The 1990 film Home Alone was beloved by many across the world,
and has now become one of the most iconic Christmas films ever.
Home Alone is mostly remembered by its brilliant acting,
colourful Christmas set design,
and its beautiful score.
But it has also been praised for its unique cinematography that
emphasizes Kevin's lone fight against the invaders in a humourous light.
I will be looking at Home Alone's cinematography
and how it visually conveys the growth of Kevin,
who starts out small and powerless, but seizes control
over his unlucky situation of being left alone
in his fight against the burglars.
당감마 is a series that analyses various visual elements in a film.
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One of the expressions for "to admire someone" is
"to look up to someone."
In a literal sense, it means to look up, and same as the Korean expression "우러러보다."
And one of the expressions for "to belittle someone" is
"to look down on someone,"
which means you are looking down.
It's an interesting expression, which
changes the power dynamic depending on the angle of a gaze.
Same could be said with cinematography.
Depending on the angle of the camera,
the audience's perception of the subject can drastically change.
When a subject in the frame is captured from below,
the shot becomes a low-angle shot.
A low-angle shot creates a visual effect
that the audience is looking up at the subject,
giving the impression that the character is powerful.
It emphasizes the heroic side of the protagonist,
and expresses the dominance of the villain.
But if the subject is shot from above,
it becomes a high-angle shot.
This type of shot makes the audience look down at the subject,
and it is often used with the purpose of making
the subject look small and vulnerable.
Home Alone creatively combines both low-angle and high-angle shot
to effectively show how Kevin overcomes this crisis.
Please note that this video contains spoilers.
The McCallister family's house has been busy
preparing for their Christmas vacation in Paris.
Kevin, the youngest and the most bullied in the family,
is wrongfully punished that night
and wishes that his whole family would disappear.
Next morning, the family sleeps in
and forgets Kevin while rushing to the airport.
Left home alone, Kevin believes his wish was granted.
But Kevin's celebration stops short,
as he finds out that two burglars, Harry and Marv,
are looting empty homes during the holidays and
have chosen his home as their next target.
Kevin manages to fend them off using his wits,
but the burglars show no sign of giving up.
On the night the burglars decide to rob the McCallister house,
Kevin declares that he will protect his home.
In this scene, the shot of Kevin is slightly low-angle.
This angle is intended for the audience
to look up at Kevin as if he's a hero.
As the montage scene of Kevin setting up traps begins,
camera repeatedly shows Kevin in low-angle shot multiple times.
This shows that Kevin is now in a powerful position to attack the burglars
after mainly defending against them.
Now the burglars begin their attempt to enter the house.
As the burglars try to enter the house in vain and fall into Kevin's traps,
the camera shows them in high-angle shots.
This visualizes how Kevin with his numerous traps
has the upper hand over the burglars who didn't see them coming.
The burglars are sometimes shown in low-angle from time to time,
but this is meant to show their vulnerable state of
being completely exposed to Kevin's traps.
As the film reaches its climax, Kevin finds himself in danger.
The film uses high-angle shots to show
Kevin at moments when he is not superior.
In this scene, Marv manages to grab Kevin's ankle,
which leads to a high-angle shot of Kevin. He manages to lose Marv,
which leads to a low-angle shot of Kevin.
Now Kevin, in a low-angle shot, climbs up the stairs.
This may give the impression that Kevin is still superior,
but since the burglars immediately capture him,
this shot is actually showing Kevin's weakness.
Kevin, who found himself in danger, is shown in a very noticeable high-angle shot,
While the burglars are shown in a drastic low-angle shot.
But when they put Kevin up on the door,
their eye level of looking down at Kevin becomes the same as him.
That is because Kevin's regains his powerful position
when Old Man Marley comes and knocks them out.
The use of low-angle shots of Kevin throughout the home invasion scene is
significant in showing how Kevin has total control over the difficult situation.
Kevin used to be considered a troublemaker by his family,
and was deprived of power and autonomy.
Thus Kevin was usually shot in high-angle
in scenes with older characters,
while adults who look at Kevin are shot in low-angle.
But later in the film, Kevin chats with Old Man Marley at the same eye level.
Earlier, Kevin hears horrifying rumours about
Old Man Marley and becomes afraid of him.
Kevin meets Old Man Marley twice afterwards,
both of which end up with Kevin running away.
But when Kevin visits a church
after longing for his family, and meets Old Man Marley there,
the camera shows them as equals.
In this scene, in spite of the fact that Marley looks down
at Kevin who is looking up at Old Man Marley,
Kevin is not shown in a high-angle shot.
Also, Old Man Marley is not shown in a low-angle shot.
Having no families to spend Christmas Eve with,
both Kevin and Old Man Marley are feeling lonely
and share their honest thoughts.
This lack of low- or high-angle shots shows
their equal position and respect for each other.
Home Alone takes place through Kevin's POV most of the time.
The cinematographer Julio Macat adjusted
the camera height lower than usual, and shot the film to
Kevin's eye-level instead the adults'.
And he often employed wide shots to show
Kevin left alone in the vast space.
Belittled by his family and the camera,
Kevin seizes control while being isolated,
and stands at the same level as adults,
with the help of low- and high-angles.
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당감마.