MovieChat Forums > Crooklyn (1994) Discussion > WHY WAS THE DOWN SOUTH SCENE STRETCHED O...

WHY WAS THE DOWN SOUTH SCENE STRETCHED OUT VERTICALLY?


did anyone notice that.since the got down south, evrything was stretched out vertically..but when troy was at the airport (before she went to see her mother in the hospital) everything was back to normal. i wonder why it was chosen to be like that. its kinda annoying actually..

anyone know? let ME know.

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NVM I SEE THAT IT SAYS....
"The "disorienting" view when the family is in the country was created by shooting in widescreen without anamorphically adjusting the image."

but i still wanan know WHY they kept it like that.

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[deleted]

Don't generalize the South. That's very ignorant.

If you're gonna talk about someone's reading level, please use correct grammar.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

Yeah, supposed to be representing like dreamland or somthing. Also does anyone ever notice spike lee always does scenes where the person stands still but the background moves? Try to notice next time you watch one of his movies.

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oh yea that is one of his trademarks!

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Ya I just saw it last night and I couldn't figure out if my tv was buggin out or not.

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Spike Lee wanted to emphasize how different the South was to Troy compared to NYC. The change of image settings helps the audience realize how different the places were.

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[deleted]

No offence to those who say it's a trademark and all, this was completely not motivated and it was much too obvious to read.
I started seeing the film with real interest, which after a time started to dwindle, as all the actors played too energetically, as if copying some directions which were the same for all, something like "be very vivid".
It didn't work for me, although the subject matter and the peculiarity of the millieu presented were really novel. I liked that, in spite of all the difficulties, the mum managed to make a nice house of all the mess, with having an artist for a husband and all. Great character, as were all, each of them was nicely individualised by a trait or two, which was enough.
The little girl was a doll, but I think a finer acting would have done the movie a lot of good. It's still good and watchable, but I was sorry it wasn't even better, because it had all the elements to. Without this overdoing things, it would have been perfect, I think.
I may be mistaken, maybe this overacting talks about a culture etc., the pleasure for putting on a nice show, it may be so, I don't know.

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The movie was supposed to be from Troy's perspective. According to Spike Lee, it was supposed to show how, while in the South, Troy's life was out a kilter.

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I agree with the comments on why the scene was stretched out. I also think that spike decided to flatten out the scenes because he wanted to show the blandness/sameness/mundaneness of suburbia compared to the city. Suburbia separates people from the city and provides them with their "own" space, which in some ways gives people the luxury of just tending to themselves without truly interacting with others on a great social level. Every time the images of NC and NYC are juxtaposed you notice the difference between the two extremely. Notice when the shots of troy and her mother are exchanged. Troy is set against a bland backdrop that is dull and lifeless while her mother's shots are full of color and provide depth (literally), giving the feeling of a multi layered, vibrant environment. In addition, notice the neighborhood in NC. There are no kids playing outside (you only see the two little girls playing with each other. They use the tree as a stand in for the jump rope), neighbors aren't communicating with one another, and there is no culture (music, diversity, art). Their life comes off as a routine, whereas in the city it seems like things are allowed to take their course. I don't know if this was Lee's intentions, nor does it really matter, but that is what I got from the film. His decision seemed very purposeful and was a great choice and very effective to the story.

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As soon as the family brings Troy to her Aunt and Uncle's house you'll quickly notice the picture becomes "distorted". This is because the Aunt, Uncle and Cousin live in such a distorted world than that of the Carmichael family. Everything at the cousin's house is neat, clean and in order. Good manners are expected at all times as well as having the proper nightgown to wear and a neatly brushed new hairstyle for Troy. You'll notice Troy's fresh behavior rubbing off on her older cousin who begins to answer back to her mother. When Troy receives as airplane ticket to return home the camera leaves the distorted world of the south and returns to reality in Brooklyn.

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[deleted]

I've been watching this movie since it was still in the movie theater & I 1st noticed this last week when my cousin pointed it out.

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[deleted]

LMAO. I'm glad I logged on to IMDB to see some of the names of the actors and I scrolled down and saw this post. I'm laughing because I was trying to adjust my tv because I thought I sat on the remote. Damn you Spile Lee. Damn you!!!!!

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It was supposed to make the viewer feel just as disoriented and uncomfortable as Troy felt while staying down there.

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