My Notes Cambridge Notes

Camerawork In the opening scene: wide shot Crane movement in the

& Medium shot beginning

Enter basement: wide shot Change of focus in the first

Husband introduction: zoom
shot
Medium shots are used during
their conversation, wide shots
and medium are present too.
setting
High angle and right tilt as he
comes down the stairs
Zoom in onto the washing
machine

Medium shots are used Shot-reverse shot during wife-

throughout the argument. husband talk

A wide shot is used show a rift Zoom in on main character

in a relationship.
An over-the-shoulder-shot was
used to better showcase the
aggravation, making it more
personal?
Medium shot of characters as
they further get into
conversation
Extreme long shots of the
setting

Background shots are used to Low-angle onto character as the

display blood splatter. (…) leave

Close-up shots are used once

more to show Lestor’s apparent
guilt and shock kicking in.

Mixtures of both wide, and

medium shots are used
throughout his process of
cleaning up the scene
||Maybe making it show the
stress and his focus on the
scene rather than himself?

A tight shot is used to show

Lestor grabbing the shotgun.

Another wide shot is used

before transitioning into a
medium shot which acts as the
closing shot.
 Sound In the opening shot we hear
echoes of Lestor working on the
washing machine along with
ticking of the clock, before the
footsteps by the wife grow
louder before calling out to her
husband.
The sound of the tinkering
grows clearer as she enters the
basement.
Clattering of the washing
machine simultaneously with
the wife’s speech
Clattering of people in the office
and phone rings simultaneously
with the main characters
speech
Washing machine emphasizes
the silence

The couple’s voices echo as the Wife’s speech is dominated by

only sound in the room as they
begin to enter a disagreement,
which is only interrupted by the
sound of the washing machine
being.
||Hammer acts similarly.
The score kicks in as the murder
happens.
washing machine during main
character’s thinking period
Non- Diegetic sound > dialogue
and background noises
Diegetic sound > background
soundtrack music
>> Slow temp

The music never takes over and

ends as soon as the call he takes
goes through.

The man on the phone has a

calm, deep voice which
contrasts Lestor’s tone in the
scene.
||Refers to him having been a
“bad boy,” linkage to him not
being a “real man” by possibly
having an affair with a man??

The soundtrack kicks back in as

Lestor picks up the gun.
||Similar to John Wick with blue
lighting, soundtrack seems to
signify dark intent

Mise-en-scène The opening shows us a Low lighting

cluttered living room with dark
 lighting, as only a few lamps
seem to be on.
||Time may be night given the
low and dark lighting??
The basement contrasts the
warm-neutral tones.
||Warm to cold
//Foreshadowing of a different
environment?
The lighting is often to the
husband’s back
||A visual metaphor?
Small bathroom, symbolizing
how he feels trapped?
Editing All transitions from each
footage is a cut that often
followed the movement of the
character of each shot.
The editing made it feel more
personal.
||Kept focus on the main
character (Lestor) frequently
after his introduction.
||Sound design implementation
My Write up
Write up Camerawork:
In the opening scene from what
we’re given, we are given a
wide shot that shows the
cluttered furniture with the wife
in the background, before she
approaches it creating a
medium shot with her center
frame
Tones of gray and blue of the
setting
Slight light highlights on the
face
Characters have dull colored
clothing
>Blend into the setting
Dark furniture
Furniture is highlighted
Fading in into another setting
> superimposition
>> Helps establish the setting
the main character is living in
Pace is slow
> Reflects on mundane
atmosphere
>> Long takes
Cambridge Write up
The segment of the first episode
of Fargo illustrates the
mundane realism of the main
character’s surroundings and
consequently his role in its
structure.
The audience is introduced with
a gloomy and dull setting of a

The camera changes angles to
instead show us her back and
establish the rest of the scene
as is transitions to another wide
shot to let the audience see her
move downstairs.
When she moves to the
basement, we are given another
wide shot to help us establish
the space.
The camera angle softly
transitions to a close-up shot by
setting the focus onto her
husband via a zoom shot.
Medium shots are used during
their conversation, before it
turns to a wide shot to let us
see more of the basement, and
what the husband was working
on better (the washing
machine). Medium shots and a
zoom shot are used when the
washing machine shows signs of
failure.
Medium shots are used
throughout the argument
between the couple after a
wide shot is used to signify a
growing distance between the
couple. With an over-the-
shoulder-shot being used to
signify a growing aggression as
she moves closer to her
husband, Lestor, which are used
along with medium shots to
show an increase in tension
between the two characters.
A medium shot is followed by a
close-up shot of the hammer
which is then followed by
medium and POV shots as the
wife is murdered. Background
laundry room with the focus
being on the washing machine.
Despite being a setting with low
light the audience’s attention is
drawn to the appearance of the
washing machine by a subtle
highlight, its shaky and erratic
movements and the clattering
noise it produces. This long
show slowly transitions to a
medium long shot of a dining
room table where the audience
is introduced to two characters.
The loud noise of the washing
machine plays a camouflaged
but ever-present role in the first
scene to emphasize the bleak
and sterile environment with its
monotonous sound patten.
The mise-en-scène of the first
scene depicts yet again a dull
atmosphere expressed by the
dark wooden furniture and non-
vibrant clothing of the actors
like in the laundry room shot, it
consists of low lighting however
highlights are placed on the
characters faces and the dining
room table to emphasize their
appearance. The notion that
both the scenery and the
wardrobe match the tone of
color suggests that there is no
innovation or particular
happenings in this surrounding
and that everything goes on an
on-going routine.
The main character is made
clear to the audience by the fact
in the beginning of the dining
room scene is alone at the table
with his wife’s voice in the
background and showing only
segments of her body. The
wife’s introduction into the shot
is depicted by the sharp sound
shots are used to display blood
splatter.
Close-up shots are used once
more to show Lestor’s horror at
what he’s done, along with the
evidence of the murder he’s
committed (the corpse of his
wife, with a close shot of her
face.)
Mixtures of both wide, and
medium shots are used
throughout his process of
cleaning up the scene, with
close-up and medium shots
being used during his phone call
to better showcase his distress.
A tight shot is used to show
Lestor grabbing a shotgun and
ammunition from a shelf,
before transitioning to another
medium shot as he loads the
shotgun with bullets, and is
used continuously from
different angles as it becomes
clear he will be attempting to
set up whoever was on the
phone.
Another wide shot is used
before transitioning into a
medium shot which acts as the
closing shot for the footage we
saw.
Sound:
In the opening shot we hear
echoes of Lestor working on the
washing machine along with
ticking of the clock, before the
footsteps by the wife grow
of her plate being placed firmly
against the table. Despite this
abrupt movement through the
insert the pace is slow with
predominantly long takes taking
a large part of the gloominess of
the sequence.
The appearance of the
characters in the first scene go
from a medium long shot to a
medium shot as they
commence their conversation.
In terms of camera movement,
the conversation as
supplemented by a shot-
reverse-shot to engage the
audience into the characters
conversation. Frequent close
ups towards the end of the
conversation indicate a further
intimacy the audience has with
the character to get a deeper
insight into its emotions
expressed by its facial
expressions.
As the scene progresses the
audience comes to realize the
character’s misplacement into
his society. This can be seen by
his disregard for his wife’s
conversation on frequent
occasion. The notion that when
the main character leaves the
table, his surroundings seem to
dwindle around him. In
camerawork terms, the focus is
placed on his face. In regard to
sound his wife’s speech is
simultaneously with the noise
of the washing machine in the
basement. However, over time
her speech seems to be muffled
by the washing machine in the
basement. It could be said thus
that his wife’s speech is a direct
comparison to the washing
louder before calling out to her
husband.
The sound of the tinkering
grows clearer as she enters the
basement.
The couple’s voices echo as the
only sound in the room as they
begin to enter a disagreement,
which is only interrupted by the
sound of the washing machine
being hit and the hammer being
picked up. The two things that
began and ended the
conversation.
The score kicks in as the murder
happens and plays in time with
the blows the wife takes from
the hammer and playing along
with the sounds of Lestor’s
frantic movements and
breathing as he covers up the
crime.
The music never takes over, and
ends as soon as the call he takes
goes through, with the sound of
the clock acting as a loud
indicator for the passing of time
along with the quick footfalls
Lestor makes as he moves
around while being on the
phone. The man on the phone
has a calm, deep voice which
contrasts Lestor’s tone in the
scene.
The soundtrack kicks back in as
Lestor picks up the gun, loads it,
and plans his way to get away
with the murder of his wife.
The score almost acts as a
linkage between the darker
tones, with it linking the
brutality of the murder Lestor
machine, being both dull and
mundane but still has an impact
on him in some shape or form
subconsciously. In addition, the
impact of the diegetic sound of
the machine can be seen by its
noise being amplified during a
(…) pause in their conversation
and thus emphasizes the bleak
silence.
The character’s silent meeting
with the machine machine
illustrates his reflection on the
comparison of their
appearance. The high angle shot
upon the machine with the
point of view from the behalf of
the main characters intrigues
the audience to the main
character’s thoughts.
The following extreme long
shots of his scenery with tones
of gray insinuate a rigid and cold
atmosphere. Furthermore,
these colors are placed in the
office scene to additionally
illustrate the character’s
camouflage into his
surrounding. The
superimposition of the
establishing shots helps to thus
establish the characters setting
and steadily introduce the new
scene with the link being the
colors of the image remaining.
In the office scene, much like
the dining room scene, the main
character’s speech is slightly
covered up by the background
noise in the office. Therefore, it
could be said that his
importance both at home and
at work is insignificant because
nobody pays attention to him.
The dull and emotionless
committed- which was
impulsive- and the assumingly
soon to be murder of the man
who he was on the phone with.
The clip ends with a knock at
the door, signifying someone
else (the man on the phone) has
arrived on the scene.
Mise-en-scène (SET):
The opening shows us a
cluttered living room with dark
lighting, as only a few lamps
seem to be on, letting us
assume the time of day is night.
The clutter lets us (the
audience) know the home is
well lived in, and that she’s not
the only one who lives in the
home.
The basement contrasts the
warm-neutral tones that are
present in the mid-level part of
the home. On the basement
stairs you can see the soft
lighting from the home’s
interior bleed into the darker
basement, where the only
source of light from it is harsher
and sharper.
expressions of the clients and
the non-vivid wardrobe of all
the characters yet again
emphasizes the mundaneness
of the surrounding.
The only form of non-diegetic
sound is the soundtrack in the
background that aids to
emphasizes the appearance of
the outdoor settings. Its slow
tempo and lack of up-beatness
emphasizes a gloomy and
mundane appearance of the
shots.
All in all, all factors of sound,
camera, mise-en-scène and
editing aided to create a
mundane atmosphere. The
reoccurrence of the washing
machine can be seen as an (…)
to the audience and a symbol to
the main character’s
monotonous and on-going
routine which like the structure
the everlasting circular motions
the machine produces.

Background shots from the

camera help pan out the rest of
the room as he paces and
frantically moves around the set
after the murder, the cool and
bright lighting from the
basement is substituted for the
more dark and warm-lit main
floor of the house. The lighting
is often to the husband’s back,
as if he’s taking a dark path,
leaving him in a darker
foreground and away from the
light.

As Lestor begins to plan how to

get away with the murder of his
wife, he’s placed in small,
cramped, spaces as if to signify
how trapped he is in his
situation.

The closing scene we are given

shows Lester walking into a
small bathroom, keeping theme
with the nearly claustrophobic
space, to help signify his falling
mentality.

Editing:

All transitions from each

footage is a cut that often
followed the movement of the
character of each shot. The
editing made it feel more
personal, the editing of the
camera angles and shots made
it so with medium and close-up
shots being frequent between
characters to show the rising
tension between the two, and
the anxiety and paranoia at the
idea of being caught later on.

By editing the score to fade into

the scenes through those tense
moments (The murder and the
premeditation of one), let’s the
viewer know what’s going to
happen.

The same could be said for

having the dialogue overtake
any other natural sounds
produced when filming, without
overtaking them completely. It
makes it feel as though the
audience is there for every
moment.