Easy Rider Analysis

In this clip from Easy Rider (1969), two couples take acid and the scene uses multiple techniques to represent what the resulting effects are. The clip's use of these techniques is experimental and immerses the viewer into the world, giving a direct point of view to allow a more personal experience.

The clip starts with a wide shot of all four people sat down, and you start to get a sense that they are distressed. The woman on the far left kisses her guy, and the guy on the right is shaking his head. Pair this with the fact that the camera is static and you can decode that they are bored, have nothing better to be doing with their time, and are just hanging around for the sake of it. One man then proceeds to get out pills and they all take one. The shot doesn't cut, nor does the camera move, but continues to stay static. This allows the audience to take in all the small emotions, movements and reactions. This also infers that the group is very calm when taking the drugs. The camera isn't shaking or even handheld so there isn't a sense of panic behind something illegal. When asked what the pill is, the man with them says "nevermind, just shut up and take it" which further shows that he doesn't care about it.

In the background, there is diegetic noise off camera which sounds like the thumping of industrial equipment. It is rhythmic and plays through the whole clip and it adds an unusual sense of urgency and grit to the clip. The noise isn't far from the beat of a heart, and so even though the sound is distinctly machine-made, it adds a human quality to the audio. On the other hand though, the sound seems dangerous, like it is looming in the background. In this way, it also seems to act as a caution, or at least something to warn the viewers that something isn't right. Not long after they take the pills, there are short inter-cut clips of the outside of a building, which is the first time anything is shown but the static shot of the group. The cuts are paired with non diegetic audio of a woman speaking a Christian prayer or passage. This creates a juxtaposition between good and bad: religion tends to focus on making yourself a good person, namely to get into heaven, but the group are drinking and taking drugs. This creates an interesting dynamic as the short cuts are to show the resulting effects of the drugs they have taken.

The cuts between the shots get more frequent and last longer as supposedly the drugs start to take more of an effect and the camera pans up the building so that the sun shines right into the camera. This makes the screen very bright and gives a feeling of being overwhelmed, like everything is building and becoming more prominent. After this, we start to cut to a variety of different things, like the woman reciting the dialogue who is shown with a low angle close up shot. She dominates the screen for a second but now her voice is drowned out by a combination of the industrial thumping noise, ambient noises and somebody else speaking. This implies that everything is being drowned out in the group's heads, like their focus keeps shifting and they are being flooded with sensory inputs. There is a brief shot of the sun behind trees, and the camera focus shifts so the sun quickly comes out of focus, further playing into the feeling of being overwhelmed.

The man who originally got the pills says "shut up" in a very rapid shot of him leaning against a statue. This may be because he's feeling discomforted with his high, and wants the voices to stop. The montage of shots has an emphasis on religious iconography, such as a mid shot of a priest or minister and a zooming out shot of a small Jesus figure on a cross that pans up the building toward the sky. Also, the scene is set in a graveyard which results in some gritty images that give the scene a harrowing and dark presence. You see a woman taking her clothes off, and the next shot is of her lying in the graveyard naked. The adds to a theme of sinning that runs through the scene, starting with them drinking and taking drugs.