I chose the scene where Avon and Stringer fight after Avon gets hurt by the drive-by. This scene was from Episode 8 of Season 3 and it’s at the end of the episode starting at roughly 52:00 until 57:15/ the end. After reading Ebert’s article, i was really interested in his idea of good vs. evil and how camera angles and the placement of characters can affect that. So, a little context to this scene, ever since Avon got out of jail, he’s been out of place. He’s more into the blood and territorial aspect of the drug business and Stringer is on the other end. Stringer is more educated and enjoys the business aspect of the drug business. Up until this scene, both characters have been getting under each other’s skin. Finally, they duke it out in this scene after Stringer hears about McNulty talking about D.

I took notes on each aspect of the assignment. So, i’ll post those so you can see my thought process and what i caught. Similar to Ebert’s style, if i missed something, comment and share it with me!

Analyze The Camera Work: I turned off the audio and let my eyes do the listening

-door slams when Stringer walks in

-Stringer’s voice is demanding.

-Avon sounds sarcastic and isn’t taking stringer seriously

-Avon asks questions, doesn’t leave room for stringer to talk.

-Stringer repsonds in short sentences. Like getting ready to explode.

-You hear stringer drink.

-Silence after Stringer says the cop was right about death

-Stringer’s voice is lower, making Avon feel guilty

-Avon screams, assuming Stringer is on top.

-Now Stringer is in charge. He talks to Avon without letting him respond

-Avon tells stringer to let him up; showing he’s weak. Then groans in pain

-It gets really quiet. You only hear panting then que closing music.

Put It all Together:

I realized that doing the steps above separately, it really worked. Watching the clip whole was perfect because i connected the camera work to the audio and how they played hand in hand in developing the scene and the entire mood of the scene. It also gave me (the audience) a better understanding of Avon and Stringer’s relationship. Things have changed dramatically for them since Avon came back. So, let me piece this all together for you!

What Ebert wrote in that article was all relevant to understanding scenes and movies. The part that caught my attention the most was the left/right position of characters and the top/bottom concept. This scene demonstrates both concepts perfectly. Now, Ebert mentions that this doesn’t have to be entirely true but it is for this scene. Let’s look into the left/right positioning of the characters. The scene starts off with Avon on the right and Stringer on the left. Ebert mentions that when a character is on the left it usually means that this character is more negative. This depends on the interpretation of the characters. When Stringer first comes into the scene, he’s very abrupt and demanding. You can already tell that he is negative and wants to chew something out with Avon. This obviously explains why he’s on the left. You then see Avon. He’s on the right. Although this scene is about Stringer believing Avon killed D, Avon is still the more positive character. You see this more towards the end.

When they first start talking

 Right before they fight!

 

Once Stringer enters the room, you see that he is the taller character. As Ebert mention, he would be considered the “top” in the scene. Ebert writes that when a character is at the top of the frame it usually means they are more dominant. In this case, it’s true because Stringer attacks Avon and remains on top. I couldn’t help but connect this to their relationship. Since Avon left, Stringer has been the head of the game controlling both aspects of their drug business. Avon is really just a figure head at this point. Avon remains on bottom during the fight until the end. But after Stringer lets off of him, Avon goes to the sit back down. Basically, to sum this all up, Stringer on top = dominant. Avon on bottom= not dominant.

During the fight Stringer is on top.

 Stringer looks down on Avon

 Avon remains on the ground after the fight

 Another big part of this that i wanted to focus on was the lighting. Ebert mentions in his article the idea of “dominant contrast.” Since we have all read this article we know that the lighter areas of a film mean dominance. At the beginning of this scene, Stringer is dark. Well, when you watch the clip, you’ll notice Avon talking down to him and just shutting him out. This changes once they actually fight. Here, the light begins to shift to Stringer. I thought this to be really interesting. The shifting of the light from Avon to Stringer represents the shift in power of their relationship. Ebert’s article goes into more detail with different angles and lighting but these three aspects really caught my attention and were exemplified perfectly in this scene.

Avon is in the dark after the fight, less dominant

 

After the fight Stringer looks up and is light!

Here’s the link to Episode 8 Season 3: Scene begins at 52:00 and ends at 57:15

http://www.wire106.com/the-wire/season-1/