Shameless Series 2 Episode 2 33-37 mins
How is ‘Marty Fisher’ represented via the use of camera shots in Shameless?
Marty Fisher is a character from the TV drama ‘Shameless’. He suffers from Tourette’s syndrome and incidentally is a pyromaniac. Marty’s mother ‘Carol Fisher’ is a woman in her sixties who for her age is rather promiscuous and enjoys dating younger men. As you can imagine Marty doesn’t agree. In this episode, Carol goes out on a date with a young ‘Italian’ man much to Marty’s dismay, so naturally he attempts to set fire to there car, while she and her date are in it. However in the end Steve, the local car thief, manages to calm the situation down only for Frank Gallagher to come and drop a lit cigarette onto the gasoline drenched car.
The first shot of Marty is a ‘Deep Focus Shot’, this shot manages to show all three of the characters in the scene at that time; Mary, Steve and Fiona (Steve’s Girlfriend). It also manages to show how Marty is treated by others, that he is possibly dangerous and should be approached with caution, as he is close up to the camera however the others are quite a distance away from Marty and the camera. Furthermore the shot is close to Marty’s face in this case it is not so much to showcase his expressions but to reinforce or introduce his Tourette’s to the viewer by focusing on his twitches.
The shot quickly changes as Steve is dragged out of the room by Fiona for a heated discussion about Marty. The camera now uses a ‘Two Shot’, this also separates Marty from those two. It also uses a Handheld/Shakey camera style to create a tense atmosphere in an almost voyeuristic way, this function is used often in shameless to create a sense of realism. The next shot is a ‘High Angle Shot’ looking down on Marty who I sat in darkness save the light from the streetlamps outside. This high angle shot make him seem vulnerable however if we follow ‘Vladimir Propp’ the clothes he is wearing and the darkness he is sat in make him look like the villain. The camera then zooms into a ‘Medium Close Up’ on his face to show how disturbed and upset he is, is also reinforces his Tourette’s syndrome.
As the music begins to change we cut to the car in which Carol and he date are sat, then for a short while it cuts back to Marty before returning to ‘Track’ the car as it drives around the corner, this is to confirm why Marty is angry. A voyeuristic shot is then used in the same way to confirm that sexual activities are taking place in the car and to establish why Marty is angry, this also makes you feel like your there. The camera ‘Tracks’ Marty in exactly the same way as the car so as to show us he is going towards the car, the camera zooms onto the can of petrol he is holding to show the main focus of this scene.
Finally after Carol and her date realize that Marty is pouring petrol over the car they clamber out in which a negotiation scene ensues. Throughout this scene Marty is always framed on his side of the ‘180° Rule’ this creates opposition between him and everyone else, also throughout this scene the lighter that Marty is holding never leaves the shot as this is the main focus of the scene. At the climax the lighter is framed in an ‘Extreme Close Up’, however the situation is diffused and a ‘crowd shot’ is used to establish this, however as frank comes stumbling down the road a close up on the cigarette he is holding is used, by this simple technique you already know what is going to follow. When the car does blow up there is a ‘pan’ at eye level across everyone’s faces as to show there reaction. Where as everyone else seems annoyed, Marty looks pleased yet slightly deranged this just reinforces the fact that he is different from everybody else.
