The Hurt Locker: Movie Analysis

Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker could have never imagined her movie winning six academy awards. While the opinion from the audience played a role in these winnings, the technical aspect of the movie all the way down to the first shot of the movie, played the biggest role in this achievement. Bigelow used things such as moving camera shots, camera angles, lighting, and the use of long shots to create a realistic feel throughout the movie.
Throughout the movie it appears that most of the shots were taken using a hand held camera. For example, anytime that the actors would be running, walking on rough ground or moving in an exaggerated motion the camera would be moving with them. Although the camera would appear steady sometimes, it was still shaking more than it would if a steadicam would have been used. The effect of the hand held camera causes the audience to feel confused and uncomfortable at times. However, it also causes the scenes to feel more realistic and more engaging with the audience. The use of the hand held
For most of the movie natural lighting is used considering over half of the movie is shot outside. While the sun may cause there to be glares when shots are taken, they normally use special lenses to help with adjusting to the light allowing for a clearer picture. The natural lighting suggests that the movie is more realistic in most aspects. However, there are few scenes that were shot at night to where there were not any available natural lighting so other techniques were used. Lighting such as flares, fires, car lights and flashlights functioned as lighting during the night. While these lights did not offer as clear of a picture as the natural lighting it helped set the mood for their atmosphere, in which this case was war. The types of lighting used in this movie helped establish the realistic