Backdraft, 1991.

 Ashley Matthews

2/26/12

Backdraft, 1991.

Director Ron Howard

            Camera angles and moves vary from scene to scene in Backdraft, a film about two firefighter brothers who have trouble understanding each other and must work together to catch an arsonist.

            The story is centered around an event that happened when Brian was a small child.  He witnessed his father die in an explosion when he was trying to save a family from a burning apartment.  As we watch Brian watching his Dad, the camera is at a low angle so that we can feel the horror of something happening that Brian cannot control as he is so far below the scene. 

            Over-the-shoulder shots are used frequently, and are effective especially in the scene when Jennifer and Brian are all grown up and have not seen each other in 6 years.  At first, we sense how close they are because an over-the-shoulder shot is being used.  We are only shown a slight portion of their shoulders in the shot.  Eventually they get mad at each other and the camera begins to show more and more of their bodies as they converse, giving us the sense of space that is happening between them on an emotional level.

            The camera comes off the tripod in many of the scenes when the firefighter crew is trying to put out a fire.  The second fire scene when the windows are blowing up because of backdraft is filmed with a very shaky camera to accentuate the uncontrollability of the fire hoses when the oxygen is coming in and out of the building, and also to accentuate just how foggy everything is when you are inside a burning building.

            A series of montages is used to display what occurs for a specific amount of time when brothers David and Steven must work together on the job.  There are several shots of them saving people and putting out fires.  The purpose of putting these events into montages was to relate the events to one another and show how they worked together without having to act out full scenes.  Instead, we get their reaction shots so that we know the outcome.

            A pan shot is used in the scene when Steven’s friend is being driven away in an ambulance because he was burned due to a faulty order from Steven.  The camera pans to show all of the firefighter’s faces behind him and their contempt for Steven at the time.  A zoom shot is used to get a close up of Steven’s face in the hospital after David blamed him for burning his friend.  These different shots really allow us to focus on the emotions of the characters after these tragic, real life situations occur.