Kit sitting alongside the Rich man. The positioning of the subject and framing makes for a great composition. Kit is on the side of the bench that is closer to the camera which helps lead the viewer's eye.
Kit lets go of Balloon. The red of the balloon gives attention to it, as well as through the framing. It helps that the majority in frame is the sky and the field, so there is no visual noise and gives more significance to the balloon.
Holly walking through a field. This straight-on shot gives the viewer the feeling that they're walking through the fields with Holly and it feels like an immersive shot.
Holly's father next to a window. The light and shadow cast on Holly's father in this shot are visually intense as he faces off Kit.
Kit walks through a pond. This shot frames the entire pond rather than just the body of water surrounding him, and it could represent the blood that he has and will walk through.
Kit's car parked on a field. The dark color of the car contrasts nicely with the light colors of the sky and field. It is also framed towards the lower half of the composition, giving room to show the vastness of the field.
Cato rests on a bed after he is shot by Kit. The window shines a ray of light onto Cato which could be an allusion to his death. The framing of this shot is something more unusual as well, with Holly in the foreground and Cato towards the background.
Kit face to face with Jack.
Holly walks with a girl through a field
Kit on the telephone with a cigarette in his mouth. This is one of the fewer close-up shots throughout the movie, and it attempts to take Kit into focus as he continues to stain his hands with blood.
Kit stops by a pipeline for gas. The cloudy sunset gives the field an intense yet soft look through its darker color palette. This could represent Kit's escape starting to come to an end.
Kit stands next to a railway
Badlands, 1973, is a story loosely based on a true story about Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate and is about a young couple who goes on a killing spree across the Midwest. The story introduces Kit, a very charismatic and charming guy who works as a garbage collector, and he falls in love with a teenager named Holly. Kit's violence begins with the murder of Holly's father after he disapproves of their relationship. After his murder, Kit and Holly flee to the rural landscapes in the Midwest. However, as Kit and Holly detach from society, they also begin to detach from reality as they start disassociating from their crimes. This only grows worse as they cause further destruction and crime, as they leave a path of death behind them. While Kit and Holly are still able to find tenderness within their relationship, it is tainted by the blood of Kit's crimes and Holly's increasing disillusionment.
A young couple flees to the rural landscapes of the Midwest to escape their crimes, however, as they try to escape their reality, they only encounter disillusionment and leave a blood-stained path behind them.
5 Words: Intense, Violent, Thought-provoking, Romance, Disillusionment
Looking at the movie stills, the shots showing the midwestern horizon could be an important visual relation. Dividing the screen into two horizontal halves creates a horizon and the different colors could be a metaphor for innocence vs. crime, living and dead etc.
Tilting the horizon could symbolize dissonance.Additional textures could help with establishing a mood
Adding color can further emphasize opposites. Red for blood. Also images are an option to support a certain mood or tone.
Variation in font and type size
