What is The Mickey Finn Shot

From the code slang word for a drug-laced drink, this shot is more than likely a functional shot revealing the distorted vision of a character. In Maltese Falcon Gutman “slips” Spade “a Mickey,” or a Mickey Finn which is the hard boiled term for a spiked drink with “knock-out” drops—any drink laced with chloral hydrate or other sedative that renders the drinker unconscious. We witness Spade getting drowsy as he raises his eyebrows and slurs his speech. He attempts to compose himself as he glances at Gutman and then Huston inserts Spade’s pov shot, which is severely out of focus. There is no question that this unfocused shot conveys Spade’s drug-induced wooziness just prior to his swooning unconscious, but it is functional rather than stylized. Similar moments in The Big Lebowski (Joel & Ethan Coen 1998) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Gilliam 1998) are not stylized because they simply depict drug-induced states in a functional way, such as the addled experiences of Jeff Lebowski and Hunter Thompson respectively and carry no metaphoric meaning beyond a drugged state of consciousness.

Stylized Moments: Creating Student Engagement and Participation in an Asynchronous Online University Film Course

William Thomas McBride (Illinois State University, USA)