A Thousand Stars: Episode II, Part 7

Well, I dropped the ball last week. I was away on vacation, but I should have at least posted a notification to that effect. Sorry! But I'm back, and here's the next installment. It's going to be a little dark, literally, as this scene has dim lighting. Hopefully these screen caps will still get the idea across.

We talk about narrators and viewpoints in literature, whether they're omniscient or reliable and what-have-you. Interestingly, the viewpoints in film can be just as unreliable and tricky, perhaps more so because we take the camera's perspective for granted. Look at this sequence of cuts in the club scene from Episode II. We know Anakin is trying to find Zam, so we get a shot of his face.



The following shot, of Zam's well-armed belt, makes us wonder if she's in fact following him and preparing to take him out.



This sense is further bolstered by a shot of Anakin's back.



Uh-oh -- she's drawing her blaster.



Wait, why this sudden shot of Obi-Wan sitting placidly at the bar?



Where is Zam, actually? We'd better find out quick, because she's about to shoot!





Ah-hah! You can't sneak up on Obi-Wan, unless you want to lose a limb or two. A clever misdirect (not to mention a nod to the encounter in Mos Eisley's cantina). This continues the theme of this film that things are never quite what they seem. Every time you think you've got it figured out, something turns inside-out and upside-down again.

Next time, size matters not, except when it kind of does....