The+Intouchables+(2011)

In the movie //The Intouchables// directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, cinematography by Mathieu Vadepied, a wide variety of shots :) were skillfully implanted to make //The Intouchables// one of the most artistic movies of all time.

The scene used below is when Phillipe and Driss go paragliding:


 * 1.** This is the establishing shot of this scene. As one can observe, this does not tell us much as to where Philippe and Driss are except that they are outdoors on a sunny day. This shot was used as a transition shot from the car to the paragliding as it would be odd if they were in the car in one shot and paragliding in the next. Though this shot was only a transition shot, it still uses several camera techniques to demonstrate what Nakache and Toledano wanted to show the audience. They want to make Phillipe look powerful, not in the sense that is overwhelming and dominating towards the audience but in the sense that Phillipe is now free with power over the world despite the fact that his legs are not working. This worm's eye view or downward angle shot made Phillipe look like the "King of the World!" and it definitely achieved the directors' purpose.


 * 2.** The next shot was a wide shot which established where they really were and what they are going to do. This shot was especially significant because it was where the audience realizes how strong of a connection Phillipe and Driss have. Driss, having grown up in a rundown neighborhood and Phillipe, a wealthy paraplegic man, are now connected in a singular activity, away from their normal lives, something new for both of them (for Phillipe, it's paragliding while being a paraplegic).


 * 3.** To analyze this shot, it is a wide shot that really captures the scenery around them. This shot was also sort of a "breather" for the audience because before this scene, Phillipe and Driss were stuck in weary France buildings dominated most of the shots' backgrounds and where the weather was usually dark and gloomy. The blue lighting here definitely created a cool sharp mood and tone.


 * 4.** This shot was a close up of Driss' face. The reason for this was to capture his emotions and how he felt about paragliding. He seemed to be able to hold himself together until the time came to jump, then he started removing the harnesses telling the paragliding coach he didn't want to do it anymore. If a medium or wide shot had been used on Driss, we would only see Driss unbuckling his harnesses without capturing his emotions and acting, I mean...isn't that what actors are for? Acting? Hell I could unbuckle a harness without any emotions.


 * 5.** The above three shots were all jump cuts in unison after Driss breaks down and wants to take off the harness. Though it happens quickly (about 3 seconds in total), it shows how Driss is "breaking down" like the shots "break down" into three separate shots as opposed to one shot of him saying no. The shot was a close up because in these sequence of shots, a close up was needed to portray Driss' desperateness and fear.


 * 6.** It also shows that his mind is in pieces, where he was confident and ready to paraglide a few seconds ago, he now wants to take the harness off, just a constant back and forth between or a tug of war with the decisions in his mind. The jump cuts definitely portrayed that as they were sort of stuttering (jump cuts), just like his mind was between yes or no.


 * 7.** The jump cuts also emphasized his hurry to take off the harness as it sped things up, in actuality, it would take a while to take off the harness but the jump cuts sped through that. This definitely gave the audience an idea of rush Driss had going through his head and how he wanted the harness off as soon as possible.


 * 8. ** In this shot, a low angle shot (not too extreme to be a worms) was used after about 20 seconds from when Driss jumped. The point of this low angle shot was to demonstrate the dominance Driss now has achieved over Paragliding, in other words, he has overcome his fear and is now enjoying it. The angle of this shot also made Driss look powerful in general as he was now high in sky and the audience was looking up at him making him subconsciously feel more powerful than us.


 * 9.** The sun caught in the top right of the shot allowed sort of a lens flare to run through the shot. The lighting from the sun gave Driss' body a glowing outline which made him look powerful in addition to the low angle shot. All this power and dominance Driss possessed in this shot made me feel as if Driss was a God of some kind, the angle of the shot, the lighting on his face and body, the sun in the background, and the scenery (clouds, sky) all made me feel as if Driss was Black Jesus or something.


 * 10.** In this shot, a high shot angle (again, bird's eye too extreme?) at a medium shot was used. The reason it was a medium high angle shot was because it a) it allowed the camera to capture Phillipe's emotions/acting while a wide shot could not and b) to capture the very beautiful scenery which adds to the mood of the scene. A close up would have captured Phillipe's emotions however it would not be able to capture the scenery in the background which would not help add to the mood. In fact throughout this entire scene of paragliding (in the air), there was not a single close up shot, probably because the scenery was just too beautiful to miss out on.