Double Indemnity Frame Analysis

    In this frame from the film Double Indemnity, the director (Billy Wilder) is able to successfully create a highly focused concluding scene to the movie as well as Walter Neff’s life by using lighting, positioning, and a unique presentation of Walter. 

    Billy Wilder uses the lighting and positioning of the camera to focus the viewers eyes on Walter Neff as he spends his final moments on Earth. Wilder positions the camera in a way such that Neff is the sole focus of the scene. In a funeral you walk into the Church, and the deceased is in the casket upfront and center with nothing surrounding it except for flowers and pictures, that’s besides the point. Similarly Neff is in the center of the frame with nothing surrounding him. It forces the viewer to only pay attention to Neff while he confesses. This sole focus on Neff is furthered by the use of lighting. Wilder uses the lighting to block out everything behind Neff. All that the viewer is able to see is Neff and the assortment of objects in front of him. The director once again is able to force the audience to focus on Neff, because he deems this to be very important for the audience to see Neff in his final moments. 

    Wilder is able to convey to the audience that Neff is dying by the way he is presented in this particular frame. First the viewer can instantly see that the blood from his gunshot wound has read from the size of a golf ball to almost his entire shoulder. Further we see that Neff is sweating profusely on his face and through his shirt. These are the two most obvious tips that Wilder gives the viewer that Neff’s life is most likely over. Lastly Neff’s clothes are completely different from the rest of the movie. In the world of grownups, freshly laundered suits and ties are a sign of someone who has their life put together. Throughout the film Neff is always in a suit with no wrinkles, and a tie. Now with his life falling apart and on the brink of death, his suit is wrinkled and he is without his patented short tie. The director is able to use these larger and smaller changes in the presentation of Walter Neff to show that these may be Walter Neff’s final words. 

    Overall Billy Wilder is able to give the audience a frame filled with specific directing choices that convey an emotional confession from Walter Neff.