The Graduate: A 1967 Film Dustin Hoffman

The Graduate is a 1967 film that stars Dustin Hoffman. He plays the role of a recently graduated college student named Benjamin Braddock. This film uses an exceptional amount of different aspects of cinematography. It ranges from multiple different camera angles, focal points, lighting, and shot compositions that are all used to allow the audience to create a deeper emotional connection with the move and story rather than just watching it. In the beginning of the movie for example, the camera is zoomed in very closely to Ben’s face allowing the audience to assume he is alone, yet he is on an airplane with many other people. The fish tank becomes a common focal point throughout the film for multiple reasons. A lot of those times the camera is angled to where it is looking

There was one scene in particular where the camera remained completely focused on him through the tank while his dad walked in the room. He sat in front of Ben slightly covering him but still unfocused. Ben’s mother walked in shortly after and stood right in front of the camera so that Ben was no longer in view to the audience. When this happened I got the sense that maybe Ben’s parents were always getting in his way. The constant close up angles as well as the camera closely following Ben even makes the audience feel suffocated by his parents. This was just one of the many successful ways a cameras focus could tell the audience so much about how a character is feeling and or one of the issues within the plot. The result of doing his allows the audience to have a sense of sympathy or