Villavicencio-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” tells the story of the miserable Joel Barish (Jim Carey) who recently discovered his ex-girlfriend, Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), has forever erased him from her memory. The movie weaves in and out of the couple’s memories as Joel realizes undergoing the same memory-erasing procedure is a disastrous mistake.

In the scene shown, Joel is attempting to hide deep in his memories, (this being one form his childhood,) in order to prevent the doctors from erasing any more memories of Clementine. Clementine is seen in the foreground, looking at a much smaller and hypothetically younger Joel.

The dominant in the scene would most likely be Clementine, despite her being slightly out of focus and facing away from the camera. She is the largest and most striking part of the still. Clementine would also be the dominant because she is appropriately proportioned to the objects around her whereas Joel is (purposely) small and in the background. (Joel would then be the subsidiary).

The character proxemics would be personal because they are not extremely close to each other but are within a couple feet. (Although he looks as if he 5 or 10 feet away from Clementine, Joel is meant to be just under the tablecloth Clementine is lifting)

The camera proxemics would also be personal. We are not part of the scene but the shot is taken at the same level as Clementine allowing the audience more insight. Even though we are able to see all of Clementine’s body, if she were to be standing it would only be half of it. This indicates the camera is close enough to the characters that it would only show half of their bodies if they were standing up (…and not shrunken to a child’s stature).

The lighting key would be natural light. There doesn't seem to be too much contrast. If anything, the scene may look slightly dim (no bright lights) to give a vintage feel (possibly due to a filter though.)

This frame illuminates the larger scene, which shows Joel struggling to hide in the deepest of his memories to hold on to those of Clementine. Joel’s position under a large table demonstrates his desperate attempts to hide. This also hints to his vulnerability in both the situation he is really in (laying unconscious on a bed while doctors search for memories and destroy them) as well as his vulnerability in his relationship with Clementine. Clementine’s adult size may allude to her dominant role in their relationship.