The Giant's Fight Scene Analysis

The Giant’s fighting scene from Spike Lee’s Mo’s better blues is a really interesting scene in terms of lighting scheme, camera composition, etc.
The sequence opens with an establishing master shot #1 of Giant going to the restroom. Shot #2 is a medium close up shot of Giant. Behind him are two men peeking from the stalls. This foreshadows the trouble Giant might be facing. The director uses the division of surface in order to show the conflict between the men and Giant. The focus of the shot shifts from Giant to the men and follow focus as they grab Giant. Shot #3 is a medium shot, more like a two shot, of all four people. The 4th shot is an establishing shot of the on-going show in the bar. The red lighting of the overall area gives the audience a feeling of separation between what is occupying Bleek and what is happening behind the scenes with Giant. Shot 5 and 9 are medium shots continuing from the shot #3. The shots track the movements of the bad guys dragging Giant out of the bar to the back alley. The director makes use of slow motion in order to put more emphasis into the intensity of the sequence. He also makes use of color mixing between the red light and the natural light along the hallway. As a result, we experience a further separation between Giant and Bleek. Shot 6 creates a jump cut from shot 5 at normal speed. Giant in this shot tries to shout at Bleek. The normal speed of the shot shows the real time struggle and add attention as it breaks the normal flow of the slow motion shot 5. Shot #7 is a panning and zooming shot from an extreme long shot to a close up of Bleek as he realizes the situation Giant is stuck in. The director obeys the rule of thirds in this shot by keeping Bleek on the left of the screen holding the long instrument towards the right. The shot begins as a normal angle but finishes as a high angle shot showing that Bleek is trying to take control of the scene. Then we have a cut to a medium close up shot #8 of Bleek standing on the right holding the instrument to the left. There is no camera movement in this shot. The director followed the 30-degree rule in this shot. Shot #10 is from Giant’s point of view as he is dragged through the hallway. People are looking into the camera as if they are looking to Giant and the bad guys. This shot is to establish people’s reaction to the scene. Shot #11 is a transitional shot for shot #12 that zooms into Giant as he is dragged towards the end of the hallway. Shot #12 is a medium shot between the 3 character. Between this and the shots before, the director keeps Giant in the middle of the frame to keep the audience focused on the main character. Shot #13 is a close-up on the two bad guys to show their disgust and amused emotions as they mess with Giant. Shot #14 is a close up on the glasses to shift our attention to what happens to Giant’s glasses. Shot #15, #17, #20: These 3 cuts come from the same medium shot of the bad guys continuously hitting Giant. They were edited and mixed with other cuts and angles to intensify the scene. Shot #16, #18 are from the same close up shot on Giant’s face as he is enduring …show more content…
A few things also stand out for me. Wardrobe choices in this scene are particularly interesting. The bad guys are dressed in black suits. Giant and Bleek as well as others are dressed in blue and brown suits. This shows the contrast between the bad guys and the main characters. There is also a separation in atmosphere achieved by the use of light: red light versus natural white light. The director also makes use of a lot of rules in classic Hollywood filmmaking like the rules of division of surface, the 30-degree rule, etc. The editors have done a great job in creating tension through shorter cuts in the fighting shots than other establishing and ending shots of the