A sequence opens with an establishing shot of the small uncared house surrounded by trees, but also is placed in a bad weather (windy,gloomy). In addition a house itself is not well cared of and is made out of old materials. Behn Zeitlin decided to place camera in that specific position to establish meaning. the meaning of this shot is to provide information about the environment and possibly the conditions the character lives in. A message behind this is that character (at this point unknown) is living in harsh conditions as well as in the area where weather is not really good. A light in the house symbolises that someone or something is in there. Zeitlin was inspired to make Beast of the Southern Wild by Hurricane Katrina and wanted to present his views on this as well as wanted to express his views on human actions on environment. Behn Zeitlin himself said "I live in the New Orleans and was interested in telling story about people who are staying in South Louisiana and why they are holding on".
Another shot in this sequence takes place inside the house where we are introduced to character. Instead looking at what she wears or where she is Behn Establishes character through her actions. This is shown through hands building up a nest for a bird. A camera tilts up creating a low angle shot of a girl (hushpuppy) holding a bird by her ear. This connotes that she is looking after the bird. Also the low angle shot is used to show that she has power and responsibility over the bird. If it was a high angle shot Hushpuppy would be seen as person who disrespects the animal rather than looking after it. The closeup of girls face and bird next to her ear symbolises that she is connected to nature as she is trying to listen and understand communication of the non-human world.
Shot 3 focuses on Hushpuppy and what she wears as well as the environment she lives in outside of the house. Girl is presented by Behn as poorly dressed. This connotes that she comes from the poor family. The camera is place low making her look vulnurable and separated from the destroyed environment and tyres throw randomly around the field. This symbolises that girl lives in a poor family with no resources to live.
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