Dignity, Always Dignity

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Ironically, the most memorable scene in Singin’ in the Rain, in my opinion, is one that studio head R.F. Simpson says he “can’t quite visualize.”

The scene begins with a close-up of a spinning roulette wheel paired with non-diegetic orchestra music, building up the intensity by increasing both the energy and volume. Through a dolly zoom the frame widens and the camera appears to be on a jib crane as it positions to a high angle and establishes the interior: tables are set around the room with white tablecloths and candles, the men wear tuxedos and the women are dressed in flashy colorful dresses. The ballroom floor is filled with couples dancing under a chandelier. After five full spinning rotations, the dancers pause in unison and turn their attention towards Don Lockwood as he enters the room. From a medium shot, Don hands his hat to the hostess and continues to greet people in the room, shown through backwards tracking. This shot lasts for 13 seconds before transitioning to a close up of Don turning around and reacting suddenly to something he sees off-screen. The non-diegetic music quickly shifts to dark ominous tones coming from brass-like instruments. The film cuts to a medium shot of a woman with dark short hair dressed in white, placed in front a pink wall. She is framed between curtains with large gold tassels and a grey pillar on the left side. The camera zooms in to a close-up of the woman as more string instrument sounds add to the non-diegetic soundtrack that sets the startling mood.

The next shot begins with a close-up of Lockwood and quickly zooms into an extreme close-up to show his countenance change from startled to enamored. Cutting back to the woman, the camera zooms out to a long shot as wind simultaneously begins to blow and her dress flows behind her. This establishes her power and femme fatale-like characteristics as her strong stance is paired with the graceful movement of her dress. After 9 seconds, it cuts back to an extreme long shot where all of the guests are included in the frame. The woman’s dress continues to flow while the guests are completely frozen, further strengthening the impression her character makes. Through a dissolve, Lockwood appears in the fore-ground, facing away and reaching out towards the woman. Her dress is now much longer and the wind much greater. The room is emptied and nothing is left except the two characters. The music transitions to play more light, clarinet sounds with longer tones as the woman slowly descends towards Lockwood. As she approaches, the pace of the music picks up and she runs towards him to link arms and they begin to dance the Broadway Melody Ballet. The crane raises to a high angle long shot and tracks with them back down to a low angle medium shot when they dance back toward the camera. The entire duration of this specific shot is 52 seconds.

Starting from a medium shot, the crane slowly raises back to a high angle as they continue to dance passionately. The next shot lasts for 32 seconds, starting as she slowly circles Lockwood and her dress continues to flow in the wind, wrapping around him. The camera stays stationary for the first 8 seconds, and then begins tracking from a medium-shot, leading up to their kiss. Lockwood holds the woman in his arms and walks as her pointed toes barely graze the ground. He kneels down and pulls her in, while her dress continues to fly in the air. Simultaneous with the kiss, the music gets loud and strong, signalizing the climax of the scene.

34 thoughts on “Dignity, Always Dignity”

  1. I have never had the eye’s, ears, or understanding to be able to go into such depth of the components of a scene all being put together, giving me so much respect with what you were able to do in this essay. I especially appreciate the time and focus you put into looking at how the visuals and audio play such a connected role in order to give a scene or shot a certain feeling- leaving the audience with a certain emotion or curiosity.

    “Can’t quite visualize” was one of my favorite parts of this film as well. The irony related to him saying that as the audience had spent the last 10 minutes viewing the final product continued the film’s ability to get a laugh in a way that we do not always see now a-days. Breaking down the film in this manor was very beneficial to my understanding of why they did, what they did, to create the different elements of this film.

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