Relationship Between Shots

The scene chosen is the very opening scene of the AMC series, “Mad Men.” This scene introduces the viewers to the show’s main character, Don Draper. After the opening, explanatory text, the 1950s song that’s playing reaches a peak and goes into lyrics. The lyrics of the song bring us to a very clearly organized pan with a beginning and ending. It begins at the bar and pans across to show Don Draper with his back to the camera. The camera then zooms into Don and ends right above his shoulder. I believe that the pan was necessary to show the hustle and the bustle of the bar. This was used to contrast Don’s determined work that he is engaged in. The scene then cuts to the side of Don where we see the main character’s face for the first time. The following close up reveals that he is, in fact, engaged in work in the middle of this loud bar. The music then lowers when the waiter gets to the table and Don begins a conversation with him. The music lowers so the viewer has an all-new focal point to draw all of their attention to. At this point, the cuts become hard to notice because the dialogue is what the viewer is supposed to be focused on and the cuts are only to show what is truly important to the scene. The cuts are focused on these focal points. The cuts highlight every piece of dialogue and every reaction thereafter. Each shot length and angle only really show what’s necessary. There is nothing extraneous included in these scenes because the camera is so focused. The cameras will show a close up of Don talking and will then show a reaction shot of Sam’s face, and vice versa. The men go on to discuss cigarettes while the 1950s song plays like a lullaby in the background, drawing the viewer in just enough to focus on the dialogue and characters but not the music. The scene ends with Don and Sam discussing “women and their magazines” and just as the conversation draws to an end, the music kicks back into full force and the camera cuts to what Don is looking at and pan’s across those at the bar.