For my shot by shot scene analysis I chose to do a scene from Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, a Chan Wook Park film - actually it's two scenes, but the first one was too short to do by itself and the two are very related. Here's some context for the scene: the main character, Ryu (the guy with the green hair), has a sister who's dying from a kidney illness. In spite of his sister's requests, he decides that he's going to donate one of his kidneys to her. In the following scene he's being told that they can't transplant his kidney because he doesn't have the right blood type.
This shot gives the viewer a very intimidating feeling, which is supposed to imitate Ryu's feelings at this moment. Ryu is deaf, so he's having a hard time reading the man's lips. Additionally, he's probably nervous being in such a formal environment. The fact of what the man across from him is saying obviously makes all of those things much worse. Therefore, the straight, head-on framing of the shot makes the man seem as if he is staring you straight in the eye. It confronts the viewer. The lighting is also very soft and yellow-greenish, which gives the impression of a drab, rainy day. This is probably intended to give the viewer a sense of the tragedy of what is happening.
This shot, and the one following it, are in the film to convey to the viewer that Ryu is reading the man's lips and that he is intensely focused on them. The tightness of the shot and the sort of spotlight-like lighting on his face add to this feeling of intense focus.
Here is a shot of the man's lips, which continues with the drab lighting scheme.
This shot is somewhat unsettling because of the way that the man's head is partially blocked by Ryu's. It highlights the awkwardness of the situation; Ryu is trying hard to understand what the man is saying and also not to become incredibly angry, and the other man is annunciating his words carefully so that he will be understood. There is also a very shallow depth of field which also gives the viewer an awkward feeling since the out of focus subject (Ryu) takes up so much of the frame.
In this shot the camera racks focus towards Ryu as he lets his head fall into his hands. However, there's a cut just before Ryu comes into focus. This gives the viewer a feeling of an attempt at resolution that fails. It mirrors Ryu's attempt to sooth himself by burying his face in his hands.
This shot, being as out of focus and muddled by rain as it is, gives the viewer a sense of being totally lost. This feeling reflects Ryu's feelings after learning that his kidney cannot be transplanted.
This shot is basically identical to the previous shot so I won't comment on it.
In this shot and the ones following it, Ryu is apparently venting his rage over what just happened in a batting cage. We can tell that he's angry because he's breathing heavily and his body buckles after each hit. This shot gives a very claustrophobic feeling. Like the earlier centered shot of the man at the clinic, it is intended to give the viewer a straight, direct look into the character. Because of the closeness of the shot and the shallow depth of field his anger seems closer to us. This magnifies it in a way - makes it more intense. We feel almost as if he's angry at us. The greenness of the shot and the directionality of the light also give it a very stark, intense, almost sickening feeling. It shows how bleak Ryu's world is.
This shot continues with the green light and the claustrophobic feeling.
The film returns to the initial shot of Ryu's face as he swings his bat. This shot is pretty much identical to the first one - the screengrab is from the part where Ryu is swinging. You can see his anger.
This shot is a relief after the bleak, claustrophobic look of the previous shots. It's still rather bleak, but not quite as much so because there isn't as much detail on one thing and there is more variety in the shot. Ryu isn't on any of the third's lines. As with most of the other shots, I think Park is trying to make the viewer uncomfortable. He is intentionally going against established norms in filmmaking in order to unsettle and surprise the viewer.
This shot continues with the bleak look of the previous shots and adds to it a feeling of loneliness. With Ryu left as a tiny figure in the shot, we are left with a huge, empty space. From this angle we're also able to see how dark it is outside of the sphere of the single, sickly light. It is a very desolate shot.
