Up Close and Personal

In Bernard Dick's chapter Film, Space, & Mise-en-Scene he discusses the topic of the close up shot and how it changed the way we look at cinema today. He states that the close up allows the filmmaker to "reveal a particular emotion that a long shot might not capture" (Dick, 53). The close up is not by any means a difficult shot for any filmmaker, regardless of experience, to achieve, but the affects of the shot can separate the good filmmakers from the not so good filmmakers. The tactic itself can be argued as being not only a product of a technological revolution within the film industry but as also being a product of an artistic revolution. It enabled filmmakers to tap into a whole other range of emotion and tone that was accessible with the past technology and film techniques. When the technique was first being introduced in the early 1900s, the close up shot seemed to "intimidate" audiences and movie-goers, they had never experienced like it before and immediately actors and filmmakers knew it would set their movies apart and lead to widespread success.

In the movie Skyfall, James Bond is involved in a scene where he is fighting a bad guy on top of a moving train. Bond's partner on this particular mission is driving a car, following the train and bond, looking for a place to set up her gun and take out the bad guy and help Bond. Yes, this is definitely as stressful and emotional as it sounds. Director Sam Mendes did a great job of implementing the close up shot and using it to its full potential. Scenes like this one are part of the reason why Skyfall was able to be nominated and win an Oscar for Best Achievement in Sound Editing, the sound editing would not have been as powerful if the camera shots and angles were not as spot on as they were.

The close up shot allows the audience to feel stressed and panicky throughout the entire scene, making one not want to look away from the screen. Scenes like this one (provided above) are part of the reason as to why movies like Skyfall and countless others are successful. They grab your attention and keep you on the edge of your seat until the final credits roll and this is thanks in part to what the close up shot can bring to the table.