"Fridge" Full Shot Analysis

The opening shot takes place from within the fridge. The door is open revealing the outside world. Everything including the door and the fridge body are angled towards the sky, which provokes a sense of openness and freedom, although the door is shrouded in shadows so it has a brooding atmosphere to it aswell. Mullan has achieved this emphasis through a low angle, as if we are trapped in the fridge and should be finding a way to step out of it.

Another establishing shot is of a window with a pair of curtains partially concealing the dark inside of the house. The curtains make it look very narrowed and secluded, implicating how someone is trying to hide from the outside world.

This sense of seclusion is further emphasised when we are introduced to the woman - one of the two main protagonists as we find out sooner on - who is slouching on a doorstep and just looking out on the world. She doesn't look like she's willing to move from where she's sitting, evident in her body language.

Soon we are introduced to the main child, the one who gets trapped in the fridge. He is running around freely and enjoying himself without a care in the world. As he runs along he follows the camera, placing himself right in our view and showing us how the open world can be a place of joy.

As he runs, the boy ends up at the dark area where the woman is resting. He stares at her for a couple of seconds, and then runs along again. This contrast between the freedom of the boy and the exile of the woman places guilt upon the latter, in which she is not being optimistic or opening herself up to the world.

The two main antagonists - the boys who trap the other one in the fridge - are then introduced to us, flicking burning paper at a tramp. They are introduced from a side point of view, like we are only observing them. This is to try and provoke us towards a new perspective of the outside world, one that isn't friendly at all.

As the tramp wakes up, the two boys' faces take up the entire screen. Both their facial sneers and the burning paper they brandish make them look all the more intimidating, further emphasising that the outside world may not always be friendly.

The main protagonist - a man - soon shows up to tell the boys to leave. Taking up this shot is him in the centre and the two boys in the foreground. It creates a nice depth of field and the low angle makes the protagonist look more bold, indicating that he must somehow overcome this kind of threat.

As the man walks back to where the woman is resting, the boys turn back in retaliation to try and talk him down. The low angle and contrast of shadow and light between them and the background makes them look all the more intimidating and threatening.

The man retaliates back. His white shirt contrasts well with the dark scenery, as if to show that he'll somehow become the hero in a time of darkness. By distancing him though, it shows that he too wants to avoid confrontation and not get hurt.

When the boy gets trapped in the fridge, an insider looks on from their window but doesn't act upon it. The contrast between light and shadow returns, emphasising the cold and bitter nature of the metaphor of the fridge. When the man tries to get help from other people, he has to leap up from the ground up to a nearby window for it. This only makes these people staying indoors look even more distant and how they don't want to put up with any risks or danger themselves.

"Fridge" uses a stunning contrast between light and shadow throughout, and is also great at utilising various camera angles to create the desired emphasis it needs to get across. The black and white cinematography gives it a very poor, run-down feel, emphasising the true terrifying nature of the film and how none of the characters are opening themselves up to the wider world.