Movie Analysis

 Movie: Pride and Prejudice (2005)

1. Establishing Shot 

The establishing shots used throughout the film were cleverly utilized to let the viewers understand the difference between the two lead characters' lifestyles. We can see how Elizabeth is from a typical middle-class family (picture 1), this shot shows how their home has ducks around, clothes seem to be hanging, and the house doesn’t seem to look like anything fancy. Furthermore, when the film uses another establishing shot to show Mr. Darcy’s house it gives off a way different ambiance when compared to Elizabeth’s family home. His house appears to be much more clean, formal, and all in all looks like belongs to a wealthy owner. The use of these establishing shots provides more depth to the characters and helps us understand the disparity between them.

2. Long Shot

In this shot, we can see Elizabeth’s entire body as well as her surroundings. The usage of this shot emphasizes her body language. We can see how she has her arms crossed over and that her head is tilted towards the reflection on the water. Through this, the viewers can infer that Elizabeth is frustrated or solemn over her current situation. Additionally, in this long shot, we can also see her surroundings which are the tranquil and peaceful scenery of a lake. This emphasizes the fact that she came to this specific area to vent as it can be a space where she feels comfortable and at peace. Through this shot the audience can get the gist of the sad emotions Elizabeth is feeling and how she’s reflecting on her life. 

3. Over-the-shoulder shot 

The film used the over-the-shoulder technique on both characters. This allows the audience to see things and almost experience the point of view of the actual character. Allowing the viewer to better understand the predicament of the situation as both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are in close proximity to each other in a climactic moment specifically showing what they are viewing or perceiving at the moment. This shot conveys how intimate the scene is as both characters are drenched in water, and have serious/solemn expressions on their faces. The emotion in this scene is tense as we can infer that this will be a key turning point in the film. 

4. Two Shot 

In this scene we can see a two-shot of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in close proximity to each other, emphasizing the intimacy of this moment. The shot solely focuses on them and we can feel the emotions that they are evoking through this shot. It evidently portrays a sense of tenderness and warmth because of how the two characters are sharing an embrace/forming a deep bond with one another. The setting in the background, though it is tranquil, is not the main focus but rather adds to the two shots because it refines the scene onto the two of them showing how this is a significant and profound point in both the characters' lives.

5. Close-up shot

The context of this close-up shot was that Mr. Darcy was escorting Elizabeth onto the carriage and they both held hands for a brief moment. Subsequently, the camera panned to zoom onto Mr. Darcy’s hand, and though you can slightly tell from this frozen picture, his hand flexed from how he felt was affected by the touch of Elizabeth. If this scene was a wider shot we could not have noticed this and Mr. Darcy would have appeared unaffected but with this close-up, the small gesture portrays intimacy and shows the emotions of affection and fondness that Mr. Darcy felt at that moment. Furthermore, the close-up of Elizabeth’s face right after Mr. Darcy escorted her shows how she was also affected by the few seconds they held hands. This leaves the audience anticipating more and lets them get an understanding of the character's emotions.