ABSTRACT
The extreme close-up concentrates the audience’s attention on a tiny portion of a character or on small objects, making it ideal for isolating minute, single visual details from the rest of a scene. Extreme close-ups can also function to conceal a character’s identity or the full extent of an object by withholding key visual information from an audience, generating a sense of mystery and tension. The visual emphasis the extreme close-up places on the tear implies it is a key element of this sequence, but also prevents identifying the precise emotion that caused it. The choice of an extreme close-up to showcase the tear makes it possible to suggest that it represents all of these things to Elena, adding a symbolic and even poetic context to this scene.
