Animal Kingdom is an Australian thriller film. It had a budget of 5,000,000 Austrailian Dollars, which in comparison to other films is a very tight budget. The box office collected a total of $6,793,982 worldwide. Even though it was released in February 2011, it is still being shown today November 2011, this shows the popularity of the film. The director was an Austrailian, David Michôd, he also wrote most of the film himself.
In this clip, the Police Officer played by Guy Pearce, is asking Josh to accompany him to ask him some questions. However Josh's Uncle is not too keen for him to go. In this clip, as the audience you also get a sense of danger, because the two main shots they use are medium close up and over the shoulder shots. The shots use the lighting to their advantage, they show the Uncle 'Pope' standing in the dark, doorway to the house, he is standing in the shadows. This suggests to us as the audience that he is the side representing dark and evil, the side that you do not want to be on.Also the positioning of Uncle Pope, the way he is standing behind hiding part of himself behind the doorway, tells us that he has truths to hide, sins and dark deeds that the police officer does not know about, or suspects but can not confirm. Also the clever use of placing the actors so that you can not see them in certain shots. For example, Josh you can't see in this shot, so it looks like Pope is all by himself on the dark side. This is until 'Smurf' the Grandmother comes and joins Pope's side, suggesting that she is also dark and criminal, always living in the shadows because of her criminal family and their reputation. Pope looks very shifty in this scene, Smurf and the Police Officer (Detective Leckie) move around a bit, Smurf enters the shot by walking and Mr Leckie walks around a little at the end of the shot. However Pope and Josh almost don't move at all. I think this could be because Pope wants to connect with Josh to try to persuade him to stick with him and the rest of the family, however Josh knows the danger of staying with them, that is to get shot. Josh makes near to no eye contact with anyone in this clip, trying to work out what he should do on his own, when everyone else is too busy making choices for Josh without his consulting them himself. This is giving Josh no independence, this is why he is stuck in the middle. Although again due to the camera shots, it suggests he has chosen to side with Mr Leckie, as he is featured only in shots with Mr Leckie in. I thin he chose this because he wanted to make his own decisions without anyone else having influence over him.
However, when you see the medium close up/over the shoulder shot of the Police Officer, he is standing in the light, in natural day light, suggesting he is true, there is nothing fake and he is hiding nothing. It also looks like there is a beam of light shining upon him, like an angel or guardian angel. In the shots Josh is also standing in them, this forecasts what is going to happen in the rest of the film. It forecasts that Josh will Talk to The police and be protected by them, he will chose the good side and not fall into the trap set by his Uncle Pope that the rest of his family members have done, and therefore, been killed. During this conversation, the questions the Police Officer puts to him, Pope and Smurf both answer for him every time he does not speak during this clip. This shows how he is being pushed about by his family and that they go to efforts to make sure that he is under their watch all the time, they try not to let him out of their sight, especially Pope.
In this clip, the Police Officer played by Guy Pearce, is asking Josh to accompany him to ask him some questions. However Josh's Uncle is not too keen for him to go. In this clip, as the audience you also get a sense of danger, because the two main shots they use are medium close up and over the shoulder shots. The shots use the lighting to their advantage, they show the Uncle 'Pope' standing in the dark, doorway to the house, he is standing in the shadows. This suggests to us as the audience that he is the side representing dark and evil, the side that you do not want to be on.Also the positioning of Uncle Pope, the way he is standing behind hiding part of himself behind the doorway, tells us that he has truths to hide, sins and dark deeds that the police officer does not know about, or suspects but can not confirm. Also the clever use of placing the actors so that you can not see them in certain shots. For example, Josh you can't see in this shot, so it looks like Pope is all by himself on the dark side. This is until 'Smurf' the Grandmother comes and joins Pope's side, suggesting that she is also dark and criminal, always living in the shadows because of her criminal family and their reputation. Pope looks very shifty in this scene, Smurf and the Police Officer (Detective Leckie) move around a bit, Smurf enters the shot by walking and Mr Leckie walks around a little at the end of the shot. However Pope and Josh almost don't move at all. I think this could be because Pope wants to connect with Josh to try to persuade him to stick with him and the rest of the family, however Josh knows the danger of staying with them, that is to get shot. Josh makes near to no eye contact with anyone in this clip, trying to work out what he should do on his own, when everyone else is too busy making choices for Josh without his consulting them himself. This is giving Josh no independence, this is why he is stuck in the middle. Although again due to the camera shots, it suggests he has chosen to side with Mr Leckie, as he is featured only in shots with Mr Leckie in. I thin he chose this because he wanted to make his own decisions without anyone else having influence over him.
However, when you see the medium close up/over the shoulder shot of the Police Officer, he is standing in the light, in natural day light, suggesting he is true, there is nothing fake and he is hiding nothing. It also looks like there is a beam of light shining upon him, like an angel or guardian angel. In the shots Josh is also standing in them, this forecasts what is going to happen in the rest of the film. It forecasts that Josh will Talk to The police and be protected by them, he will chose the good side and not fall into the trap set by his Uncle Pope that the rest of his family members have done, and therefore, been killed. During this conversation, the questions the Police Officer puts to him, Pope and Smurf both answer for him every time he does not speak during this clip. This shows how he is being pushed about by his family and that they go to efforts to make sure that he is under their watch all the time, they try not to let him out of their sight, especially Pope. 
Your analysis re the positioning of characters and lighting indicates your growing confidence. Particularly the shots of Pope concealed in the shadows like an animal in his lair, his mother moving beside him also indicates their bond. Positioning Leckie in the light and Pope and his mother in the dark as you correctly explained connotes the lines between good and evil. I enjoyed reading your post. "Animal Kingdom" is a brilliant example of the thriller genre at its best. Including institutional information is necessary, well done. Do watch the length of your sentences Emily, some of them wander a little bit thus your point is made less effectively.
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