Do The Right Thing by Coopcarleton

Do The Right Thing

coopcarleton — 2023-11-02 21:35:41 UTC

In 1989 Spike Lee’s third feature film, Do The Right Thing, was released and was critically acclaimed (with the film being nominated for an Academy Award) for both the eye-opening story and Spike Lee’s unique directing and filmmaking style. The film is set in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, on an extremely hot day. The film follows Mookie an employee of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, who acts as the audience tour guide, taking them through the Brooklyn neighborhood and introducing them to the other characters that live in the neighborhood, such as the pizzeria owner Sal, and black members of the community such as Radio Raheem, and Buggin’ Out. As the heat intensifies so does the day as racial tensions boil over after Buggin’ Out asks Sal why the pizzeria’s wall of fame lacks any black members. As the situation fully devolves, it ends with Radio Raheem being killed by the police and the pizzeria being burned down after rioting ensues. The film does a unique thing in race films by showing the characters actively degrade toward racist stereotypes, the film itself can act as a metaphor for racist sentiment grow throughout a community. While the film is known for it’s powerful commentary on community and race, the cinematography of the film also stands out as Spike Lee’s unique directorial style.

The Filmmaking of the Film

coopcarleton — 2023-11-02 21:36:26 UTC

The cinematography helps Lee create a very unique experience for the audience, giving the audience a look into the community the characters live in. The film uses many tracking wide shots as Mookie or other characters walk through the neighborhood. These wide shots provide an expansive scene of the film's miss-en-seen, and the setting shows how large and diverse the community is. The film also uses warm tones (as Lee uses a lot of reds and other warm tones in both the setting and the character costumes) and heating devices (as external heaters were used in filming to create the shots that heat movement) to create the feeling growing heat as the film continues. This portrait of growing heat can also be seen as a metaphor for the growing racial tensions throughout the film.

The Wall of Fame Scene

coopcarleton — 2023-11-02 21:37:27 UTC

One scene that showcases Spike’s individual filmmaking style is the scene where Buggin’ Out notices and voices concern to the fact that no black people are present on Sal’s wall of fame. The scene utilizes a wealth of warm tones both in the miss-en-seen and characters wardrobes in the scene, as the walls of the pizzeria are a warm yellow, and no cold colors are present in the clothes of the characters. The scene also uses a number of wide long shots to show the reactions of the other patrons in the pizzeria, to convey the intensity of the scene.