Forrest Gump

For years now, "Forrest Gump" has been my all time favorite movie. I have seen the film more times than I can count and I can recite the entire movie from start to finish. However, after learning about the various angles used to shoot movies and the meaning behind them, I watched "Forrest Gump" with a completely new set of eyes, so to speak. In this post, I plan to illuminate how the long shot, medium shot, and close-up shot are used to convey a certain mood and meaning throughout the film through three specific examples.

In lecture we learned that the close up shot is commonly used to express the emotions of the character being shown. The close shot of the character's face, for example, is supposed to inform the audience on whether or not the character is lonely, sad, happy, excited, etc.. When Forrest Gump first rides the school bus, none of the students want to offer him a seat. However, a young, kind and innocent girl, named Jenny, offers him a seat next to her on the bus. The close up of Jenny's face shows her kind and accepting demeanor, and her interest in Forrest. Jenny immediately looks up at Forrest and shows her concern for his need to sit in this particular close up.

The medium shot is commonly considered to be the "information shot." This shot is used to show the relationship between two or more characters in the film. The medium shot informs the audience as to the manner in which the characters in the film relate to one another whether it be on a romantic, platonic, or familial level. The medium shot of Forrest and Jenny spending time together in the tree is a perfect example of how the medium shot explains the relationship between two main characters in a film.

 

Finally, the long shot is commonly used to represent sadness, loneliness and isolation. Although there are countless long shots used in "Forrest Gump" to show how isolated Forrest was from the "normal" students growing up, I believe that the long shot is perfectly used in the scene where Forrest goes to visit Jenny's grave. The director's decision to zoom out captures just how lost Forrest is when Jenny is gone for good.