Ashley Matthews- post #8

Ashley Matthews
4/14/12
 

I Am (2010)

Dir Tom Shadyac

            

            There are several camera moves used in the documentary film “I Am” which help to convey the main ideas behind the film.  Tom Shadyac expresses his views on the main question, “what is human kind’s basic nature?”

            Every time there is a scene about the economy, the workers of Wall Street are sped-up doing their daily routines because Shadyac wants to show how hectic that life is to work in; so fast, in fact, that there is no time to ask what he thinks is an important question: “What is an economy for?” and “how much is enough?”  There is a scene where a stack of bills is dropped from above, and they are placed in the camera frame using the 1/3 rule to show that money is not the most important thing.  In the shot of people on Wall Street, the investors are all filmed from below to show that they are forgetting the root of human nature: to cooperate, not to compete.

            When Tom first talks about his life before his concussion, his possessions, such as his house and the items in his house, are displayed in the center of the camera. This signifies them as prized possessions. 

            As there are many interviews with professionals in the field of this documentary's theme, they are filmed using the 1/3 rule in order to make them pleasing to the eye.  Also, all of the interviews are filmed parallel to the camera.  This creates a sense of equality.  This continues in the last 2/3 of the film where the science of human nature is discussed and the truth of human nature comes out: that we are all made up of DNA that makes us love.  If they were to have shot scenes of people from above or from below, that would disrupt the sense of equality amongst all people, the underlying theme in Shadyac's film.