FILM - Research & Planning: Deconstruction of a showdown

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE

Link to the final duel from 'For a Few Dollars More'. (sorry for the poor quality, but if you havn't seen this movie in full before anyway, you're missing out).

Here is a video of the clip I am going to analyse. It is a shootout, so will help me when I film my shootout in my film. I apologise for the length here, I simply had to go into a lot of detail. However I have highlighted some of the important text and there are pictures, for those with less time/attention.

I'm not sure if this poster for 'For a Few Dollars More' is Spanish or Italian, but it is a good representative of
'Spaghetti Westerns'.

The showdown begins at the same time as the music. We are immediately shown a close up of 'The colonel's' gun on the floor, showing he all hope is lost for him. A medium shot shows his resigned reaction, as he acknowledges his downfall.

A medium shot shows 'El Indio' step closer and closer, as he too knows that he has a deathly advantage. As he gets closer, we see the mad look on his face the camera ends up focusing on. He then looks down slowly, and a fantastic over the shoulder shot shows us what he is looking at. We see the chiming wrist watch, and it is ironic that, in a heated conflict, the cameras focus is on a wrist watch and not the gun. It helps set the mood of showdown, and makes it a sorrowful affair. 

Every second of this duel is extremely well shot...is it possible to film a cowboy duel any better?

There is then another matching but inverted over the shoulder shot, to show the distance between the two, physically and metaphorically: the contrast between the ragged, mad mexican and the smart, sad cowboy. This contrast is stressed in a shot-reverse shot. However, the first shot of the two is of the colonel, and it is a low angle shot. This first silhouettes his cowboy hat against the bright sun, but also helps stress how he is in the 'moral high ground'. The next shots are all matched, character for character, except they are zoomed in further each time, creating tension. We almost feel as if we are staring into each of their eyes, as their eyes stair directly into the camera.

The silhouette of a cowboy hat against the sky is very striking.

As the music slows down to indicate a predicament for the colonel is nigh, we are given another close up shot of the gun to completely establish his hopeless position. We are given another close up of El Indio's hand, twitching down towards his gun, his action reacting to the music slowing down, as it comes to a finish. A mad grin comes onto his face, and there are is a succession of quick shots of his face and his hand coming close to his gun: he is enjoying himself and the quick succession of short shots make the atmosphere frantic.

But suddenly, El Indio's face turns as another chime is heard. There is a long wide angle shot of the two, standing face to face, as a hand appears in a close up between the two, dividing the frame in half. It comes up slowly and tensely, giving us a few moments to work out what has happened. Will the change benefit the colonel or El Indio? A close up shot of the colonel checking his own wristwatch shows that his has been stolen: it is ironic, and his facial expression is ambiguous: is he surprised, disappointed or relieved?

The music slows down and the camera shows a close up of the hand with the chimer, before it pans slowly up to the owner: its Clint Eastwood. The extreme close up of his face shows his anger, he is here to make it a fair fight. There are two extreme close ups showing the reactions of the dueling pair: El Indio looks surprised and mad, while The Colonel looks revengeful - and quietly pleased. As Clint Eastwoods face appears into shot, a dramatic guitar begins, building tension and making the appearance of Eastwood all the more pleasing. 

As he walks over into the dueling circle, there is a medium shot of El Indio reaching slowly for his gun. But a reaction shot of Eastwood shows he has noticed and is having none of it: a medium shot shows Eastwood shake his head, give him a cold stare, and to express his point further, he raises a shotgun to El Indio. A medium reaction shot of El Indio shows him almost cowering back - and he looks frightened. A panning shot shows Eastwood walk over to the Colonel, while El Indio clenches his fist in despair - he was so close. Eastwood hands The colonel a new gun belt, and as the Colonel puts it on in a medium shot, Eastwood exclaims: 'NOW we start'.

At the same time, the Colonel stands more upright, more defiant, with the belt gleaming around his waist, and the trumpets join the soundtrack. As the fight goes on, the shots get closer and closer. First we see a long shot of the two, with Eastwood sitting in the middle. Then a medium shot of the two, standing ready. Then a close shot of each other, from the shoulders up. Then an extreme close up, as framing the face in the picture.

As the duel continues, each shot is longer and more drawn out. It builds the tension to a great level - at any moment the shots could be fired. There are close ups that last well over 10 seconds. When the shots are finally fired, the chimes end, and the shots become fast and frantic. It is a life or death moment. We first see, in a series of close ups, El Indio reacting, frantically drawing for his gun, but then we see the Colonel, much faster, fire. This gave me the idea that maybe, in my film, we could hear a shot but the cameras attention could be focused on something else, so it is not clear who has won. The death is long and drawn out, but when it finally happens, the duel is over.

How I will use this film for inspiration:
As the shoot out scene progresses, the shots will become longer, more drawn out. The long timed shots create a lot of tension, and the silhouettes of cowboy hats for long amounts of time can be striking.
As the shoot out scene progresses, the shots will become more and more zoomed in, starting with wide long shots to extreme close ups. This helps further build tension.
I will also try to match each shot, so a close up of one character will be followed by a close up of the other with the same framing. This technique shows the contrast between good and bad characters: each aspect of the pair are shown to be opposites.