


Ryan Coogler also strategically positioned the actors in this film a certain way causing the viewer to focus their attention on Oscar and the way that the police were taking advantage of the limited amount of power given to them.
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He strategically zoomed in and out of the scene from mid body shots, head shots, to full body shots, forcing the viewers to pay attention to specific character movements, and facial expression a specific character was given. After the fight ended the train came to a complete stop at Fruitvale Station and officers pulled Oscar and his friends off of the train throwing them to the ground, beating on them to keep them quiet.Ĭoogler thought about which angles would give the viewer the most jaw dropping and intensifying experience when capturing this single moment of police brutality. A fight breaks out between Oscar and a rival he made while in jail on the train ride home from seeing the fireworks. One example of Michael B Jordan’s raw acting was shown in this scene. The most connected we feel to Oscar Grant due to Michael B Jordan’s body language and facial expressions can be seen once Oscar begins to get harassed by the police.

This was shown in many scenes throughout the movie. In order for Ryan Coogler to get his message across about how police brutality is a huge issue in our society that although is portrayed in the media still gets overlooked, Michael B Jordan had to deliver raw acting to rear in the audience and make them connect to Oscar Grant on a personal level.
Fruitvale station movie#
When transitioning between characters he uses cut-to shots to rapidly go from one character to the next causing the movie to stay at a quick but steady pace, building anticipation and keeping the audience on their toes for what's going to happen next.Īlong side Ryan Coogler, Michael B Jordan did a phenomenal job of making it nearly impossible for the audience not to feel for Oscar as they approached the scene of his altercation with the BART police. Throughout the movie Ryan Coogler did an extraordinary job of using his camera work to help the audience follow the storyline and highlight Michael B Jordan’s emotions,body language and conflicts by transitioning the camera from close ups to full body shots taking place in each scene leading up to Oscar’s death. Cooper forcefully captured his audience and made them subconsciously analyze the harsh treatment of police brutality and reflect on the seriousness of this issue. By displaying the live footage before showing Michael B Jordan’s acting of the events that led up to Oscar’s killing, Mr. The footage starts with Oscar being pinned down to the ground by two office and abruptly ends after the audience hears Oscar getting shot in his lower back. The opening of Fruitvale Station begins by showing real live footage of Oscar Grant’s altercation with the BART police taken by witnesses on the train. Unfortunately, while on his way home from seeing the fireworks Oscar was shot and killed at Fruitvale Station by an police officer in the early morning of New Years Eve 2008. After losing his job two weeks prior to New Years Eve he decides that for New Years he’s going to go out with his friends the night before to see the fireworks and have a good time. Oscar Grant was a young man who recently got out of jail and was trying to better his life for not only himself but his daughter. Through Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler poses the idea of whether or not we should gear our fear towards common criminals or to those who are employed to protect us from them.įruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler, is based on a true story of twenty two year old Oscar Grant, played by Michael B Jordan. We have witnessed multiple examples of this for decades including, Rodney King, Patrick Dorismond, Sean Bell, Steve Biko,and more. So what is “reasonable” when it comes to police brutality? Through the media, police brutality has caught huge attention from the public eye and still remains to be one of the most serious and controversial issues we face today.
