Coach Carter (2005) Our Deepest Fear

Scene Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_fDhqRk_Ro

I chose this scene because it plays an extremely significant role in the films message and is quite impactful and emotional point in the film. I really like this scene in the film and was keen to analyse further to understand why.

This scene begins with a tracking shot from behind Coach Carter as he turns a corner to reveal the team sitting in the gym doing their school work. It then switches between a tracking shot in front of the coach as he begins to take a few steps further towards the boys and a static wide shot of the boys. The next 9 shots in the scene consist of MCU’s of both the team members and the coach. The camera then begins to dolly in, from a Medium to a closeup of both the coach and the player; Timo Cruz as it cuts between the two. Within this, MCU’s and CU’s of other players are cut in between the two primary characters in the scene. It then cuts to the wide shot of the players before cutting to an extreme long shot of all subjects in the scene.

I think this scene does an excellent job of camera coverage. While it has a lot of different shots with a variety of different shot sizes and camera moves, it isn’t disorientating for the viewer at all. I think this is because the scene plays out from 2 primary perspectives or angles. The perspective of the coach and the perspective of the players. By keeping this scene to two perspectives, despite the number of different shots and visible characters, the scene feels quite intimate which works perfectly in conjunction with the overall film. By shooting and blocking the scene this way the director; Tom Carter is able to incorporate all the characters in the scene without making it feel crowded.