Within the action genre of Hollywood, it has become common to see many films that are just copies of each other. These films often display high-stakes scenes where the characters are involved in very physical violence that is “emptied of meaning and or seeming originality.”(1) Whereas, in the movie Now You See Me, they combine the typical physical confrontations of action with illusions and intellect.
In this image from Now You See Me, Jack Wilder is seen sitting on the floor with multiple cards fanned out in his hands. This moment is a brief pause in a fight that takes place between the characters Jack Wilder and Dylan Rhodes. Jack is in a dark setting, with only a couple lamps behind him. The rest of the background looks lived in and is contrasting to what Jack is wearing; his black clothes standing out against the tans and browns of the furniture. His clothes also do not fit the environment he is in, making it clear that this is not his house. The cards in his hands also stand out because of the whiteness to them. With the way Jack has the cards splayed, combined with the expression on his face, and him being lower to the ground, it makes the audience believe that Jack is surrendering to Dylan in the fight. However, this is not the case. Jack can often be seen using these cards for magic tricks throughout the movie, but in this scene, he uses them to catch Dylan off guard before he starts using them as a weapon by throwing them. The change of Jack seeming as though he is about to surrender and to then throwing the cards at Dylan is reflective of the deception used in the rest of the movie. Throughout Now You See Me, the audience is led to believe that the protagonists are failing to accomplish their goals, when really the protagonists have the upper hand the entire time.
For the scene itself, it can be a bit hard for the audience to follow what is going on because of the quick camera movements, edits, and the illusions involved. Within just a minute of this action sequence, there are 60 edits that can be seen. There are a few parts of this scene where multiple edits take place over only a few seconds, making the scene feel more intense. Many of these cuts are also different angles of the same action within the scene, prolonging the action itself to show more details.(2) The use of multiple edits with different angles all within a few short seconds of each other makes parts of the scene feel unrealistic, reminding the viewer that they are watching a movie. However, there are segments in the scene that also feel more natural than others; these moments being ones where the audience may forget that the camera is there. There are a few clips where the camera pans to either follow the action or to display what the characters are focusing their attention on. The panning of the camera makes the audience feel as though it is their eyes that are moving, taking them away from the idea that they are just watching a movie.(3)
As for camera angles, it is very noticeable that there is significant use of the Dutch angle, especially on the character Dylan. Comparatively, Jack is shown with more head-on and level shots. This difference in camera angles for the two characters shows that Jack is mainly the one with the advantage, while Dylan is shown to be a bit more confused as to what is going on. Jack is better at fighting using deception and intellect, whereas Dylan is more focused on physical fighting. As Jack uses multiple illusions and tricks to fight, Dylan remains a bit lost. The combination of the illusions and the angles of the camera create a confused state for both the audience and Dylan.
When Now You See Me was first released in theatres, it earned $351,723,989 worldwide.(4) This means that this movie had to have reached a lot of people, not to mention those who have watched it in the years following its theatrical release. This brings forward the question of what affects this movie could have inflicted on the real-world. Although this is an action movie with a fair bit of physical fighting, the fighting is tame, and the focus is more on the illusions. It is unlikely that out of all the action movies available, this would be the one to encourage someone to engage in some act of violence. If anything, this movie may encourage people to be more observant, to look at the bigger picture, and to think outside of the box.
Bibliography
SLOCUM, J. DAVID. “Film Violence and the Institutionalization of the Cinema.” Social Research 67, no. 3 (2000): 649–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40971406.
Liapi, Lydia, Elpida Manoudi, Maria Revelou, et al. “Time Perception in Film Viewing: A Modulation of Scene’s Duration Estimates as a Function of Film Editing.” Acta Psychologica 244 (April 2024): 104206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104206.
Yilmaz, Mehmet Burak, Elen Lotman, Andres Karjus, and Pia Tikka. “An Embodiment of the Cinematographer: Emotional and Perceptual Responses to Different Camera Movement Techniques.” Frontiers in Neuroscience 17 (July 2023). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1160843.
“Now You See Me.” Box Office Mojo. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1670345/similar/?ref_=bo_tt_tab#tabs.
SOBERON, LENNART. “THE AFFECTS OF ANIMOSITY: ACTION CINEMA, ENEMY MAKING, AND MORAL INDIGNATION AS FILM MOOD.” Revue Canadienne d’Études Cinématographiques / Canadian Journal of Film Studies 30, no. 1 (2021): 126–49. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27085816.
Leah Quintana
Your description of the screengrab is very accurate. It was very detailed and picked up small inferences that I may have otherwise missed such as how his clothes stand out in the room and give information that he does not belong in this environment. Something I noticed to add onto your description is that the composition of the shot is extremely balanced. There are two lamps with warm lighting in the background and Jacks widespread chest and matching arm shapes both holding several playing cards. This is a very visually pleasing shot with its composition. The explanation of the Dutch and level head on shots were very well put with the effect they have on each character’s ability. The energy of the scene transferred well with your writing. I would have liked to have a source for your argument on the real-life consequences of this film, or of optical illusion movies in general. I think you make a good point that it does encourage the viewer to question what they see and be more observant – though it would be a much stronger point with a scholarly source to back it up.