ipl-logo

The Maltese Falcon Essay

849 Words4 Pages

The Maltese Falcon is a successful noir detective film from 1941. The success of the film is due to the internal actions that are accurately portrayed with cinematic composition. It consists of four goals that good directors keep in mind when filming. The techniques of keeping the image in motion, directing attention to the most important object, and the illusion of depth help the audience to focus on the important aspects of the film that overall create a suspenseful and emotional noir film experience. Directing attention to the object of greatest significance is essential in a film in order to show the audience what to focus on or pay attention to. In The Maltese Falcon, this goal of cinematic composition is particularly important due …show more content…

The Maltese Falcon, as a detective film, is expected to be suspenseful and mysterious. This is thoroughly executed with internal actions that are portrayed with the image being in constant motion, rather than filming mostly flat and external actions, such as guns being fired frequently. The first example of this strategy is the use of the camera tilting to create suspense. The audience sees the tilting of the camera being used prominently between Spade and the “Fat Man” aka Gutman. The camera in this scene is aimed up towards Gutman in order to make him look more intimidating and authoritative. The tilt creates a more suspenseful conversation between Gutman, who is seen as large and intimidating, and Spade, who is seen as being smaller and less threatening. The second example of keeping the image in motion is present in the scene between Wilmer Cook, Spade, and Mrs. O’Shaughnessy. The technique of panning, moving the camera’s line of sight in a horizontal plane to the left and right, is used in this scene. Spade and Mrs. O’Shaughnessy walk into the dark room when the camera pans to the side and we see Wilmer Cook behind them with a gun in hand. The camera panning to the side in this scene is essential for the audience to see that Spade and Mrs. O’Shaughnessy are in danger, but do not appear to know. This results in suspense for the audience as they wait for the two

Show More
Related

Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon

537 Words | 3 Pages

A true classic should be able to stand the test of time, and still be relatable to readers. The Maltese Falcon was written in the 1920's, nearly ninety-seven years old and is still recognized and read today. It was the beginning of the detective and mystery genre. This book not only had a significant impact on the detective genre, but also in the film industry. The novel was turned into a movie three times, each with several adaptations of the story.

Read More

Individuality In The Maltese Falcon

1733 Words | 7 Pages

Athanasourelis’s article depicts Sam Spade’s individuality through his actions leading up to Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s conviction. Sam’s initial intentions are to help Brigid avoid the police. Upon coming to the conclusion that Brigid is the only suspect in the murder of Archer, Sam knows he has to turn her into the authorities. The article discusses that although it may seem as if Sam is acting justly, he is truly just turning Brigid in to avoid his own persecution for the crimes others committed. Hammett establishes Sam’s morals frequently throughout the novel by further describing his character as a “hard-boiled detective”.

Read More

Does Tim Burton Use Direct Sound In Edward Siccorhands?

626 Words | 3 Pages

The first way Burton shows his thoughts in Edward Scissorhands is when he uses the tilt camera movement in order to add suspense and intrigue the person who is watching or the audience. For example, when Peg, the person who found him, starts walking up the stairs, Burton uses this camera movement to show the creepy adic Edward was staying in before bringing him to her neighborhood. This helps show Burton's ideas where intended to introduce the difference between Edward as a creepy and misleading looking person, and Pegs shine and heartwarming feeling. As a result, it shows why people that live in the neighborhood see Edward as a creepy person.

Read More

Maltese Falcon Sparknotes

845 Words | 4 Pages

Beside Thursby, Gutman had also appointed Joel Cairo, dark-skinned flashily dressed agent, to find the Maltese Falcon. Cairo, noticing the officers, vigorously indicts Brigid and Spade to have attacked him after his arrival to the apartment and proclaimed that Brigid threatened to murder him. Thus far, Brigid had attempted to depict as an innocent and harmless lady that needs protection; depending on one’s view of Brigid’s ethical integrity, she could appear as the victim. However, in retrospect, if Cairo had attempted to attack her first, as Brigid utterly proclaims, Brigid could have cried for help, knowing that there were police officers nearby that would have helped her.

Read More

Mise En Scene In A Voyage To The Moon

1562 Words | 7 Pages

In this paper I hypothesize that A Voyage to the Moon was most innovative in cinematography and editing. Although mise en-scene was the main focus of the film, I hypothesize that mise en scene wasn’t as innovative as the other two. As mentioned earlier, mise en scene made A Voyage to the Moon easy to understand and follow along. In the first scene of the film, this power

Read More

Symbolism In The Maltese Falcon

320 Words | 2 Pages

After watching the Maltese Falcon in class the past two days I was able to notice different symbols, elements that stood out, and different techniques used throughout the film. First, the different symbols that stood out to me were the Maltese Falcon, the different guns used, and the telephone. The Maltese Falcon symbolizes all the greed each character had within that is aroused very often. It tended to bring out the worst in people and show what evil things people are willing to do for wealth.

Read More

Casablanca Cinematography Analysis

697 Words | 3 Pages

Cinematography is critical to the success of any movie. Cinematography uses composition, lighting, depth of field, and camera angles to determine what the audience sees. Casablanca’s cinematography directs the audience’s attention, shapes the audiences feelings, and reveals the theme of the movie. Cinematography directs the audience’s attention and acts as the viewer’s eyes. The cinematography highlights Casablanca as a dangerous place filled with deception.

Read More

Alfred Hitchcock's Use Of Suspense In The 39 Steps

856 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, Hitchcock purposefully used specific shots to captivate the acting and emotions of each character. In The 39 Steps, Hannay and Pamela (Madeleine Carroll) estranged and juxtaposition relationship, is what saves this film from being more than just suspense but helps add a romance touch to the film. When Hitchcock used wide shots, he captures the Hannay and Pamela’s emotional discomfort. The primary shots that Hitchcock uses in The 39 Steps, are close-ups instead of wide shots. Hitchcock uses close-ups to create suspicion in characters’ faces.

Read More

Continuity And Discontinuity In Film

568 Words | 3 Pages

Continuity is used here so the audience, despite the 180-degree turn,

Read More

Greed In The Maltese Falcon

1177 Words | 5 Pages

Greed is an “Intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food” (Oxford Dictionary). In The Maltese Falcon, everyone has the aspirations of finding the falcon for themselves. This is the driving force behind the murders, and betrayals many of the characters commit. Brigid, Cairo, Wilmer, and Gutman all seek the falcon for the same reason, the unimaginable wealth it will bring them. Possessing this rare object seems to consume them and they will do anything to get their hands on it.

Read More

Film Noir Film Analysis

817 Words | 4 Pages

THE LOST FALCON IN FILM NOIR In written literature, writings that mention about crime is classified as “Noir Fiction”. From the second half of the 19th century, in cinematography, this genre is simulated as “Film Noir”. The audience will encounter with a crime throughout the film which is made by using this specific genre. Main characters in this genre are a criminal who is mostly a man, a female and a detective.

Read More

Goodfellas Film Analysis

1008 Words | 5 Pages

The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features an incredible amount of talent. Household names such as: Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters

Read More

Classic Narrative Techniques In The Maltese Falcon

913 Words | 4 Pages

The Maltese Falcon illustrates classical Hollywood cinema using key principles of classical narration and the continuity system, having a strategic use of various kinds of cuts, transitions and angles, but also tests classical narration

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Lion King By Margaret Lazarus

830 Words | 4 Pages

The article portrays “The Lion King” as a story about society that began in the minds of the Disney’s makers. All’s not well in land of “The Lion King” by Margaret Lazarus, who describes how the gold maned lion Mufasa is good and the black maned lion Scar is bad along with the black hyenas. This article explains that Scar has no cubs and ultimately his voice determines that he is gay. Once Scar and the black hyenas take over the Pride Lands, the article assumes the gays and blacks will destroy the natural order.

Read More

Close Up Medium Shot Analysis

806 Words | 4 Pages

VII. Cinematic Device and Effects 1. Identify one example of each of the following shots and describe how the shot affected the presentation of the story told by the film: close-up, medium shot, long shot. -This is one example of close-up shot that is used in the film, the scene that the main character of the film is looking at herself at the mirror and think about what she gonna do to her life, it affects the presentation of the film because in close-up shot they only focus on one person or object that is important and the surroundings was blur. For medium shot there is a scene that the main character is practicing how to throw a knife, the medium shot affected the film in a way that we can see the whole scenario on the film but limited person

Read More

More about The Maltese Falcon Essay

Related Topics

Open Document