e side of the gas station, directly away from the camera, then returns the same way straight toward the camera. One can find somewhat similar effects in Orson Welles' The Lady From Shanghai (1948). Grisby's business office in the film contains both a wall with a safe, parallel to the image plane and close up, and areas of greater depth, containing the desk. Welles tracks from the deep region to the shallow, and back again. Aldrich shows a slightly different over all pattern, of revealing the geometry of the scene. Aldrich will typically start at the flatter part of the composition, showing the viewer nothing but a flat planar surface, parallel to the frame. Then a lateral track will reveal the deep area opening up: something that is visually quite surprising. Then Aldrich will typically show both parts of the L at once. There are variations in this approach. At Carver's apartment, the deep area is in the center of the shot, not the edge. The effect is of an inverted T, not an L. At first, the door leading to the central deep part is closed, and the viewer cannot see it: the whole image looks like a flat surface. Then Hammer opens the door, and the deep well is revealed. The effect is even more startling than the tracking. Here the central area includes the complexity of a staircase, unlike the corridor like wells of the L shots, so the effect is even more complex and startling. 3) Aldrich will often include different pointing planes in the same shot. This gives a sense of 3D to the scene. For example, a two shot of Hammer and his policeman friend Pete show each near a door. Pete's door is closed, and pointing along one plane. Hammer's door is slightly open, and pointing in a different direction, at an angle to the first door. Both men are standing along the edge of their door, so that the door underlines and exaggerates the positioning of their bodies. Each seems more macho and aggressive, with the full rectangular region of the door be...
