V for Vendetta, Chancellor Sutler's Introduction Analysis

This is a short review of the clip from the movie V for Vendetta in which we are first introduced too the character of Chancellor Sutler. We first see Chancellor Sutler as a close up, the shot shows just his head and he takes up the entire screen. This shows immediately that he is a man of power. When the shot changes we start too see the men that Chancellor Sutler is addressing, they are shown from a high angle shot and all 5 of them are on screen, the cinematography used here continues the theme of power. The high angle makes them appear weak in comparison to Sutler as we imagine the angle too be his POV, showing he is looking down on them. During all shots of Chancellor Sutler nothing other than his face and shoulders are shown, showing that he needs nothing else too exert his power over the other men. He is also filmed from a lower angle showing that he is important as the other men have to look up too him. When any of the other 5 men are shown speaking they are also shown in close up shots, but not too the same extent as Chancellor Sutler is, it does not give you the same feeling that they are in charge as looking at the Chancellor does. The men's faces are covered in shadows other than when they lean forward too speak, it is black behind them and you can see nothing, this gives a slight mystery too the men. Or could simply be seen to mean that they can slide back into the shadows and be forgotten about and replaced, showing their weakness, but that is dependant how you interpret the shadow behind them. At 2.10 the shot changes to a long shot of the whole room, the viewpoint is from the side of the room behind the men and the screen. This allows the viewers to see the size of Sutler compared too the other men properly, it again shows his importance and power over them. The shot also shows us more of the room and in doing so shows us that most of the room is dark and the screen projecting Sutler's image is one of the only brightly lit coloured image, showing his face and words hold power not only over the men but also in a way over the whole room.