Fried Green Tomatoes, 1991.

          Ashley Matthews

2/19/12

Fried Green Tomatoes, 1991.

Dir. Jon Avnet

            There are several filmmaking techniques that director Jon Avnet uses in his film Fried Green Tomatoes.  Avnet uses basic sequence shooting and zoom technique to bring us back to certain significant objects within the film such as the train tracks and Frank’s car getting pulled out of the water.  The repetition of these images appearing foreshadows the killing of Frank Bennett and the several events that involve trains such as Buddy’s murder, the loss of Buddy Jr.’s arm, and Idgie’s nightly ride on the train to escape the tragedy in her life.

            Avnet uses contrast in composition when shooting scenes with both Idgie and Ruth.  For example, Idgie is most often shot head-on and in the middle of the screen while Ruth is almost always shot using the rule of thirds on one of the vertical lines.  The balance in shots with Ruth allows us to feel that there is room for compromise, indicative of Ruth as a person, while shots with Idgie in the middle of the screen indicate Idgie’s more rigid and boyish personality.

            Avnet uses zoom technique in scenes where he wants to direct our attention to an object before the scene unfolds.  For example, when Evelyn and the old woman are sitting in the hospital recreational room, the scene begins with a zoom-out shot from the old woman’s grey converse sneakers to give us the signal that the old woman is in fact Idgie all grown up. 

            There are two scenes in the film where the camera is moving around the character(s) and not the other way around.  When Evelyn is on the trampoline in her house, the camera moves about her jumping up and down to symbolize a major turn of events.  The camera also moves around Frank beating Ruth to show that this is a major turning point in the movie.