Taxi cab Driver
Let me take several scene through the taxi driver and show how a mise-en-scene, cinematography, and croping and editing support Travis Bickles frame of mind and persona.
First I wish to state what Traviss way of thinking and character is through most of the film. Travis is isolated in the rest of the community. He feels like he would not fit in with the others of contemporary society. He is buying a direction, a cause, a reason for his lifestyle and he takes the Taxi task as a way to cope with some of that frustration.
The first landscape I want to analyze is the one among Travis 1st applying to be a taxi rider. To help strengthen Traviss isolation from the rest of the world, Travis and the interviewer are in separate framework throughout the majority of the scene. His answers are available in either brief or stuttered responses. We discover out from the interview that Travis had been inside the Marines. Travis is still wearing his old marines jacket. We get the impression which the last sense of belonging Travis felt was if he was in the marines. The framing is usually tight using only medium and close up photos of Travis and the job interviewer, keeping Travis away from the rest of the world. There is only the diegetic sound with the taxi storage area, no music is playing. The moment Travis is definitely exiting the garage the camera leaves him will not a panning shot in the garage like he is and so isolated which the camera on its own can become separate from him.
When Travis exits the garage the framing turns into much wobbly. Extreme long shots are being used making Travis seem a lot more isolated through the few people on the street. We in that case come to Traviss flat. While Traviss voice over can be heard speaking about the rain coming and washing away all the dirt and scum on the roadways we are juxtaposed by the landscape of his apartment. His apartment can be described as visual conundrum to what Travis is saying. There exists trash every wear. Clothing is thrown and hung any place in no particular order or perhaps method. There exists a stack of magazines in the bed. Each of the clutter in the apartment provides us a window in to Traviss frame of mind.
There is now a cut to Travis in the taxi. It truly is night time and we have none diegetic soundtrack playing. Interestingly for the most part the soundtrack simply plays the moment Travis is alone or perhaps in the taxi cab. This again reinforces the sense of isolationism that Travis is feeling. Traviss voice over continues to be playing since there is a tracking shot in the taxi since it drives along the looking at the medial side walk. Every one of the people Travis is talking about are jogging the sidewalk. After Travis echoes about the lowlife that walk the street with apparent contempt he says that it doesnt make a difference to him. Travis stops to pickup a person and a prostitute. Every one of the shots are medium shots from the the front seat seeking in to the again. This again keeps Travis in Solitude from the people he drives. Like he can looking into a window and seeing different peoples lives. He has no conversation with the people he drives. This individual only wrist watches them when he takes these to their position. At one particular point he goes through avenue that has water raining upon it from an open fire hydrant. The water completely obscures his vision in the front home window and this individual turns on his windshield wipers to wash this away. This kind of again is usually reinforcing his state of mind being at odds with everything and wanting to wash it aside.
The next scene I have to analyze is Wizards court. Where Travis goes in to have a cup of coffee with Wizard, Doughboy, and Charley T. The scene opens with the camera panning to fallow Travis from inside the cafe while he walks in. The film switches to a medium straight on position shot because Travis sits down on the extreme right of the frame. This is showing what lengths away he’s from the remaining portion of the taxi motorists and the world. As Wizard and Doughboy have their chat Travis is usually kept in separate framing or he is kept in the back much right with the frame and out of focus.
When Doughboy asks Travis a question, Travis is preoccupied at looking at the dark-colored pimps. The camera leaves Travis and does a tracking shot over to the two pimps sitting on the other table while Doughboy is heard in the background. The camera finally pans to Travis as he finally hears Doughboys question.
Even while he is responding to Doughboys question Traviss focus becomes diverted, as the camera slashes to a large angle close up shot of Travis beginning a bottle of wine and falling a tablet of Alka-Seltzer into a glass of normal water. As Doughboy is talking with him requirements is turned down and Doughboy can be scarcely heard in the sound from the Alka-Seltzer fizzing. There is a low angle zoom-in close up shot of Travis as he stares at the a glass and the this changes back to an extreme close up of the fizzing glass. Traviss thoughts are completely consumed by the glass as we get the feeling that his mental state is much exactly like that of the fizzing glass.
Following an extended time period the camera finally comes back to a channel shot of Travis and Doughboy who will be now for the right part of Travis. Doughboy is definitely standing above Travis and crowding him into the decrease left hand spot of the shape. This almost certainly resembles Traviss mental state as he probably seems crowded and uncomfortable with having to talk with Doughboy especially with him therefore close.
After Doughboy leaves there may be an uneasy silence between Travis and Wizard & Charley Big t. Travis is again make the very considerably right with the frame now seems even further away and isolated from the additional two given that there is an empty seat between them.
The next landscape I am going to assess is wherever Travis drives a man (played by Matn Scorcese) up to a curb and watch the mans wife inside the window. The scene starts with a channel tracking shot following the cab as it draws up to the curb. It then reduces to the interior of the pickup’s cab as Travis stops the meter convinced that the man is preparing to get away. The man however does not like to get out and wants to keep the meter going. The photographs through out this scene happen to be either through the back seats look at the back of Traviss head or coming from just beyond the front car windows looking in.
The person consistently attempts to engage Travis in conversation about his own affairs. Travis never turns around to check out the man he only will appear at him through the rearview mirror. This kind of reflects Traviss desire to retain a range from his customer and prefers to find him simply as if searching through a window. As the person directs Traviss attention to the lighted space in the apartment building the camera changes to a first person slow panning shot as it scans the Apartment building looking for the window. Finally Travis perceives the room. Dialogue for the most part has become one on the sides with Travis giving simply single syllable answers towards the mans barrière of schizophrenic questions. If the man tells Travis that he is likely to kill his wife with a 44. Mangum Travis begins to take a thing of a dark interest in what the man says. This is maintained the camera shooting through the back couch from a medium low angle while Travis adjusts his rear view mirror in order to look at the guy. Traviss deal with stays about the same but his interest proceeds as he begins to formulate an idea in his personal mind.
He listens even more intently when the person talks about blowing away his wifes confront however his attention turns into diverted following the man begins to talk about firing a womans pussy. The reasoning for this would be that he is looking to clear away the evil thoughts in his brain and the prefer to shoot him self would manage those evils. The volume is turned down slightly towards the end of the picture as Travis starts thinking of his individual plan. This will be recognized a few scene later the moment Travis would like to buy a 44. Magnum.
The last scene I wish to analyze is the final scene in the motion picture. The landscape opens having a tracking taken of paper clippings dangling up on them in Traviss apartment. As the camera is tracking Iriss fathers voiceover can be read until the camera finally rests upon the letter the fact that voice is definitely reading coming from. The picture then changes to an extended exterior shot of the customer. The camera cuts to a medium shot of Travis, Wizard, and Doughboy every standing in regards to taxi. They are really standing reasonably close together and Travis doesnt seem thus isolated in the others. Wizard tell Travis that this individual has a consumer and Travis goes over and gets into his truck’s cab. The field cuts for the Interior with the taxi as Travis hard drives Betsy house. He is grinning confident since Betsy seems to have a renewed interest in Travis. However Traviss sense of isolation can be apparent as Travis and Betsy will be kept in separate mounting. Travis just engages in light conversation with Betsy and does not charge her for the ride in some sort of personal revenge on her.
When he drives away it becomes noticeable that Travis is not better as he starts to shop around in a nervous sort of style. The final taken is from your back seat. Everything else is usually blurred except the rear perspective mirror which will show Traviss eyes as he looks about with a Atroz expression.
