Blog Post IV

My write up is as follows:

The camerawork in this episode of Fargo is very simple, and uses many of the same shots throughout the scenes. The first few seconds of the scene, we see Pearl from the waist-up calling for Lester. When he says, "In the basement," the camera switches from being in front of her to being behind her, obscuring her facial expressions. As she walks down into the basement,  we see a full-body shot of Pearl. The camera pans over to Lester working on a washing machine. As they talk, the camera then shows a knee-up shot of Lester, which then transitions to a waist-up shot of the two of them standing in front of the washing machine. After Pearl turns it on, the camera snaps to angling slightly downward onto the washing machine, very slowly zooming in it on it as it becomes more noisy. As it continues, there are short snaps of Pearl's unsatisfied expression, indicating her apparent disgust. As the machine begins smoking, there is a short waist-up shot of Pearl bending down to attempt to turn it off, and then a waist-up shot of Lester pulling the cord behind it. The camera then snaps to the same angle of shot from when Pearl was walking down the stairs, and then transitions into a slightly angled shot from behind her. They continue their conversation, albeit more hostile than previously, and the camera switches between Pearl's thigh-up camera shot and Lester's waist-up camera shot. As Pearl walks closer to Lester, the camera moves into a shoulders-up shot, showing the audience the full range of her facial expressions and emotion. Something also worth mentioning is that the light is angled so that it casts a very harsh shadow on her face, whereas with Lester, the light is cast onto him, not from behind. As they talk, the camera transitions into another waist-up shot of the both of them, and moves back and forth as they talk in the scene. A shot worth noting is the one specifically angled onto the hammer behind Lester, and the shot where  he grabs it. After a few waist-up frames, he hits her over the head with the hammer. The shot that follows this is another shoulder-up shot that has Pearl looking seemingly into the camera as blood begins to pour down her forehead. We then see yet another angled waist-up shot of Lester with Pearl standing in front of him. He then proceeds to hit her again, and the camera transitions onto the floor, showing only Pearl's feet as Lester presumably beats her with the hammer. As he beats her, the camera transitions to a front-facing shot of Lester, then to a blood-splattered poster on the wall. We then see a down-facing shot of Pearl, bloodied and disfigured. As Lester looks down upon Pearl, the shot moves between him and the poster, going back and forth until he gets up and begins pacing around the room feverishly. As Lester paces around the room, the camera follows him knee-up, then to a waist-up shot. From this shot, the camera pans over to Lester as he grabs a garbage bag and undresses. We see a short shot of his shoes being taken off, and then a full-body shot of him pushing his clothes into the bag. We then see another full-body shot of him cleaning off the hammer. The camera then shows us a close shot of Lester at the phone, calling someone. For the remainder of the phone call, the camera switches between a waist-up shot of Lester and the same close shot from when he first initiated the call. After the call is over, we see a high-up shot of Lester reaching for a shotgun and shotgun shells, presumably atop a tall dresser. This angle gives us a small glimpse into the room (even if it is a very small glimpse.) We then see a knee-up shot of Lester loading the shotgun in front of the dresser where he retrieved it from. The following scenes are repetitive, showing a waist-up shot of Lester holding the shotgun, opening a door, and giving the audience some fake tears. We see a short waist-up side view of Lester handling the shotgun, and then the exact same shot as the previous. We see another side-view waist-up shot, but instead of continuing to open the door again, he walks off. This transitions into a full-body shot of Lester walking into the dining area, then into the bathroom. The angle of the shot changes as he enters the bathroom, now becoming a knee-up shot. As there is a knock at the door, the shot snaps to a slightly angled front-facing chest-up shot of Lester.

The sounds used in this episode are also noteworthy, and guide the reader through the scenes. For the most part, there is no music or ambience, and forces the reader to focus on the mundane sounds of life (such as footsteps, the whirr of the washing machine, the cranking of a gear, etc...) The only time the music really carries the scene is very shortly after Lester strikes Pearl with the hammer. The music starts out as soft, almost dreamlike, picking up in volume until he suddenly strikes her again, lowering the tone dramatically. It should also be noted that the music momentarily lowers in volume as the blood pours down Pearl's head and onto the floor. The music that follows this is not overpowering, still allowing the audience to hear his labored breathing and subsequent striking of Pearl's head. However, the music becomes louder as Lester looks at the bloodstained poster, most likely beginning to  fully realize the weight of his actions. The music in that specific shot is important because it is unlike what the audience has previously heard; it is not soft, yet it is not  harsh and indicative of violence. This same music carries the audience through the following scenes of Lester undressing and cleaning off the murder weapon, as well as into the first few seconds of the phone call. Once Lester begins speaking, however, the music stops. The audience hears the ring of the phone, as well as the continuous ticking of the clock behind him. For the most part, this scene is just the two men speaking to each other, with very little noise in the background. As Lester grabs the shotgun, however, an almost cartoony-like 'sneaking' music can be heard. This music intertwines with the music from the scene before the phone call, and is present until the end of the clip. The last sound in the clip is of a knocking at the door, most likely from the man on the phone.

The editing within the episode is minimal, up until the end of the clip and subsequent knocking of the door. There are a few time skips, for example, after Lester undresses, and after he begins practicing his 'lines' in front of the door. However, most of the acting is done within the shot.

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As compared to the example scored entry, I would have to say that my submission is much wordier and choppier than the short, bulleted notes that the example submission. I actually prefer the way that the example took down notes and worded their entry as compared to mine. The biggest similarity, however, between my entry and the example is that in both, we go through each differing shot, as well as the mood/tone it accompanies in the scene. I think this is important to convey to the reader (who may or may not have seen the episode before) what kind of feeling each scene will evoke.

As a contrast, however, I'd argue that my submission is shorter than the example, and probably could've given more of my personal feelings rather than just explaining every single shot in the episode. I also could've talked more about the editing, which is something that the example talked about in more than 3 sentences. The example also talks about the appearance of the characters, something I didn't really talk about to the extent that the example did. I feel that this enhances the example's argument, and if I had done the same, might've enhanced my submission as well.

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I did not take any notes throughout the episode, though I did make a few small mental notes throughout.

1. This appears to be an abusive household, propagated by (most likely) misogynistic/misandrist views of what a man should be like and how he should function within the family unit (as well as how he treats his wife.)

2. The writers of the show/creative directors really want to portray the main character as potentially mentally unstable

3. Multiple instances of medium shots that convey the characters through the conversation

4. A LOT of low tones/dim lighting

5. Multiple low-shots + full body shots