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Cinematography in "Moonrise Kingdom"

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Cinematography in "Moonrise Kingdom"
The movie Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) tells a story of two children, Sam and Suzy, who feel estranged and disconnected in their small island community of New Penzance. Wes Anderson's use of cinematography and other audiovisual elements creates a highly stylized movie that explores the concept of family and the need for people in our lives. In the scene towards the end of the movie in which Sam and Suzy make a risky climb up to the top of the church bell-tower, in the middle of a storm, police chief Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) saves their lives by caring enough to follow them into the storm and bring them back to safety. Wes Anderson combines the elements of a raging thunderstorm, the repeated appearance of a distinct silhouette styled shot, and the audio effect of church-bells in the background in order to illustrate the effects that Sam and Suzy have on the other characters by the love that they share for one another.
One of the biggest reasons that this scene stands out from the rest of the movie is because of the presence of the intense storm overhead that illuminates the characters from the constant lightning and creates an intense "on the edge of your seat" moment which is even greater emphasized by the constant sound of thunder and gusts of wind. The storm represents all of the conflict and negativity that Sam and Suzy receive from all of the other characters. Sam desires friendship but is rejected by all of the other Khaki Scouts because of his social awkwardness, and Suzy is in a dysfunctional family where brothers live in a world of their own, and she no longer trusts her parents because her mother is carrying on an affair. The love that Sam and Suzy share for each other seems to be the only meaningful thing in each of their lives, and everything seems to be crashing down on them as Sam faces being taken away by social services and Suzy faces having to return to a family who doesn’t pay attention to her. The storm in this scene emphasizes the

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