Scene Analysis

The Nutty Professor – Buddy Love’s Entrance

The scene begins with a vibrant setting of many young people dancing to jazz/swing music. The camera then focuses and zooms in on the face of the pianist, looking up at the entrance, followed by those around him, showing their is something or someone of importance there. There are then shots of different people (particularly women) acting shocked by what they see, telling the viewer it is possibly a man be looked at. The camera then zooms in on Buddy Love (Jerry Lewis) smoking a cigar. Most other shots in this club include multiple people in frame, however this shot only shows Buddy, showing his significance and how much he stands out to the rest. There is also an over the shoulder shot from buddy’s angle, which is much higher up than everyone else as if he’s looking down on them, showing his character’s confidence and arrogance clearly. After a long pause with the camera aimed at the staring crowd the music slowly starts again, in contrast to the previous abrupt stop of the music. The camera is then panned round to follow Buddy as he walks past other tables of people, with them following him also as he walks. After buddy leaves the shot And the camera stops panning it still shows the shocked faces of the other people in the club. When he sits down at the bar the shot did include him and another man but the other man quickly gets up and leaves, leaving buddy to be the only one in this shot again. This shows the audience he is independent and intimidates others before he’s even spoken.