Analysis of Visual Techniques in 'Knife in the Water' Scene - Prof. Simonetta Menossi, Study notes of Art

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 Ex. #5: Knife in the Water (Polanski, 1962) Cutting and Internal Rhythms The scene begins at 00:25:20 when the young student (Zygmunt Malanowicz) looks up towards the mast of the sailboat. It ends at 0:25:32 with a shot of his finger and the mast. There are seven total shots in the scene. The first shot shows the young man’s face from an objective point-of-view. This eye-level, medium close-up places his face on the upper right corner of the frame. His head rests on a spiraled rope on the deck of the sailboat. The use of a medium lens allows everything to be in-focus, even the actor’s finger that appears in front of the camera at the end of the shot. The wooden deck and shadows coming from ropes that hold the sail create some distinct linear patterns. The shadows create diagonal lines that touch the border of the rope spiral on which his head lies. Low-key lighting is employed in the scene with its main source coming from the top of the camera. It is given away by the highlights on his right cheek. The lighting creates dark shadows on his eyes. Overall, his skin color appears gray in this black- and-white scene. His chest also appears gray since he is shirtless. The scene then shows continuity as it progresses with and eye-line match cut. The boy’s finger is seen from a subjective point-of-view in a second shot. We see the finger and the ship’s sail on the background. The mast in the background creates a vertical line pattern while the rest of the sail creates some sharp diagonal patterns. The scene then cuts back to the boy holding his finger up. This reassures the viewer that the second shot was the boy’s point-of-view. The third shot goes back to showing the finger and the sail. The last four shots demonstrate discontinuous editing with a series of jump cuts. The background of the sail remains constant but the finger appears to jump left to right from shot to shot; each shot lasting about 2 seconds on average. This use of jump cuts alters the time perception. The sound in the scene is another story. It remains constant Miguel A. Rivas Menossi – Sec. 008 03/23/2011