Shane by Angela Day “Shane” is a screenplay that was based on Jack Schaefer's 1949 book of the same name. The film is a classic western tale which is a very familiar and highly regarded in the western genre and the most successful Western of the 1950s and it is also a period piece since it is set in the late 1800’s. The film's rich color cinematography captures the beautiful environment of the frontier which was filmed on location in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with the mountains as a backdrop. The location and the having been filmed in color is effective in telling the story and had it been done in black and white it would have lost some of the visual impact. This film received six Academy Award nominations including “Best Cinematography” and won one for photography. Many films since Shane have paid homage to the film and used a similar plot and theme. The film used technicolored panoramic angles to create a symbolic myth: the age old story of the duel between good and evil, the social conflict (with families, law and order, and homesteaders) the challenges faced in the era which included an implied love connection between Shane and Marion, lawless gunslingers, and a land-dispute conflict between a homesteader and cattle baron, and the coming of age of a young boy. The film is riddled with classic symbols and conflicts from the uprooting of the stubborn stump in the yard, Torrey's murder in the muddy street and his hilltop funeral, and the climactic finale. Most of the story is told from the point of view from Joey, the young boy who idolized Shane. We are made aware from the opening that Shane is connected to the wilderness as he descends from the mountains and Joey sees him through the antlers of the deer. The mountains are another key western theme that occurs time and time again. The opening scene echoes the final scene, as Shane proceeds back up the mountain he descended from. Another setting that impacted the story was the border town inhabited by the Ryker’s; the town in Shane is desolate and not many buildings have been erected although the story would infer that this town was superior to the homesteads. The emptiness represents an eerie and unsafe location; even though the town is so deserted it still has the main wooden buildings visual in most western films. There is the saloon, mostly occupied by Ryker and his men, The Grayston general store which is separated only by the saloon doors, the blacksmiths, where Tory is visiting (before he gets murdered by gun-slinging Wilson) and finally a hotel. Facial expressions and body language are very important in the visual style of Shane. The ranchers are very angry and unwelcoming. They show this by their reaction when Shane enters the saloon. They stare at him and are not happy with him being in their territory. The music is much more intense when we are in the company of the ranchers. The film also used the technique of dramatic foils by how the Ryker’s contrasted Shane and the homesteaders, using the visual technique of light and dark colors. The use of low-angle shots was used in the scenes of watching a fist-fight as horse hooves stomp dust right up against the lens and up the tension of the fight; and then dissolve from a cemetery into a shot of Shane heading into battle. Sound effects were also present in this film but the most memorable would have to be when Shane is fighting in the saloon as Joey looks on eating a peppermint stick; each punch echoes with a bite into the candy. Shane was the first film to be projected in a "flat" widescreen, a format that Paramount invented in order to offer audiences something that television could not which was a panoramic screen. Shane was one of the first films in which actors were attached to hidden wires that yanked them backwards when they were shot from the front. Director George Stevens also used a small cannon and fired it into a garbage can to create the loud report of the pistol for maximum effect. Telling this story from the point of view of Joey allowed the viewer to see the emphasis on the relationships of the characters. While Shane never comes out and says that he left a life of being a gunslinger it is implied throughout the film beginning with his emotional reaction to the loud noise. Another complex relationship is that of Shane and Marion who seem to have a certain attraction and connection to one other so much that even Joe acknowledges it in a few scenes. In a sense Shane becomes the person that he was trying to escape from but does so to save the family that he has formed a connection with.

Sources:
"Visual Style and Western Theme of Shane." 123HelpMe.com. 25 Apr 2016 <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=168340>.
Documentary “George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey”