Even though "The Man Who Wasn't There" was released in 2001, it mimicked the style of a 1940s film noir. Its black and white styled filming is one of the biggest attributes to the film noir feel. The film had a lot of medium shots, which makes some scenes less dramatic, but more effective in conveying the mood. The film had a sense of dark humor, a unique add-on to most film noirs. This was achieved by using slow-motion and narrating. The use of lenses and framing were normal, nothing extraordinary use of the camera, but the right effects were achieved nonetheless. It seems in order to convey a film noir, normal cinematography skills, such as medium shots and at eye-level, are the best for the job.
One thing that's important for film development are scenes that convey information that aren't reflected in the characters' action or dialogue. This can either be in form of symbolism or hidden meaning. Sometimes a lot of emotion and information can be shown even if the characters are silent and motionless. One such incident was during a flashback right after Ed and Birdy's car accident. There was a scene where a salesman comes up to Ed's lawn, but was rudely chased away by Doris, who angrily goes in the house and starts drinking alcohol on the couch. When Ed sits on the opposite end of the couch and starts talking, she interrupts him, telling him she's fine, when it's clear she's very unhappy. Earlier Ed's narration told us that Doris started drinking after going to her cousin's wedding party, she becomes embarrassed by her family, feeling they're a burden to her life. In that scene Ed and Doris sat on opposite sides of the couch, Doris drinking her problems away and Ed sits there, staring into space. This can also be a hint that Doris might not be very happy about her marriage either.
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3. Shot Lengths
This film used many long length shots. I've noticed shots are usually longer when Ed starts narrating, usually about his inner thoughts or backstory. These long-length shots are used so the viewers can concentrate on what Ed's saying and not get distracted by the constantly changing shots. For example, during the scene when Ed is attending Birdy's piano performance at school, there was a long-shot length focused on Birdy playing piano from her back side, while Ed talked about his perfect fantasy of sharing a bright future with her. The camera stayed for so long at Birdy's back so the audience won't be distracted by anything else. Instead they can focus on imagining along with Ed how things could have turned out for them. How Ed could be Birdy's manager, allowing Birdy to have a successful career, and allowing Ed to break out of his bland life.
4. Shot Types:
I don't recall any memorable long-shots, but there was a close-up shot that I think is meaningful. At the very end of the film, right before Ed was electrocuted in the chair, he saw the executor about to pull the switch; there was a close up of him looking toward the ceiling. Ed was thinking to himself how he's not afraid of what's going to happen to him after death, how he wishes to meet Doris after he dies, and tell her all the things he wanted to in life but couldn't find the words for. The way the camera being close to his face was to capture Ed looking up the ceiling, to capture his last moment being alive as a hopeful moment. Ed hopes, that after death he'll find a peaceful place to reunite with Doris, telling her everything he's been holding inside. Deep down, Ed wants to be with Doris. After Doris died, Ed said he felt like a ghost, like he doesn't exist, so Doris was the person who can confirm Ed's existence.
5. Camera Angles:
There was a low-angle shot, not POV, from the film, where Ed looks down at passed out Doris after putting her down on bed. The camera pointed upwards at Ed, looking up at his face, as he looks down at Doris. Using the low-angle technique, this scene was meant to portray Ed's caring side, his admirable qualities. He reminisces about how he and Doris met, got married shortly after, and how they knew as much about each other back then as they do now. They may not know each other very well, but this scene shows Ed cares about herat least in some ways, and he doesn't mind that his marriage turned out this way.
6. Composition:
Throughout most of the film composition remains balanced. Much like most other camera techniques, this film didn't use too much unusual ways to portray a certain scene or character. Right when Ed was reminiscing about how he and Doris met, the phone rang, and the composition for the scene remained the standard thirds. On either side of the shot, there was nothing but walls; Ed was right at the center of the focus. In fact, the only things in focus was Ed and the phone, both at the center; everything to the side was blocked and blackened by the walls. This shows that whoever's calling the phone is very important as it was the only visible object other than the main character. Sure enough, turned out the phone call led Ed to a series of actions that ultimately ended tragically.
7. Camera Movement:
This film didn't have extreme angles or any computer graphics to emphasize the mood, but it did use some good camera movements. By simply moving the camera a certain way, it can amplify how the character feels or how the character wants the audience to feel. After Doris's death, Ed and his newly hired barber left the shop. The camera followed Ed from his right side as he walked home, smoking his cigarette. His voice-over tells that he felt people on the street avoided him like a disease after what happened with Doris, that he felt like a ghost among people. The way the camera followed him as he walked through the crowd showed how lonely, empty, and invisible he felt. Also the entire shot showed everybody else walking one way, and Ed's the only person walking the other way. No one is walking along with him, no one's keeping him company.
8. Cinematography Style:
There are a few places in the film where the cinematography really calls attention to itself. One of them I remember was after Ed crashed the car with Birdy in it, the film took a dark, humorous turn and showed the car spinning around in the air in slow-motion while Ed rethinks his life. I think the reason this scene is humorous is because it's very cliche, the car slowly rotating in midair while the main character's life flashes before him. It is assumed that while the car was rolling around before it completely crashed, Ed was thinking about back before all his troubles started, when Doris was just unhappy with her life, drinking away her problems. It's a bit odd that out of Ed's entire life, this is the moment he thought of before he thought he was going to die. It's possible the reason is that Ed wanted to make Doris happy again, want to have a satisfying marriage with her.
