BLOG ENTRY #2: “What I See"

In Edward L. Cahn’s Incident in an Alley (1962), the plot is based on the accidental murder of a teenage delinquent. The culprit, Officer Joddy, was an on duty cop investigating an assault on a female passerby. In doing so he comes across some rascals that attempt to flee and escape into a dark alley. Unable to see clearly and flustered by the whole situation, Officer Joddy shoots the boy in his back rather then in his leg. The rest of the film focuses on Officer Joddy’s inability to move on.

The first scene in the film takes place in an alley. There is minimal lighting and heavy shadowing. The lighting slashes in and out throughout the scene, being that it is a chase scene, however it makes the camera seem unbalanced and out of focus. The succeeding scenes were the complete opposite, camera movements were steady and balanced.

In the courtroom scene there was bright lighting, the camera angle was normal and the focus was centered. I believe the cinematographers intentions were to keep the audience awake through the court case which was long and pointless. They mainly used normal and wide angle lens. Everything in the shot was in focus. There was the occasional pan view of the jury which appeared to be done by tripod and fluid head. This allowed for the juries expressions to be seen one by one.

All the way through the film the focus remains centered and the camera angle normal and balanced. They incorporated gradual zoom outs which completed so smoothly had to be done with a dolly. The majority of the shots were medium shots done with a normal lens and close ups done with telephoto lens. Each close up of the witnesses faded into the next, giving the effect that the case lasted a long time. In the end of the film the angles changed for a brief scene. When officer Joddy goes back to the alley they used high camera angles, similar to a bird’s eye view.

I got the impression that the film crew only had 3 cameras because the camera angles virtually remained the same throughout the films entirety. One camera provided and overall view of the entire set while the other two provided medium shots. Also, there were roughly 4 sets in the while film which did not provide much of a variety. These sets were the police precinct, the alley, Officer Joddy’s house and the court room. I am not sure if the directors intended the film to have a limited focal point; it is possible they had a low budget which restricted them. However, for someone that has a short attention span, it became tiresome watching the same plain scenes for over an hour.