O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Towards the beginning of the film there is a scene of Delmar, Pete and Everett near a river being surrounded by a robed congregation who is singing and migrating towards the river for baptism. This scene is fairly comical considering the immediate entrancement set upon the trio by the hymn and swaying. They end up following the group and As Everett starts ridiculing the congregation for "looking for answers," Delmar runs in to be baptized and buys into the idea of being rid of all of his lying and sins right off the bat. This is done through a long shot showing the congregation and pastor. The next shot is a crane shot medium shot showing Delmar's entire body being dunked under water by the pastor. Then there is a slight pan/tracking downwards and to the left as Delmar retreats. While he explains his case after returning to Everett and Pete there is a medium shot in which he has his arms up in a pleading fashion towards the sky. During the dialogue there are trading medium shots between Delmar and Pete with Everett.

The best part about that scene is how it ties in with the next scene in the car. Everett puts down Delmar and Pete for following the superstition of "being freed of sins." After a short dialogue they notice Tommy Johnson, an African American musician on the side of the road whose reason for being there was to sell his soul to the devil. The juxtaposition is hilarious and ironic. Everett makes sure to recognize his lack of affiliation.

My Own Private Idaho, a look into New Queer cinema

Watching this film was a little bit of a shock for me personally considering that I just watched Matrix for the first time this past weekend. Seeing Keanu Reeves go from a dimension traveling bad ass to a homosexual prostitute/model with no transition is quite the change. Anyways, moving on. The scene I found particularly entertaining is the scene where the boys are on the roofs of the buildings overlooking the streets of Portland, while Bob and Budd are walking through the city.

First is a medium shot of Mike waking up in a makeshift tent on top of a building, followed by the sound of a police siren and similar medium shots of the other boys waking up, also on nearby rooftops. There is also medieval, baroque styled music playing in the background giving the over all scene a novelty feel. Next is a time lapse extreme long shot of the sky with clouds passing by. This serves as a transition between the morning and afternoon and is an effective way to quickly go through the day without wasting too much time. This is followed by a long shot of Bob and Budd walking through some brush with the highway behind them. The two are discussing and reminiscing on their experiences in traveling. Bob has a deep, raspy voice with a slight Irish accent, feeding into the medieval theme that is set by the music. We then see the two walking along the sidewalk with a close up shot of one of the guys on top of the building, who seems to be looking over the side of the building, symbolizing looking through the ramparts of a castle.

The entire scene has a comical feel to it that takes a step back from all of the controversy and agenda that motivates the film genre. It effectively gives the film an artistic sidetracking that is achieved through subtle costume changes and shots, as well as the dialogue taking place between the two "weary travelers."