Wind River

Wind River is a drama/mystery film that came out in 2017 set within the American Indian snowy reservations of Wyoming which is directed by Taylor Sheridan while the cast consists of Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Kelsey Chow and Jon Berthnal. This film also has a running time of 1:46:55 which is a perfect time for a film.

The film took over my previous favourite film, Jurassic Park because of how much depth the characters and plot has. The film’s plot is of a wildlife officer, Cory Lambert who finds a body of an 18 year old woman. When the autopsy was done is revealed that she was raped and abused. FBI agent, Jane Banner arrives alone to the investigation, as she teams up with the wildlife officer they meet themselves in danger while trying to solve the murder of the woman’s death in a place where a lot of murders happen but they’re never solved.

This film is very serious in tone, where you have long silent shots that make you feel gripped in while also having some intense scenes where you’re not sure wether or not the characters will live to find out the mystery.

One reason that makes this film special is how much depth is within it, as I said before. You can put together pieces of the film’s plot just by watching and listening, if you do that then you will appreciate this film even more. It shows how vulnerable people can be within this land but also having people who take it to their advantage.

The cinematography is my favourite aspects of films, this film makes me love it even more. Ben Richardson is the cinematographer, he provides these long, dreary shots of all the snow just makes you feel that anything can happen and no one can help you. All scenes will make you appreciate the cinematopgrahy

The movies score is, as many movies, great. While sticking to the Native American styled the slower paced music is obviously for the more silent scenes while the intense music is for the more dramatic, action scenes. My favourite track is called “Three Seasons in Wyoming”. This was beautify done by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. This track is slow, dark, quiet and it just fits within the theme and tone of the film.

The Wind River Movie Trailer camera shots analysis.

The first shot is of a woman running into the snow that is very far back. This would be an establishing shot as it is showing that this place is set within a very snowy area.

The shot then gets a little closer of the same woman running, this would be a long shot as it is showing her entire body and some of the environment.

The next scene is of the same woman again falling over into the snow, this is a mid shot as it shows only half her body onto the floor.

The next shot is introducing us to our main character, again this is a mid shot which is purposely trying to do this.

Next we have a close up of the woman from the first shots dead on the floor covered in snow and frostbite. This is to show that she is dead and that she is covered in snow.

The next shot is another establishing shot showing off the snowy land, this time more open and it shows how dangerous and remote this place really is.

The next is a slight over the shoulder of someone looking at the FBI agent, which is intruding her, it’s also showing that we are there ready to meet her ourselves.

A few scenes after these we have this long shot of a wolf within the snow, this shows how these dangerous animals are also in this place and puts the risks higher.

The shot right after shows the main character about to hunt the wolf in a close up shot showing that he can handle himself, that he knows this land, that he’s capable of solving the murder with the FBI agent.

Next we have an extreme close up of footprints that are in the snow, this could be the woman footprints or someone else’s.

Next we have a close up of a sign that says “restricted area” while in the background it faintly shows the characters on the snow mobiles going past it.

Next is an extreme close up of Cory Lambert either making bullets for his rifle or reloading it. This creates a feeling that they may have found a big lead which gets people excited.