Double Indemnity Commentary

A key light is used to create a mysterious and dark scene. This could be used to show the audience that the scene that is about to take place isn’t going to be viewed by other characters and the only people that know what is going on are the people in the room and the audience. When Phyllis shoots Walter it is hard to see him because he doesn’t have any light on him so the audience just have to trust the sound however the audience knows that Phyllis has a gun in her hand but Walter doesn’t, this unrestricted narration is telling us this because of no lighting on Walter this is because he’s in the dark and doesn’t know that Phyllis is hiding the gun. It’s only once Walter walks towards Phyllis that the audience see the gun and get to understand what is going on. When Phyllis is telling Walter that she loves him, his facial expressions show the audience that he doesn’t really care or believe her. Again the audience don’t see the gun but can tell that Phyllis has been shot. Walter walks away as if he doesn’t care. The camera angles in the scene are low especially on Phyllis because she is weak around Walter and can’t shoot him and the camera angle stays on her when she is shot. With other camera angles, the shots are concealed because Phyllis is hiding the gun however with Walter, the camera angles are higher angle than that of Phyllis because he has slightly more power over her. Walter wears a suit throughout the whole movie and Phyllis wears a dress or nothing at all with just a towel round her. And to finish the scene off, the music plays an integral part of the film to make the scene dramatic, this is because it’s to create shock.