This shot show's Doyle in an open space leaving him very vulnerable as he walks past windows of the building revealing young children watching on, adding to the sense of vulnerability that "Popeye" would be feeling.

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The chase scene begins it's build up with a shot of Brooklyn's El train, this not only establishes the location of the scene but is almost an omen of what is about to take place. In the same shot the camera titles down to an image of a child riding a tricycle, a clear sign of vulnerability then zooming forward to introduce "Popeye" Doyle, an NYPD cop, played by Gene Hackman, whose body language suggests he is very hardboiled. In the same shot, giving this scene a very documentary realist style, we follow Doyle walking until we're cut to another angle now looking at Hackman from the right hand side as he walks past another image of vulnerability, a mother pushing her a buggy. By now it is clearly established to be winter through the characters costume and setting, the trees in Brooklyn are empty and all actors are wearing winter coats.

 

By this point the scene has consisted of long shots with just one cut, and judging from the previous uneventful scenes of the movie the audience are likely to feel calm and secure that nothing dramatic is about to happen. The viewer's security, built by Friedman, is then shattered when a gunshot from nowhere hits the mother with the pram.

 We then see a match on action cut when Doyle rolls to the cover of the tree, we now assume that the shot was meant for him. As Doyle takes aim at the sniper the intensity of the scene if heightened with a sequence of rapid and violent cuts between Doyle and the sniper, or good and evil with intercut shots of the public reacting to the terror.

 We're then invited to view things from Doyle's point of view as he looks for the sniper, then a quite cut to his face when 'bang' he is shot at, before we cut to the sniper who is nothing but a silhouette and at this stage unidentified. This is a very powerful sequence of fast cats that really emphasises the violence and intensity of the scene. While the hand held, unsteady camera work denotes a certain amount of realism.

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 I think it is worth noting that the camera men were not aware of where the action in this scene would lead, and were told to film what they saw the best they could thus giving it a sincere sense of realism. Now we see Hackman's body language change from a completely defenceless, anxious character to a more determined cop now on the pursuit of this shooter. Doyle walks, back to the wall avoiding the snipers sight. This shot show's Doyle in an open space leaving him very vulnerable as he walks past windows of the building revealing young ...

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