Week Four: The Breakfast Club

A Camera Shot Review of
The Breakfast Club (1985)

Director: John Hughes

Camera Shots 

The first shot I noticed from the Breakfast Club was that  Hughes created an Establishing Shot that established the setting of the movie. This shot was followed by the simultaneous introduction of the characters. Hughes uses this shot to signal to the audience that it is significant to the movie's overall plot. 

 

The next shot I chose was the close up shot of the clock. Since the movie is based on teenagers in detention, the director uses the clock to pace the film. This clock appears several times during the film.

This shot was the over-the-shoulder shot. In this scene, you can feel Bender's feelings of helplessness as  Mr. Vernon berates and belittles Bender. Bender has this rough exterior you see his insecurity and Mr. Vernon vehemently abusing his power. As an audience you feel for Bender. Bender's rough exterior was is broken and he is vulnerable. 

These shots are the a series of close up shots. This shot is a shot the Clarke who was the sitting in boredom. In this scene it was a series of shots panning from each character. This one characters of the "Breakfast Club." The second shot is Bender breaking down after Clarke was asking about his family and Clarke questioning Bender about the validity of his abusive home.  The third shot is Bender hiding from Mr. Vernon after he sneaks out from the closet.  The Fourth close up shot is of Brian. This gives the audience a grip on who Brian really is.

These shot are a series of long shots that show the "Breakfast Club" trying not to get caught by Mr. Vernon. These long shot convey a mood of urgency among the audience. Personally, this was my favorite scene among the whole film because the camera pans very fast and shows various shots of each characters. 

These next shots are Two Shots that show conversations between  Claire, Clarke, and Bender. You can see the tension in the first shot where Bender is making snide comments towards Claire and Clarke. This makes the audience admire the jerky and nonchalant attitude that Bender had. Also, the second image shows a more mellow conversation with Claire and Clarke who have a more common ground then the diverse characters in the "Breakfast Club."

These are close reaction shots that showed Allison character development towards the end. Basically, Allison reaction to Clarke's reaction of her makeover. The second shot is significant because it is Claire giving Bender her diamond earring to Bender's leather glove which shows the vast differences and common ground of the both Claire and Bender's characters.