'Witness' Case Study Analysis

‘Witness’ is a Thriller film directed by Peter Weir and released in 1985. The murder scene was filmed in 30^th Street station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It starts with a close up of the Amish boy named Samuel glancing up to the angel statue with curiosity. This creates a relationship between the boy and the audience, and suggests that he is significant to the storyline, as he is the first character we see. The boy stands out from the rest of the crowd; this is mainly due to the look of the Amish, with his black clothes and halo like hat.  It then cuts to the angel looking down on the boy, this may suggest that the angel is looking over him, and protecting him. The angel is also helping somebody, who seems hurt, this may be foreshadowing, because the boy is the only witness of the scene. An over the shoulder high angle near the angel, may suggest that the boy is vulnerable, which could also be foreshadowing, regarding what is about to happen. This shot is also a fantastic example of the rule of thirds, its two-thirds location, and one-third angel. This shot also shows the difference between the Amish culture, compared to other cultures, as the boy and his mother stand out from the crowd. The non diegetic sound relates to the holy imagery, suggested by the use of the angel, and the hat shaped like a halo.

The long shot of the mother and son sitting on the bench in the station is very significant. Firstly, no-one else is sitting near them; this may suggest that the Amish culture is somehow isolated from other cultures. Secondly at the vanishing point of the shot, the location of the murder is established. As the boy is walking towards where the murder scene will take place, his is stopped by his mother, who places his hat on top of his head. The hat is seen as the halo, from previous shots, and is linked with the angel, which is also linked to protection. The hat is then deemed as a form of protection. The strange thing about this shot is the fact that the mother allows the boy to go into the toilets by himself. This may be because she wants him to explore, but could also suggest that the mother isn’t aware of possible dangers in society.

It then cuts to the toilet, where the murder will take place. We see the victim of the murder, who seems reasonably harmless, and the use of a close up of the man, then a close up of the boy, links them together. I think this shot is another example of a vanishing point, the mirrors and sinks are directed to where the boy is about to go. It then cuts to a shot of the boy inside the cubical, but from an outside perspective, where we see just half of the boy, in between the gap in the door. It then cuts to another close up of the man realising that him and the boy aren’t alone. We then see an enigmatic figure, in the mirror. We did not see his face, therefore suggesting that there is no relationship between him and the man. It then cuts back to the boy in the cubical; who also has realised himself and the man are not alone. We finally get a close up of the enigmatic man in the mirror, who seems to be the ring leader of the murder, and nods, to his accomplice. Then we see a shot of all three men in the cubical, this could link the men in some way, and may suggest that something is about to happen. We see another enigmatic figure, who is thought to be the accomplice. Just as the accomplice raps the shirt around the man, we hear non diegetic sound again. This time it is fast paced, to increase the tension, and also get the viewers attention. As the murder is about to happen, there is a zoomed close up of the boy looking at what is happening, he has become the “witness”. We then see a point of view shot from the boy's perspective; this contains the rule of thirds, one-third mirror, and two-thirds murder. The volume of the sound is increased to raise the tension even more. Once the murder is over, the ring leader seems quite laid back, as he washed his hands in the sink, straight after the murder, he’s acting as if nothing happened. The man then hears the sound of the boy’s fright, and pulls out yet another murder weapon. As the man checks through all of the cubicles, the boy realises that lock on the cubical is undone; the sound becomes faster paced, as it is a race between the boy and the man.

We see a panning shot of underneath the cubicles, using ambient light outside of the cubicles and non ambient light inside the cubicles. The boy is then in a race to get into another cubical so that the man won’t see him inside it. The boy is then seen in another cubical, in a crucifix position, this may suggest that the boy may not escape death. In this shot we also see that the hat is off of his head, therefore the protection gone. It then goes quiet as the boy realises the men are going. There are a lot of head and shoulder shots of each character in this particular scene, this draws the audiences attention and puts them in that situation.

We then see a medium shot of the boy and his mother, after the murder. The mother acts as the protector, and replaces the hat. We then see another example of the rule of thirds, one-third black anonymous figure, and two-thirds main character. The main character is shown in front of blue ambient lighting, which may suggest that he is the hero. We immediately know that this man is the main character because he seems like the authority figure giving the orders, and is also played by the very famous actor, Harrison Ford. We then see a close up of the boy hiding away from the man, and then it cuts to a close up of the "hero", named Book. This immediately links the boy with Book, and establishes a relationship between the audience and Book aswell. Straight after the close up of the detective, we get another close up of the mother, which also links them together, which could be foreshadowing for what is later to come in the film.