Wizard Of Oz Analysis

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Wizard of Oz Analysis

Scene: This scene in the film comes just after the house has been picked up in the twister. Dorothy's house has been lifted up into the sky and suddenly dropped back down to earth in the middle of the Land of Oz. In the scene itself, Dorothy leaves her home to see that she is "Not in Kansas anymore," and finds the new and amazing world of the munchkin city in front of her. She also meets Gwendela the good witch as her journey in Oz begins.

Shot 1: Wide shot. View behind Dorothy in black and white. Dorothy opens the door to the color world of Oz. She steps out into Oz and stops. Straight on shot, camera moves into Oz first through the door, followed by Dorothy appearing again in the foreground. Light symphonies playing magical music, birds are singing in the background.

Shot 2: Close up. Dorothy views Oz and looks around, hugs Toto, walks out of shot. Angle straight on; no camera movement. Sound is still melodious, light nature sounds ambient.

Shot 3: Long shot. View across Munchkin City. Starting Center frame, Dorothy gazes around all of Munchkin City, walks around about ten steps. Camera pans slowly right, rising higher and higher seeing all of Oz. No zooming in just panning. Turning left to find the center of the city and Dorothy as she re-enters the frame. Music in now more aw inspiring, heavenly, angelic like, nature sounds still present.

Shot 4: Wide shot. Dorothy walks into center of the shot carrying Toto. Looks around in amazement. While back in turned, munchkins appear by popping their heads up out of the flowers to see her for the first time. They then hide again as she turns back around to face the camera. Straight on shot, no movement, sounds is still co...

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...haracter's movement through the scene should look totally natural. As a scene shows us the basic setting and characters, it generally moves from a wide shot to a medium shot, and then to close-ups of the characters. This use of the space is then conserved by using a set of rules. The first rule is the 180-degree rule, or "not crossing the line." Meaning that the viewer is presented to a shot in which one person is on the right and a second person is on the left, the camera should not rotate beyond 180 degrees, because that would invert the relative positions of each person. The continuity style gave classical Hollywood films their rhythmic power. The spell that style enables the audience the wonder of being able to lose yourself in the world of the film depends on a how the director shows and gives you this new world, most notably done during Hollywood's Golden Age.

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