The Graduate Blog Post

The Graduate is an American comedy-drama that uses interesting camera techniques as well as original ideas to create a film considered to be an all time great. Much of the beginning of the movie is shot in a cold, dark way, with little or none up close and personal shots. It is meant to convey the confusion and lack of emotion Ben feels at the start. Another notable shot comes in the underwater shot when Ben's parents make him show off family how he can go underwater in a divers suit. The shot of him standing blankly in his kitchen is one of the most famous shots of all time, and very recognizable. The shot of him underwater just standing there conveys the sense that Ben is out of his depth, and he doesn't know where to go from here. There is also originality that the viewer might not notice but actually plays an important role in the movie. In the last scene, Ben and Elaine sit in the back of a bus after running away from her wedding with another man. However, the director never tells them to cut even though they expect it, creating an interesting sequence of almost awkward facial expressions that makes the viewer realize that Ben and Elaine are in fact human, and the reality that the ran away from a wedding begins to set in.