Key Elements: Cinematography
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) uses a lot of centrally and symmetrically composed shots, this is clear throughout the section of it I watched. It is used to show the audience where to look.
The first shot of the film is a hard cut to a close up to a painting of the place the start of the film is set at - a red lighthouse. Everything around this painting is neatly lined up, showing the start of many symmetrical shots. After this, the camera crabs to the right and stops showing the audience the of the stairs. The camera crabs to the right again and stops as a wide shot of a playroom. The character from the stairs enters the frame again and stays central the entire time. 90 degree whip pan to the next location, a hallway where 2 characters are stood. Then, there is another 90 degree whip pan to a different staircase, where a girl enters the frame. She almost takes up the entire frame and then leaves. This is all one shot, there are no cuts the entire time.
The second shot is when the camera cuts back to the playroom where the characters we have seen before are symmetrically positioned on the floor. Behind these characters is a window seat which seems very empty and the audience are supposed to look at the space because of the lighting. The girl from the previous shot enters the frame and sits down in the window seat. This is to show the audience that she is different from the other characters and the main character.
There is a cut to a close up of the girls face. We are also shown the front cover of the book she is reading, Shelly and the Secret Universe. This can help to tell the audience about the characters personality. The audience can understand from this shot that the girl likes reading fantasy books and lives in her own world because of this. In this shot we can also hear music coming from the record player in the background -diegetic sound.
The next shot is a close up of the girl through the window that is next to her. Then, there is a zoom out to an extreme long shot to show the entire house. This is where the title of the film is shown over the house. Throughout this shot, the music becomes louder, and as it becomes louder, it becomes non-diegetic.
Next, a wide shot back to the boys in the playroom. The camera crabs right to become a long shot of another room and continues to become a close up of the girl where she is looking directly at the audience (breaking the 4th wall).
After there is a wide shot of the father of the children in another room, the camera then crabs to the right to become a long shot of the stairs. The camera continues to crab left, where the audience see the mother washing her hair. The camera then continues crabbing to the left again where the main character is still staring at the audience.
The next shot is a wide shot of some other family members, brothers, and they are playing table tennis. The camera then pedestals up towards the attic into a wide shot of the attic.
The last shot of Moonrise Kingdom is a low angle shot of the main character at the top of the lighthouse.
