Double Indemnity Frame Analysis
In this shot, the first thing that we see is Walter’s face. Sweaty. Tired. Slanted. Usually, in film language, when someone is slanted or horizontal in comparison to another character faced vertical, it is a signal that the former is in a vulnerable position. Keyes towers over Walter, taking up the two right thirds of the screen, leaving the bottom left third for Walter. Our eyes are also drawn to him because of the brightness of his face. We are then led through Walter’s eyeline to the match that is lighting his cigarette. We then travel up Keyes’s arm and to Keyes. His hat casts a shadow on his face, making him look threatening. Both these characters are in the foreground, and Keyes is squatting down, almost dropping down to Walter’s level as he gives an act of kindness just before his life ends, no matter if he dies or not. At first glance, this shot looks to frame Keyes in a dark, menacing light, but as we look closer we see this facade fade and this inner friendship shine thr...