Inception: Movie shots

I chose to comment on the movie Inception. I've seen it a few times before and I like it so much, I chose to revisit it for this assignment.

1.     Establishing shot of children on the beach. They were playing and building a sand structure of some sort. Laughing and giggling could be heard throughout this scene too. They were also running around with each other. You can hear the waves crashing in the background again and again. It is a calm start to an otherwise face paced movie.

1.     This is an over the shoulder shot of the main character though we do not know he’s the main character yet. Since it is the beginning of the movie and we still do not know much, its kind of mysterious. The dialogue, as you can see from the closed captions, is ominous. It’s making you think who this guy is, and why might he want to kill the other character. Its doing a great job of drawing the viewer in to stay for the rest of the film.

1.     This is an eye level shot. It is now becoming apparent that this character is the main character or at least one of them. Though we still do not have his name yet. There are other characters present in this scene, but I feel as though the makers really wanted you to pay attention to what the man is saying, as it becomes increasingly important throughout the film.

1.     This is an extreme long shot of a helicopter flying over the city. Because of this shot we now know that things are set in the same timeline we are in with just a slight variation of how life is, meaning that this movie isn’t set in a set past or future. We know now this movie revolves around something that technically is not real but could very well be in the world as we know it today. In this shot you can still see plain looking cars and buildings.

1.     This is a follow shot of the two main characters. They’re now focusing on the street turning in on itself across from them. From this angle, it almost feels as if we’re standing right behind them and watching it happen at the exact same time. We feel the same shock and wonder the two characters are feeling as they watch the street move so its directly above them.

1.     This was a pan shot showing the action in the scene. Having the scene being all in one take without cuts makes the flow and rush more believable. The characters have a limited time frame to do what needs to get done. You can see that they all remain calm and collected though.

1.     This is a high angle shot that transforms into a low angle shot. This shot relied heavily on perspective as these stairs are a paradox. Or “the never-ending stairs”. From above they look like a regular case of stairs, but when shown from a low angle you can see that they stop abruptly and would cause one to seriously injure themselves. In my opinion, its one of the coolest shots in the movie.