The opening sequence of Sisters In Law is from a handheld camera looking outside the window of a moving car. This shows the rural, African location that the film is set in, introducing the audience to this foreign environment. Longinotto also challenges the audiences pre-conceived ideas of what a rural African village may be like by displaying the dull, overcast sky and thick greenery surrounding the village. There is also some African-inspired non-diegetic music playing over this footage, immersing the audience in this environment and culture. It’s jaunty and makes the tone of the film seem more light and happy, juxtaposing the later serious and grim subject matter.
As the scene continues, obvious, hard cuts are used to show that time has passed and we are getting deeper into this village. There is no contextual information for the film others than the captions showing where it is, to avoid influencing the audiences opinion in any way. The camera pans right to show a dirt road in the village, immersing the audience in the scene by making it feel more like they are seeing these events as they happen, and that they are there. The camera movements are also spontaneous and move as events occur, following participant’s movements since events are not scripted or planned in observatory film.
Longinotto’s physical presence is reduced by only her and a co-director filming. They did not ask people to speak English, instead using English subtitles to keep the films authenticity. No music is played after the initial opening shot, keeping the atmosphere feeling real and avoiding manipulating the audience’s feelings. The crew go around, recording aspects of everyday life in this village to create a sense of place in the film. She also uses zoom at times, sacrificing aesthetic for a useful way of bringing the audiences attention to something. She also stands in the corner of the office to remain out of the way as she records, and moves and refocuses the camera to focus on whatever is important in that moment.
When the film does cut between shots, it is not done to manipulate the audience but to compress the films length and avoid unnecessary scenes that don’t add anything to the film. If the important moments, like conversations go on for a long time, then so does the the scene. The film is also visually imperfect, as seen when the camera pans left to show Vera talking to the husband who kidnapped his wife’s child, and the camera takes a second to refocus. This is left in since the scene is still important for the film.
Every time there is an extended sequence focusing on one of the sisters, Longinotto then cuts to scenes of domestic life in Cameroon to contextualise the film and show more of what the location is like, putting it into real life and immersing the audience, teaching them of what it is like there. Handheld cameras, natural lighting creates a real sense of place, showing more of what the location is and also avoiding spending time setting up bulky equipment, allowing her to capture events in real time, making the film less artificial and staged.
Finley Cairns A-Level Film Studies Blog 