Marvel Studios decided to turn Sam Wilson’s journey towards becoming Captain America into a full-fledged series that resulted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It’s the main narrative that drove the show’s story and for that reason, the entire team behind was always careful on how they presented viewers to Cap’s shield in every take.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is full of moments that are supposed to convey a specific meaning to the series. It starts off that way with Sam putting away the shield as he’s getting ready to retire it, only for the first episode to wrap up with that smug headshot of John Walker. The theme lingers on for the entire series, every time Steve Rogers’ shield gets tossed around up until the final episode when the Falcon finally becomes Captain America.
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Of course, none of this came to fruition as an accident, as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's director of photography, P.J. Dillon, recently discussed during an interview with Film School Rejects. One of his main goals was, as Dillon says, “We gotta see the shield! I needed to photograph it in a way where there was no obvious shadow.” Although he does concede the actors weren’t told to carry the red, white, and blue prop in any specific way, it was his job to deliver the different presence each of them gave off as Captain America.
Dillon quotes several examples of this, one of them being the way the camera tends to focus on Walker from below - a usual trick for a superhero - and taking that to the next level to give an even bigger meaning to Wyatt Russell’s performance as the cocky future U.S. Agent. Another one is seen in episode 5, where the fight scene in the hangar was specifically shot to make the best out of a sunny day that the crew just happened to run into. “It expressed the intent of the scene beautifully, and it happened without too much input from us,” Dillon said. It's something that really shows off once Sam and Bucky pry off the shield from Walker’s hands.
Dillon’s work stands out a lot throughout the series and it does a lot to draw the line between The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision's contrasting styles. While the latter really sticks to its sitcom roots most of the time, lacking too many epic cinematic superhero shots, by the time the former has turned into Captain and the Winter Soldier, it’s already delivered plenty of movie-like moments, which do wonders to cement Sam as the new Captain America ahead of a new movie entry for the character, and possibly another season for the miniseries.
It’s unclear which aesthetic values Loki will pursue when it finally premieres. Marvel seems to be threading the waters of MCU television quite carefully as if it were trying not to break anything while also delivering content and scenes that can outclass their movie counterparts at times.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is now available on Disney Plus.
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Source: Film School Rejects