Get Technical // Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill, is a love letter to traditional western films. That’s the first thing we were told about this film. The western genre, in general, surrounds an American western landscape, a battle between two groups, and characters that are based on real people. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a beautiful nod to the genre, including all of these elements. It follows the two bandits, Butch Cassidy and Sundance, as they find their way robbing banks and running away from the law. The film uses both black and white scenes and scenes in color to captivate the audience. Some of the most effective and overall best aspects of the film are the numerous cinematic elements. The mix of extreme close-ups and zoom-ins and outs is a big part of why the film works.
In a typical western film, one of the iconic cinematic elements within a film is extreme close-ups. Usually, close-ups in western films are used to focus on characters’ faces, eyes, and hands. I’m no expert on western film, but even I know that a classic standoff has dramatic extreme close-ups of the character’s eyes. It shows the tension surrounding the altercation and the drama around who will draw their gun first. In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the opening scene uses dramatic close-ups of the character’s faces as they have an odd 3 person standoff. The shot is set up so that Butch and Sundance are facing the cameras and the third man has his back to them. The camera stays still for a moment as there is some movement, but a quick cut zooms into the pistol being drawn and then used to shoot the other pistol out of the third man’s hands and across the floor. While this standoff differs from traditional ones in western films - mainly by the lack of extreme close-ups - it uses other key components to still identify itself as a western movie. The quick draw after a long tension-filled standoff scene plays perfectly into the genre.
One of my favorite things accomplished in this film is the use of zoom in and outs. From the opening to the ending, the zoom-in and-out shots add so much chaos to an otherwise slow film. Following the story of Butch and Sundance as they banter and run from the law is exciting on its own. There are moments of comedy thrown in to make it all feel light-hearted, almost like it’s all a big game. To add comedy, and most often drama, the film uses a zoom in and outs. As mentioned earlier, there is a dramatic close-up in the opening scene that helps to show off Sundance’s shooting skills. While it is technically not a zoom-in, it still works as one as the scene cuts to it very quickly, giving audience members little time to process what has just happened. In later moments of the film, specifically, when Butch and Sundance go on a long journey to escape the police that are hot on their tail, viewers can observe the use of extreme long shots. The slowest parts of this film lay there in those shots. From a great distance, Butch and Sundance have to squint to see if they are still being chased. A few dust clouds confirm that they are and they are forced to keep moving forward. These scenes do the same with cuts to make it feel like the camera is being zoomed out to display a sunny desert landscape.
The final aspect of the film that works is the switch between black and white and color. Within the film, there are three key moments where the director chose to exclusively shoot in black and white instead of in color. Throughout the majority of the film, the director uses color, so these scenes always stand out. These scenes include the opening, the photomontage, and the final freeze-frame in the end. Each one of these scenes is perfectly executed and works so well for the overall genre and movie. The opening scene helps establish who everyone is without giving any formal introductions. There are some close-ups of the character’s face, as well as some medium shots of everyone standing around a table. As discussed before, this scene sets the tone for the film as a western and does so by being entirely shot in black and white. The black and white shots help viewers focus exclusively on the tension between the characters and the small dialogue exchanged. The next scene, or rather a sequence of photos, is a cheerful journey between Butch, Sundance, and Etta as they make their way to Bolivia. The scene includes upbeat music and lots of black and white photos of the trio on their travels. The scene then has a wonderful transition back into color as the trios’ trip ends and they arrive in Bolivia. I think the transition was exactly what the film needed to cross over the next half of the film. The final scene, the very last shot, is both a freeze-frame and the use of black and white. While the duo faces their final battle, they bravely go out, guns at the ready, facing their fate. In the last second, the scene freezes and captures a photolike shot of Butch and Sundance running out onto the battlefield. Audience members can hear gunshots being fired, but the frame doesn’t change. Instead, the director chose to capture their final moment in time, freezing it to preserve the story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
