The Third Man (1949) - Harry Lime Introduction

The Third Man (1949)
Director: Carol Reed
Writer: Graham Greene

Cast:
Joseph Cotten - Holly Martins
Alida Valli - Anna Schmidt
Orson Welles - Harry Lime
Trevor Howard - Major Colloway

In this post I am going to analyse the Mise-en-scene of The Third Man where Orson Welles's Character Harry Lime is first introduced

Here is the Clip:



Camera Angles and Movement

The scene first starts off with a Long Shot of Holly Martins walking through the streets of post-war Vienna. The use of the Long shot established his location to the audience.

The scene then cuts to a Tilt Shot of a mysterious person with their shoes shown standing right next to a cat. The purpose of the tilt shot in this scene is to show confusion and disorientation.

The scene then cuts to a Medium Close Up shot of the mysterious characters shoes. The purpose of the shot is to bring focus to the character. This shot also shows enigma because you couldn't see the face of the person til later on.

The scene then cuts to a close up shot of Harry Lime appearing in front of the shadow. The use of the close up shot enables the audience to see Harry Lime's emotions.

The scene then cuts to another  Tilt shot of Holly Martins trying to get to Harry Lime. The use of Tilt shot illustrates confusion because at the beginning of the film it has been said that Harry Lime was dead but it turns out that he wasn't.

The scene then cuts to another Tilt shot of Holly Martins trying to get to Harry Lime but couldn't. This shot suggests that it is a thriller film because of its conventions being shown. One of these is Bright Non-Ambient lighting. The use of we streets and the shadow of Harry Lime which suggests that there is another presence within the area.

The scene then cuts to a Long Shot of Holly Martins surrounded by buildings in a big open space. This shot establishes location but it also shows how vulnerable he is and how weak he is in such a big open space because he wasn't able to get to Harry Lime.








Lighting


Throughout this scene Carol Reed mostly uses Artificial Non-Ambient lighting to show fear within the setting of the scene,

Locations


This scene shows Generic conventions of a Thriller Location. The scene took place in a big empty space at night which shows isolation and that no one is there. With the use of Artificial lighting the floor is seen as wet shiny streets which increases suspense.

Sound


Throughout this scene, the film mostly uses Non-Diagetic sound, which is the same track that has been heard since the beginning of the film.



Costume


In this scene the characters where seen wearing Suits and Hats which is what people would wear in the 50's where they did not have the type of clothing that we would have in this time.

Harry Lime wears the same outfit throughout his appearance on the film.