Shot 1: A long shot of a girl kneeling in a room that is
made of wood. There are many wooden bars throughout the room, but the door way
is open. The floor looks like stone.
Shot 2: An eye level shot of a woman kneeling in a structure
of some sort. It is assumed to be a room where one washes hair and clothing.
There are wooden buckets lying around, the walls are wood with wooden barred
windows containing no glass. There are a few flowers, and some sort of bag
hanging up. The kneeling woman is in the center, and is the focus of the shot.
All that can be seen are her bare feet, her bottom with a bow tied on the
patterned skirt, or kimono (sorry I’m not sure what her clothing is called exactly).
Her bare back is somewhat visible and her arms are seen washing something,
which will later be revealed to be her hair.
Shot 3: A low angle shot allows the viewer to see what the
girl is seeing, a man who has walked in behind her. The man is bald with hair
thinning hair on the sides of his head, and is wearing casual clothing. He is
looking at the girl. Although the front of the girl is now visible, her long
soaked hair hides her face. The entrance of the room can be seen and a bare
tree is outside. In the background there is the sound of running water.
Shot 4: A medium shot of the girl looking over her shoulder,
this is the first time her face is seen, but it is only the top half of her
face. She is still in a kneeling position. The faucet that the water comes out
of can be seen. She then goes back to washing her hair, but when she looks over
her shoulder again the shot changes.
Shot 5: A medium shot of the man in front of a doorway that
has bars on the top portion of it, it seems that natural light is illuminating
the man. He has his hand in his yukata (again sorry if it’s not a yukata). His
mouth is slightly open. He takes a step forward.
Shot 6: The camera returns to a eye level, medium shot of
the girl glancing over her shoulder at the man. Her hands are in her hair. She
stands up, and the camera moves in an upward direction with her.
Shot 7: A medium shot of the girl with her full face in view
for the first time. She is slightly crouched, but it is barely noticeable. Her
body is angled slightly towards the audience, but is hidden by her arm. Both of
her hands are holding her soaked hair, which appears to go at least as far as
her waist.
Shot 8: A long shot of the girl and the man. We can see them
through the bars of the window. The girls back is seen, and the man can be seen
behind the girl. The window’s bars are made of wood. In the room, the wooden
buckets can be seen again and some wooden sticks and hats are up against the
wall. As are some other tools. The girl is in the center of the shot and her
hair is the focus, still held by her. The man’s hand is still in his yukata and
he takes another step closer. The flowing water can still be heard in the
background.
Shot 9: A medium
shot of the man with the barred window behind him once again. He is slightly
off center. His left shoulder is higher than his right shoulder. He has taken
his hand out of his yukata and revealed a razor of some sort.
Shot 10: A medium
shot of the girl again. One hand is holding her hair, the other I wiping her
hair from her face. Her mouth is slightly opened, and her eyes are wide open.
She also has barred windows behind her.
Shot 11: A medium
shot of the man, same as shot 9. The razor is in the center of the shot.
Shot 12: A medium
shot of the girl, she is holding her hair and looking at it while it covers her
face. She then takes a hold of her hair and uncovers her face so that she can
speak again.
Shot 13: A medium
shot of the man, still very similar to shots 9 and 11, but he is now shouting.
Tension can be seen in his throat. He comes takes a forceful step forward.
Shot 14: A long
shot reveals dry plants, possibly a type of grass outside the building. The
wooden bars of the building are what we see the man and the girl through. The
man is still holding the razor, and the girl is still holding her hair. It
becomes blurry as the man chases the girl, the camera follows while staying
outside of the room. There are slight pauses, and the man shouts at the girl.
The girl lets go of her hair.
Shot 15: The girl
and man are running. They have left the building. Wooden fences, and other
buildings and plants can be seen as the girl runs from the man.
Shot 16: The girl
falls on the ground face first. Dust is all around her, and her hair is covering
her face. The man’s hand and leg can be seen entering from the left. As the
girl gets up the man grabs her, and she tries to push him away. The man holds
onto the girl with one hand and onto the razor with another hand. He keeps the
razor far away from the girl. Other people approach and stare at the man and
the girl. The man drags the girl away as she screams.
Shot 17: The
other people, all men are left staring in the direction that the man dragged
the girl.
When we first watched Seven Samurai, this scene between
Shino and her father really stuck out to me. Seven Samurai focuses a lot on
class differences and on how fear effects our actions. The villagers need samurais in order to protect them
from the bigger threat of the robbers. Of course they still fear the Samurai to
an extent, especially Shino’s father. He is incredibly worried that on of the
Samurai’s will take advantage of his daughter, so worried that he decides that
she must pretend to be a boy. Shino’s father’s fear of the samurai made him
become someone that his daughter feared. Shino’s father could have sat down
with her calmly and explained his fear to his daughter, but instead he took a
hasty, and unkind approach. He gives Shino no choice, and forces her to cut her
hair, going as far as chasing her with a razor around the village while she is
screaming. I believe this scene is one of the best illustrations of how fear
can negatively affect people. If Shino's father had not let his fear scare effect him so much, then he would not have frightened Shino. Shino could have also acted more calmly and tried to talk to her father, but it did seem that Shino's father wasn't in the best state of mind when he was chasing her. Although this scene illustrates how fear can effect people negatively, their are several scenes in the movie that depict people who do not let fear control them, which I think is one of the most important aspects of this film. The lesson that one should not be controlled by fear, whether it's fear of people who are different from you, or of losing something you love.
