A Close-Up View of a Long Shot

Title: A Close-Up View of a Long Shot

Name:  Heidi Lorenzen

Personal Response to Film:

Although I am a fan of westerns, after viewing Once Upon a Time in the West, I have realized that I am more of a fan of modern-day western films.  While watching this movie, I found that I was continuously comparing it to newer western films that I have seen such as Django Unchained, The Revenant and True Grit.  The newer westerns seem to have even more action than the older films of the same genre; this may be why I tend to like them more.  Also, I truly have adoration for the advances made in film making especially with special effects that create such real-seeming action.  One thing that I did really like about Once Upon a Time in the West was the quality acting; some of the older films seem to have such dramatically acting characters; this film's acting felt much more real compared to other older westerns that I have seen.

Summary of Critical Article:

Author of the article, Leone's Close-Ups John Fawell describes the director Sergio Leone's use of close-up camera shots.  Fawell argues that Leone utilized so many of these extreme close-up shots, which cut the heads of the actor so the eyebrows to slightly below the mouth are shown, as they showcase the raw emotion of the actors.  When the viewer has no choice but to be up close and personal with all of their focus on facial expression, they are more likely to notice the subtle movements and reactions of the actors.  Fawell mentions that Leone even has specific close-up shots for each actor: Cheyenne's close-ups are done by him stepping to the camera or the camera sweeping to the shot; Harmonica's are usually in a profile manner.  Fawell goes onto each detail in the meaning of every close-up shot in the movie and highlights the significance of the camera shot to that particular scene or actor/actress.

Response to Critical Article:

I feel as if John Fawell has a little too much time on his hands.  It was difficult to read the breakdown of so many different scenes utilizing the same camera shot.  His attention to detail, though, is remarkable.  He finds meaning in all of these camera shots and describes Leone's use of the shot in relation to the story line, the character, the character's meaning and purpose in the story, etc.  

Consideration of Critic’s Use of Critical frameworks/concepts:

Throughout the article, John Fawell used the formalist critical framework to analyze Leone's use of close-up camera shots.  As mentioned above, Fawell paid a lot of attention to the detail, especially in Leone's pattern of close-ups.  The author describes the patterns of the types of close-up shots used for specific characters and discusses the effects of these patterns.

Film Analysis:

In the scene of the Mcbain massacre, the most striking point is when the youngest son comes outside.  When he initially steps outside of the house, a wide-angle shot is utilized, showing the boy absorbing what has happened.  Immediately, the viewer can sense the boy's confusion.  The camera then cuts to the face of the cowboy, who has a smirk on his face; this gives the audience a sense of evil - he has no remorse.  The camera then cuts to the face of the boy which depicts complete confusion with a sense of a flat affect; the boy almost has no reaction but this confusion.  One may expect crying or horror to be present on the boy's face.  Continuing to utilize tight close-up shots, the director cuts from Frank's face to one of the other cowboy's when the silent interaction is interrupted by the cowboy's question of what Frank will do.  The slow camera movement back to Frank's face as he spits creates a heightened sense of the question, what will happen to the boy?

References (APA): 

Fawell, J. W. (2005). The art of Sergio Leone's Once upon a time in the West: A critical appreciation.

                Jefferson, NC: McFarland.