to reveal up until this point. The audience is able to empathise with Hank, to see him at his most vulnerable as he tries to hide it from his father. The scene closes with his father leaving and his brother appearing in the doorway, having watched the argument. This reveals the power his father has within the household. It is a reflection of what most likely happened when they were younger; Hank argued with his father and his brother watched quietly in the corner. The filmmakers chose not to reveal his brother until the end of the scene, as it would have added a third dynamic to the argument. The argument was about Hank and the Judge.
The overall coverage of this scene was effective in playing its role and delivering the appropriate content. The camera captured the performance of an erupting argument, immersing the audience into the drama of the film. The coverage was organic. It threw the audience into the chaos using the hand held style to follow the characters. From a filmmaking point of view, the coverage gave breadth to the construction of the shots. It gave space to the actors, allowing them to move around and evoke a more emotive performance. This is different to traditional blocking methodology when covering a scene. Blocking can sometimes produce a mechanical performance. This method of construction lends itself to improvisation, experimentation and creativity of not only the actor’s performance, but also the camera angles and shot types. The coverage aids the reception of the scene in context with the entire film.