Hook, 1991.

Ashley Matthews

2/15/12

Hook (1991)

Director Steven Spielberg

            Steven Spielberg tells the story of Peter Banning (Robin Williams) and the journey he takes to Neverland to discover that he is the real Peter Pan.  There are several elements of placement in scene Spielberg uses to support the themes of importance of family and childhood imagination in the film.

            Spielberg uses camera moves to get the audience to feel a certain way.  For example, when Peter is walking up the stairs in Granny Wendy’s house, the camera follows him and then pans to the left to suggest that something is awaiting him in a room nearby.  There are several zoom-in moves to direct attention to pivotal objects in the movie, for example, the lock on the window.  Instead of having the lock off to the side of the frame, say, using rule of thirds, the lock is strategically placed in the center of the frame to suggest there is something about to happen to that lock (it opens).  If it were to be to the side of the frame, so that there would be an unbalanced feel, we would be waiting for something else to happen off to the side.  The camera moving from “the outside in” suggests there is a solution of some sort to finding their children that they won’t find inside a house; also, to suggest that Peter will find the answers he needs to become a better father by taking a chance and going outside the window.

            There are several scenes shot as “frames within the frame” like the scene in Granny Wendy’s bedroom and the scenes in the children’s bedroom.  The camera often times comes through the open window and shows the window pane to foreshadow events such as Captain Hook coming through the window and kidnapping the children or Tinkerbell coming through to fetch Peter. 

            Camera angle plays a major role in getting the audience to feel the superiority of Captain Hook versus the helplessness of the Banning children.  When Granny Wendy, Peter, and Mrs. Banning are walking up the porch steps after the convention, the camera is shooting them from up above, suggesting their helplessness at what they are about to find inside the house (their missing children).  Whenever Hook is shot, the camera is below him, suggesting inferiority of those below him.