Spike Lee's Vsevolod Pudovkin

Spike Lee combines certain cinematic techniques together in order to convey a specific message about societal issues such as race and gender. Throughout this analysis of Spike Lee, the relationship between the dialogue in a sequence and the cinematic techniques in a sequence will be heavily analyzed. The analysis of this relationship will help the viewer to understand the message that Spike Lee is trying to convey in his films. To reinforce this relationship, the ideas of the film theorist Vsevolod Pudovkin are helpful in understanding why Spike Lee chose to place certain shots in a specific order. The last section of the analysis will be a comparison of how the main characters in Spike Lee’s film She’s Gotta Have It and Bernard Shaw’s St. Joan defy traditional expectations of gender. Throughout the films directed by Spike Lee, the viewer will notice how he uses his films to convey a specific message about societal issues. In an article written by The Guardian, Lee talks about conveying these messages to his audience and says, “Don’t these folks realize that my whole point was to provoke discussion so that the incident that happens in the film won’t happen in real life” (Anthony, 2017). This quote gives insight into how Spike Lee wants his messages to be …show more content…
First, the two-shot helps enhance Spike Lee’s message is through the camera angle. When Nola says “don’t hurt yourself” (cite) Greer drops to the ground. The angle of the camera changes from a slight high angle to a neutral angle of them both on the floor of the apartment. This angle, again, puts both Greer and Nola on the same level plane in contrast with other shots where Greer was shot at a low angle and Nola was shot at neutral angle. This level plane in relation to the dialogue spoken gives the viewer a different perspective. It shows how Nola is not listening to Greer anymore, she is now arguing