Equilibrium (2002)

These shots show the state of the world after a third world war. Mankind has taken a new path toward eliminating war with a drug called Prozium. This drug suppresses all emotions, eliminating war altogether at the sacrifice of happiness and joy. A world grown like this would be gray upon gray due to lack of interest in ornamentation, as these shots show.




I found the detail of this shot to be at once subtle yet obvious. The room itself is nothing to gawk at, but rather the globe and the continents are the main point of interest. You'll see the continents do not look very much like how they do now. This implies not only a change in human behavior after the famed WWIII, but also a permanent change in how the land itself is arranged. This sort of thing is permanent and unbending, which hints at the authoritarian rule practiced in this society.



This is a shot I liked because it showed an element that I picked up immediately while the character ran right over it. He's running his hand along the wall across the bullet holes in this hallway (a raid is in progress). As he does this, a glint of light plays across his hand as he passes one of those holes. I saw this and immediately assumed there was a secret room of some sort, all before he doubled back after noticing it for himself.



In this post-WWIII world where people deaden their emotions with a periodically-applied drug, a new crime has been defined: sense offense. People found to be missing their dose and experiencing emotions are arrested and executed, and all the material possessions that invoke such emotional responses are confiscated and burned.



After accidentally dropping his dose of Prozium and missing his refill from the closest resupply building, (closed due to terrorist activity) he decides to try and live the day without it. He falls asleep and dreams, waking with a start. He sees the splatter of rain on his window, which has some sort of greying film covering it. He rips at it and tears it off to reveal this beautiful view of the city. He's feeling emotion for what one can assume is the first time, and his initial reaction is to run to the bathroom and nearly inject himself with Prozium. But he doesn't, and so the plot thickens.

Evolution (2001)

One of the things I like about this particular comedy is that they tend to keep things simple. Like the cops posing before the meteorite. This might be the sort of sophomoric behavior you'd expect from anyone but cops. Apparently, these guys have something other than professionalism in mind.



Here we have a Chief of the CDC, a professor of biology, and a geologist all with a problem: where can they get 500 gallons of Selenium at 2:00AM? The answer -surprising enough to turn heads- comes from two of the worst students in the biology professor's class. The statement, "Yea we can get that" is enough to momentarily stump even the so-called brains of this outfit.



It's amazing how elementary computer-generated image effects can look when you slow them down. In this still, you can see the spheres that make up the gobs of green biomass as it is hurled outward from the giant alien creature that exploded. It occurred to me that we take CGI effects for granted, and they have become the norm in special effects. They're so common they're not really special anymore.

I, Robot (2004)

Though I have never been to Chicago, this is probably what I would expect to see in 2035. It has only been recently that set designers for sci-fi movies and shows have realized that, in the future, not everything will have radically changed. In shows and movies past, cities were depicted in some extreme as too dark, too metallic, too tall, and so on. It is reassuring to see that not all visions of the future are so drastic.



This scene is a rather obvious attempt at foreshadowing. It starts with a view of the body of an employee, a high-in-the-ranks scientist. It zooms out to encompass the yellow police line and goes further panning up to take in the statue which dominates the interior of the building. The thing on everyone's mind is, "Why would this man kill himself?" and the style of this shot gives the answer clearly.



Here I see an interesting contrast taking place. As it is with most technologies, they are gradually integrated in what we have today. Rarely do they ever intrude to the point of completely replacing everything. The small, sleek automobile in front of the old-style architecture of the home with the large unidentified robot nearby depicts that gradual phasing-in of technology and new designs.

Galaxy Quest (1999)

This shot I liked because of its practicality. Here we see one of the actors in the faux T.V. show Galaxy Quest. He's in what appears to be his home yet he still hasn't taken the makeup off his face. To me, this shows a deep familiarity and redundancy with having that makeup on. It shows how deeply ingrained the show has become with their lives.



Want to make a space ship that pretty much shouts, "Bad guys on board!" Look no further than this fine example. Not only is it large, but it also employs less obvious means to get the message across. Note the rings of what seem to be teeth in the yellow, glowing maw that is the front of this ship. If this isn't enough, the whole of the thing is covered in what looks like a green, scaly hide. It looks like one of those deep-sea angler fish with the lights running across it. The subtleties and blatancy combine to form an unmistakable message.



An excellent reaction shot here. This man has realized that he is not on the set of a show or movie, but is in fact on a spaceship. He's staring out into space, covered in some protective film. He asked to be driven home after having a taste of what he suspected was a new gig. What get got was a ride through a black hole back to Earth. I don't think anyone could make a face any different from that if they were in his shoes.

The Italian Job (2003)

Here we have an establishing shot of L.A. at sunset. I like how the dark vertical buildings contrast with the golden horizon. It's a good establishing shot because it has all the elements you'd expect in a big city: cars, lights, tall buildings, and good old urban sprawl.



This scene I like not just because of the gold, but because of the way they made the gold look so pure and valuable. The simple shining of a light on these bricks really drove home their monetary value and the magnitude of the wealth the thieves had acquired.



Image you've just acquired $27 million to be split among you and your close friends. What would your reaction be? Shouting would probably be part of it, as it was for the hacker character. Problem is he was in an airport terminal when he did it, so he gets a few wary stares. I liked this scene because it pretty much sums up the feelings one would have if they got rich.

The Truman Show (1998)

I found this to be an interesting point of view shot. Strangely enough it seems to be coming from the radio in his car. So far through the movie the viewer has caught a few glimpses through some odd POVs. This builds up the suspicion that he's being monitored intensively.



Truman and his friend are watching the sun set while Truman ponders the strange recent developments in his life. His friend says, "Look at that sunset Truman, its perfect. That's the big guy. Quite a paintbrush he's got." I got the impression he wasn't talking about God, but about some other "almighty" being, perhaps the one behind this facade. Honestly, have you ever seen a sunset like that?



This will probably end up being one of my favorite reaction shots ever. Here Truman is going through his photo album when he notices a small detail. Upon magnification he realizes that, in one of his wedding photos, his "wife" is crossing her fingers! His somewhat restrained response of surprise and shock is quite fitting.

Pitch Black (2000)

I've always enjoyed it when a film shows a situation through more than just a singular point of view. The accompanying shots show things from the point of view of Riddick (first and second) and the alien creatures inhabiting the planet (third). Riddick's view is unique due to the alterations made to his eyes, which allow him to see in near-perfect darkness. The shots range from close-ups to long shots, which I like because it doesn't make this special point of view repetitive or boring.




This shot caught my attention because it used a wide-angle lens. I assume this was done so the viewer could get a sense of the heat and expansiveness of this alien desert. It shows all the key elements: three suns, flat dry land, and no vegetation.


Here we have a view of the alien desert from atop a lookout's station. The lookout had installed a cloth sun umbrella for protection from the blue sun's rays. As the shot pans up, we see the strange desert landscape beyond. If there's any symbolism worth looking into, it is of the suggested protection of the man-made device from the naturally-occurring wilderness beyond. As the movie progresses, the stranded passengers of the crashed spaceship find sanctuary in the machinery they discover along their way.

Swordfish (2001)

The beginning of the movie starts with Gabriel, the lead "bad guy", discussing movies. The topic: realism. The idea that the bad guy never gets away with his crime is, according to him, unrealistic. This concept will play a major role in how the viewer expects the movie to conclude, and how it actually does.



I like this next scene because it demonstrates thoroughly the destructive nature of a bomb. These days we hear about bombs and we think "big fiery explosion" with stuff pushed out. But not all explosions have that effect, which is shown by the bomb which explodes in this scene. Many pounds of C4 explosive and canisters of ball bearings have been strapped to hostages. The bombs are controlled by a proxy sensor which will detonate the explosives should a hostage wander too far. As is evident from this scene, one of the hostages strays. The scene itself is a slow-motion "matrix-style" sort of thing. As the explosion occurs, the camera slows down the speed of the film while simultaneously panning in an arc around the bank containing the criminals and remaining hostages. This method lets the viewer take in all the details.



This last scene is another example of foreshadowing. Here, Gabriel (bad guy) queries Stanley (hacker) about how Houdini became such a successful magician. The key is misdirection, which also provides a key element in the direction of the plot of this film.