Amelie Shots & Text Analysis

In Amelie's film the shooting and the camera work is amazing; it's based on classic shots, but it also introduces new or not often shots/concepts. An example of a classic shot is OTS, and also when the camera is on the floor the audience sees both, her feet and other character or characters. Another factor that makes this film so good is the use of lighting; the lighting is a very powerful tool that transports the audience into the setting. The lights are well placed and are not so bright that create an unreal environment, on the contrary it's perfect that give the idea of where they (characters) are. Overall I think these classic shots help the story develop better and include details that the audience might like because they are impeccable and have a good quality in work and on screen.

 In the this shot the audience sees the character in an unusual angle that contributes to above topic. However, this shot is only the beginning of the following which will have effects just live in other scenes.

 The whole story is about Amelie, a young woman that helps people to resolve their problems and unexpectedly finds love and will try to be happy. The way the story develops is weird/ bizarre  because the characters' actions are unusual and the audience is not used to that ideas or thoughts. Also the film shows strong sex scenes that could be consider unnecessary. Sex is always controversial and probably because of that the director decided to use it. In my personal opinion i think it was a risky decision to make, but it was worth the risk because the reaction of the audience was favorable. Every character had different phases that the actors performed very well. An example is Amelie, her first scene was as a kid and obviously grew up, but besides that when she started to help people to resolve their lives she experienced beautiful and not so beautiful feelings that  made her realize it was time to help herself and obtain her own happiness.

One of the things I loved about the camera work was the way they moved the camera towards the object or focus point. They did not just zoomed in, they slowly moved the camera and at the same time they moved it with a turn of 180 degrees. A great example of this is the bag on the floor and how the camera gets closer and and shows different angles as its getting closer. This work camera is so perfect, it's pretty  much is the same longitude as longitude in every single shot of the scene.

  

A remarkable idea in this film is the eye-looks; the audience can actually feel like they are seeing  through the characters' eyes. The following image shows it, when Amelie is returning the photo album and he is on the top of some tourist place where he's seeing through a gazebo. The shot shows the exactly what he is seeing and how he's seeing it. Also there aren't too many CU, but I think it's because there is no need of them. The CU that are shown are necessary in order to imply something such as strong emotions or details of characters' actions. This CU of the man's finger trying to call his mother shows perfectly that he's pressing the bottom that says mother.

Personally I found that the creative part of this film is the most interesting and amazing. During the movie there are many shots that have pretty good effects that convert it into a spectacular film. My favorite shot is the one on the left; it's very complex. It has a combination of reality and illusion, all in one shot. I don't know who created it, but i suppose it took time and patience because it's very detailed and one of the more important shots of the film, it resolves the mystery of who is the man in the photo album that appears so often. And just like this shot, there are many other creative shots that are well done.

Adding to creative shots, the one on the right is very emotional. This shot happens after she  communicates with her love and then he leaves and she feels down without him. I've never seen this effect before and I think it's pretty cool because it perfectly expresses the character's feelings.

Overall, I think that the movie was good even though it had a bizarre and strong concept about life and people's actions. The shots were great along with the effects, and the story expressed unexplored emotions with unusual actions and believes. I suppose French people can relate more with the movie than Americans, however the power of films bring people together and certainly AMELIE was no exception.