mjellin’s blog

Road to Perdition consisted of a wide variety of shots and angles that played on the emotion of each individual scene. These angles and shots ranged from establishing shots that show the main character and his son traveling on the road to Chicago, all the way to a close up of the son’s eyes watching his father and partner kill a man while hiding. Each shot gives more precise and tangible emotion to the scenes of hardship for the boy and his father. Such actions scenes as the boy hiding in the back seat of the car, or of the photographer watching the money theft from across the street, or the shootout between the photographer and the father all have almost a point-of-view type angle to almost throw the viewer into the scene and enthrall them in the action and drama. Other scenes exemplify the loneliness of the child at times. Scenes such as while the dad is meeting in Chicago, the child is sitting alone in a crowded room full of adults alone. Another is the view out the big window on the beach of the kid playing while the dad gets shot in the back by the photographer. The angles and shots give each particular scene that added essence of feeling like you are right there beside the actor. Collectively, these shots and angles provide the story as the boy experiences it, rather than watching all characters’ sagas from a third-person narrative perspective.