"Nope" Movie Transitions, Shots, and Angles

 

        What a movie this was, Jordan Peele's, Nope, is yet another thriller, horror film that features many terrifying scenes that are sure to give you nightmares, and not for the kind you would expect from a demonic or slasher movie, but more from a unique perspective that I could have never imagined. Now, enough with the review, were here to look at the various transitions, shots, and angles we were presented. Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil the true nature of this movie, as it really is a unique story that I hope you decide to watch, but your opinions may be much different than mine.

        A perfect movie opener, featuring OJ and his father in the scene. During the scene, OJ pulls out his phone and we get a low angle shot of him on it, but before he is able to use it the screen begins to go static. The focus on the phone while it begins to go off signifies danger to the audience, and that whatever is doing that is present.

        In this scene we get a cowboy shot of our two protagonists. This shot is very important to establish who are characters are and there personalities. First, Oj, the man in the back is not a man of words, but mostly actions, while his sister, Em, presents herself well with a speech about horses. These two are opposites, but still care about each other.

        Glenn? Oh nevermind, it's just Jupe, our Asian character who has a whole lot of backstory than the rest of the characters. In this scene, we have a mid shot of this man explaining the tragedy of the "monkey incident" where he describes the more positive aspects of it while ominous sounds play, eventually leading to a smash cut of his younger self covered in blood. It is effective to characterize this character as one who has been through a lot of trauma, but has recovered well enough to move on in life.

        A smash cut is implemented to transition from a scene with light comedy, to the build up of some dire situation that the characters are about to take part in. In addition, a low violin sound is played to put the audience on edge while transitioning to this shot.

        This next scene I want to discuss features grotesque imagery that I do not want to share on this blog, but I will discuss the effectiveness of the shot created. We are seeing from the young actor's perspective, the one that is covered in blood above. His perspective shows the killing of his fellow actors being murdered right in front of him, providing that fear that the kid will be caught by whatever is killing them. In addition, we also see a loose close up of him whenever something new arises in the scene, to capture those frightening thoughts of being caught.

        This shot includes the POV perspective of what our main protagonist, OJ, is observing from his car. Rain is pouring as it slowly approaches over his car, and while I cannot reveal the context of why the rain is bad, I assure you, it is. It is truly terrifying once you know why, and Peele does amazingly with the entirety of the film.

         The next scene features an extreme wide shot of OJ walking through mist and darkness as he approaches this house. The shot creates eeriness and presents potential danger for the character, effective for creating suspense before the final 40 minutes of the movie continue.

        A dissolve transition occurs as we see our characters enter into an apartment or house, then transitions into them sitting on a couch while one of them is using a VR headset. It provides calm, fresh air after the series of disasters that unfolded prior to this scene. The dissolve is much different than the numerous smash cuts being performed, as it is slow and steady rather than sudden.

        I did not want to include this final shot in my blog, but it is one of the best shots in the entire movie. Of course, I cannot reveal the context, nor show an image of what is happening because of spoilers, but the scene features an extreme wide shot of our main character, OJ, looking out at something spectacular happening in front of him. The excitement and sheer terror that the scene conveyed to me was something to behold, and the details that led up to this amazing twist in the plot is something unique to this story, that you would not get out of its genre. Jordan Peele did amazing with this movie in my opinion, he makes the "danger" in the movie actually feel scary, because it is something much greater than yourself, much different than the normal slasher tropes. Even with its mixed reviews, I suggest you watch the film.