The Opening Sequence
The first fifteen or twenty minutes of There Will Be Blood are almost all consumed by visual imagery. The first time we see Daniel, he is beneath the surface of the rough land above, swinging a pick in the tight, dark confines of a mine. Later, Daniel will suggest that he is a man who never attempts to look beneath the surface. The imagery of the man who spends a significant amount of time living beneath the surface before we ever hear him engage in conversation suggests that—ironically—this is a bit of deception on his part, and that his time spent beneath the surface has given him an insight he will not easily share with others.
The Cross and the Derrick
Inside Eli’s simple one-room church is a giant cut-out of a cross which looms ominously behind him during his fiery sermon. On the other side of that cross are Daniel’s oil derricks, looming even more ominously as literal purveyors of the fire and brimstone which exists only metaphorically in the imagery of the church. These two towering symbols serve as imagery constantly reminding the viewer that Christianity and capitalism are at cross-purposes during the period in which the film is set. The world those viewers live in outside the theater is also a constant reminder that this division between the cross and the derrick—between Christianity and Big Business—no longer exists. On the screen, oilman Daniel and preacher Eli are nemeses to each other. In the world, oilmen and preachers appear on the same stage together, touting the same beliefs and upholding the same cultural values as they come together to support a similar political program.
Emptiness
The cinematography is one of the highlights of There Will Be Blood, but it is not used casually just to provide spectacular deep-focus sequences. The camera moves relentlessly when shooting the surrounding landscape, and that movement contrasts sharply with the emptiness and at times almost barren quality of the topography. By framing the movement of human characters or trains or early automobiles against the stark backgrounds, the film consistently reminds the viewer that one day this emptiness will be filled up by stores, high rises, office buildings, warehouses and all the other signs of “progress” that the oil boom and America’s reliance upon it will bring.
Daniel and Henry on the Beach
After completing the Union Oil deal, Daniel and Henry celebrate at the beach. One shot shows them sitting side by side but slightly offset from one another so that both can be seen from the side. They both sit in the same pose, with their legs slightly bent in front of them. However, Daniel is in the sunlight, whereas Henry is in darkness. This shot comes right as Daniel begins to suspect that Henry is an imposter, and the shot represents their duality with this information in mind. They share the same pose, like brothers, but Henry is cast as merely a shadow of the real Henry.
