O Brother Where Art Thou Analysis

O Brother, Where Art Thou
Throughout the history of film, the cinematography of films has been used to illustrate various things. In the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou” one scene exemplifies two types of cinematography marvelously. The purpose of the film is to tell a story about three men trying to achieve their fortune. Throughout the film, they face many challenges and must overcome many obstacles. The film is a telling of the reactions of the characters and how they handle all those obstacles, which is why the Klu Klux Klan scene, near the end of the film, is a good representation of what those men had to overcome. The scene starts out with the men on a form of hill looking down on a lynching. Then they see their friend, Tommy, about

to be killed. Therefore, they set out to save him. During the KKK scene, the use of framing and depth of field ties in the meaning or pattern of the scene to the rest of the film.
Firstly, one of the most prominent forms of cinematography used in this scene is framing. The framing technique is used in various ways throughout this scene. In one of the very first shots is a medium shot of the three men. This was done to show their reactions of horror and surprise as they witness what is below them. This type of framing as an effect on the audience that leaves them in anticipation and suspense to see what the men are seeing. A number of things rush through an audience’s mind as they theorize what those men could be seeing to make them react in such a way. After that shot, the scene moves to what the men are looking at. Using a long shot, the film portrays just how many KKK members there are and how slim the men’s chances are to saving their friend. These aspects of framing tie in to the entire film in that the men always seem to have a small chance of success, and, yet, seem to overcome whatever is put into their path.
In addition, another form of cinematography used in this scene is depth of field.

During the scene, there is a shot where a huge cross that has been lit on fire by the KKK members is the main focus and the members are in the background performing their ritual. This is done to symbolize that the KKK members are doing something wrong in the name of goodness, which ties into what George Clooney did to his two partners. He lied and told them he had a buried treasure somewhere and if they helped him escape he would share it with them. The truth is that there was no money and he needed to escape to get to his family to stop his wife from getting married again. This compares to what the KKK members tried to do to Tommy in that they believed their purpose was more important than hurting someone. Even though Clooney was not killing or physically hurting anyone, he hurt his partners a tacked on years of their jail sentence by convincing them to escape. Nonetheless, he did something wrong to achieve something he believed was more important.
In conclusion, the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou” is a prime example of the use of cinematography. The fact that the director can tie a whole film’s meaning and patterns into one scene is phenomenal. The use of framing and depth of field in the KKK scene embody the theme of the film, “O Brother, Where Art

Thou”.