Scene Analysis

Relationship Between Shots

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016, dir. Taika Waititi)

In spending about, oh, I don't know, two hours or so excitedly jumping from one movie clip to another of literally EVERY movie I've rated above an 8 on my IMDB account (which is admittedly a lot), I stumbled across Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a Taika Waititi movie from 2016. A movie that was totally underappreciated, but nonetheless absolutely heartwarming (it also happened to be the only movie I could find with a clip under one minute). I'll spare you a confusing plot summary, but I totally recommend giving it a watch (fmovies - I'll say no more).

The scene opens to an establishing shot inside a hunting lodge/ranger's post in the New Zealand outback. As Ricky crosses the frame, the camera follows the 180 degree rule and switches to a left-side close-up of the two characters' profiles as they look at a paper posted to the wall, which Ricky excitedly points to.

In an eye-line match, we see a POV shot (of both Hector and Ricky) of a newspaper clipping entitled "POLICE BEGIN MANHUNT" with photos of the two characters. The camera jump-cuts to quick, succeeding close-ups of the printed word "manhunt," highlighting the importance of the word and the ridiculous nature of it (these two really don't look like the type of "dangerous" to be worthy of something as serious as a "manhunt"). 

As Ricky reads the article, mentioning his "Uncle" (really adoptive Father, but hey - that's just a New Zealand thing), the camera jump-cuts to Hector's photo, moving to a quick close-up of his eyes, before jumping to a cut of Ricky's own photo next to it, almost as if their incredibly offbeat "mugshots" are being taken right there and then.

Ricky continues to read, and the camera resumes the long shot from within the cabin as Hector now walks away from Ricky to sit down, before showing another close-up of Ricky's profile from Hector's now seated position, implying his attention to Ricky's reading. Again following the 180 degree rule, the camera flips to a close-up of Ricky's other side, with Hector remaining slightly out of focus in the background, hand in chin as he takes the article in, obviously the serious side to Ricky's comically innocent and laid back reading.

We now see a medium shot of Hector from the torso up, straight on, his hand still grasping his chin in thought. The camera slowly moves closer to Hector as Ricky continues to read, mentioning the police as they question Hector's mental state and the severity of the situation. As Hector becomes increasingly anxious and shocked by the situation, the cameras closeness to his face (moving from a medium shot to close-up of his face), his fear and paranoia of the situation (you know, where the police assume he's kidnapped his own son - seriously, you've gotta' see the movie) are heightened visually by this closeness and the emphasis placed on his facial expressions.

The camera once again cuts to Ricky (as seen from Hector's view, establishing eye-line from his seated position relatively lower to Ricky) as he reassures Hector of his newfound (criminal) fame, cutting back to a medium shot of Hector (shot-reverse-shot) to catch his reaction to Ricky's childish innocence and resulting reassurance, a quick and totally apropos face-palm."They think I'm crazy," he says to himself, to which the camera cuts back to Ricky (still from Hector's POV) who says, "And Asian." We see Hector once again as he peeks over at Ricky (OS), clearly exasperated. The quick cuts from our perspective of Hector, to his POV of Ricky, and Ricky to Hector, the rapid wit and ridiculous nature of the scene is heightened to a totally quirky and laughable tone, with or without context of the overarching plot.