Somebody or Nobody

The movie scene that I chose was “Somebody or Nobody” from the film American Gangster. This film is one of my all-time favorite films. This film is about a drug kingpin Frank Lucas and takes you back to the nineteen seventies and the streets of Harlem in that time. In order to make a successful film, it takes the director, production designer, and the art director. The director of this film is Ridley Scott. He is one of the greatest directors of our time. The director of the film usually is the person who directs and the actors and the film crew while making the film. He also develops the vision of the film and carries out the vision, deciding how the film should look. The director is pretty much the supervisor. He also gets to decide the camera angles, lens effects and lighting. The director also directs what tone each scene should have and what the audience should gain from the cinematic experience. The director has a say so in everything in the film from changing the script to the post- production process. The production designer of this film is Arthur Max. The production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a film. The production designer also has one of the key roles in creating of the films. A production designer works side by side with the director and producer, they decide the settings and style to visually tell the story of the film. The production designer and the art director have similar responsibilities. The production designer also helps lead key staff in other departments, such as the costume designers, the stylists, the special effects director and the locations manager to help establish a visual appearance of the film. The art director of this film is Nicholas Lundry. The art director of the film usually supervises the production of the set and painting, as well as modifications to existing locations, such as changing signs or installing new props for the film. The art directors usually have specialists in the construction department, such as the carpenters, painters, plasterers, riggers, prop makers, landscapers, sign painters, and scenic artists. The prop makers help maintain the integrity of the production designer’s vision during the shoot and help manipulate the items for the camera (Goodyknoontz and Jacobs, 2011) The cinematographer of this film is Harris Savides who is also the director of photography. The cinematographer’s job is to translate the director’s vision for the film, to capture what the director wants to see and to say, and to physically make that happen (Goodyknoontz and Jacobs, 2011). A cinematographer is usually the one photographing with a motion picture camera. He is also in charge of achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the picture. The cinematographer is also in charge of the camera and lighting crew (Goodyknoontz and Jacobs, 2011). The scene that I chose is Somebody or Nobody in the film American Gangster. This scene takes place at a diner with main character Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) teaching his family about business. He then takes a break to collect his money after shooting rival Tango (Idris Elba) on the street. I chose this scene because it defines who he is to his family. It shows that one minute he is the business man but the next he can be a murderer. The director of the film used the normal length lens and used the normal zoom. They kept the scenes at normal angle or eye level. This gave the audience the feel to see the world how the actors see it in this film. In this particular scene, when he is discussing business the camera is at eye level and normal zoom. When he gets up to collect his money, the camera zooms out showing the audience that there are a lot of people out there about to see him execute somebody. They do this so the audience can feel just how intense Frank Lucas can be. They want the audience to feel what all the actors are feeling when they experience this incident in the film. American Gangster took place in the heat and humidity of New York City, specifically in Harlem, and on West 136 Street. The street signs were replaced to replicate blocks that were twenty blocks south of there where the 116th Street area where Frank Lucas once ruled in the 1970’s. Other places that were used in New York City included a scrap metal shop in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, the Marlboro projects in the Gravesend section of the same borough, Governors Island, and on Long Island at the Nassau County Coliseum. The film also went to Thailand to shoot numerous scenes which were pivotal to the development of Frank Lucas's drug trading and supply. Thailand was also a country of scorching heat and humidity. The cinematography of this film captured the heart and light of Harlem in both of its vibrant tones and more threatening underbelly in the Lucas drug locales. The faded and muted tone of the seventies also helps a sadness or intensity to parts of the film. This gives it a weight and depth. They also added stature and texture with detailed production design. The clothing that the characters wore was the types of clothing that were in fashion in the 1970’s. Each actor also had the hairstyles that were back in the 1970’s. The costume design also helped you get the visual effect of the setting besides the physical appearance of the background. All these artists are needed to manufacture a good film. The director, production designer, art director, and cinematographer must work together to collaborate successful scenes in films. They all did so in this film. This film went on to make millions of dollars opening weekend.

References:
Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG225.11.2/sections/copyright
IMBD.American Gangster. 2007. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/