I chose the “flash” scene, from the movie Get Out. I have now watched this movie three times, and, although this specific scene has always been my favorite, there are still genius aspects of it that I am only now picking up on. The scene revolves around what we know now is Chris setting off something inside Andre, reverting him back into his original self. The first aspect of this scene that strikes me is the cult atmosphere that is presented. As Chris comes over, the group of people congregate around him, and as this happens, the camera rises above the scene to capture the weirdness of it, as a man asks him about the “African American experience.” On top of this, we can see Andre, (the man in the straw hat) hovering in the corner of the shot, as foreshadowing for what is to come.
The overall scene isn’t very largely affected by the setting, which is out in the courtyard of the house. However, framing and angles make for an extremely riveting scene as it progresses. Upon Chris being asked such a question, the frame switches to a close up on his face to show how uncomfortable he is with the question, then right back to the over the shoulder shot of the crowd, focusing on Mr. Armitage shaking his leg around playfully, saying “It’s a tough one!”, with a smile. Then back to a close up on Chris, as he tries to avoid the question, until he ushers over the only other black person at the event, (Logan) who had been hovering at the outskirts of the aforementioned over the shoulder shots, to field the question of the African American experience. In response, he exhibits the unsettling qualities that Chris had already noticed, and that Chris had no idea what to make of. As Logan directs conversation to his notably older wife, Chris makes an attempt to discreetly take a picture of Logan. The initial reaction of Logan is shown from a medium close up shot with an unidentifiable expression, which quickly morphs to horror as the camera goes to a zoomed out shot of the whole group, as the camera floats upward, to a quick shot of Chris as he realizes he has made a mistake, then finally back to Logan, whose face is lit up from the left side. The shot starts at the right side of his face, and slowly pans around untill it lines up perfectly facing him, as his expression goes from crazed:
To tortured, as his nose begins to bleed:
This scene has two important examples of costume; the first being the attire of the crowd of white people present. They are all dressed as if they are trying to exhibit extravagant wealth, while Chris looks down their throats in a jean jacket. The other use of costume is the action of having Logan wear a hat. This is, as we learn later, is to cover the scar from the unspecified brain implant surgery. The other two characters with headgear, (The parents of the Armitages’ respective hat and wig) are the other characters who have also had the surgery. In addition, there is not a single sound that is not ambient or dialogue until the pivotal shot during which Logan’s nose starts bleeding, as tension builds. It starts as a low ring with all other sound muffled, and as Logan starts to lunge at and appear to quarrel with Chris, a very fast drum beat begins and gets louder and louder with the only other sound being Logan’s screams as he is dragged away. The audio chosen in this part of the scene is very effective, and aids the scene in being tense and pivotal.