For this scene analysis I chose the Social Worker Inspection scene from Mrs. Doubtfire. Daniel played by Robin Williams is dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire and meets his social worker who is on her way to meet Daniel for an inspection. He covers by saying that he (as Mrs. Doubtfire) is Daniel’s sister and the scene ensues with him trying to be two people at once to fool the social worker. The scene’s comedic timing combined with Williams’ improvisational wit makes for a hilarious scene while also adding to Daniel’s character development.

The scene (or what I could find of it on youtube) starts with a wide shot of Daniel picking up clothes and talking to the social worker. The lighting is a number of lamps and probably some off camera cinema lights. The next shot is the same except a medium instead of a wide. Then back to the wide as Daniel leaves the room. The next shot is a backwards dolly shot with Daniel in front and framed in the center as he hurries down the hall to “get his sister” aka change back into his Mrs. Doubtfire costume. The changing sequence has a variety of shots. The wide shots have the building across the street in frame through the window, and the audience can see two young boys move into frame, looking out the window and laughing. Daniel goes to shut the window and knocks the mask off the windowsill into the street below. He can’t go back out to the social worker without it, so he creeps down the hallway. A variety of slow dolly shots create the tense feeling of Daniel’s creeping. An insert shot of his foot making a creaking sound allows the viewer more tension. We see a reverse shot of the social worker turn around and then a cut back to the hallway as Daniel rushes into the kitchen. The tea/finding a face sequence is the real humor in the scene. Daniel rushes around the kitchen making tea, while panicking. All the while he is having a conversation both with the social worker and with himself in his fake British accent. Williams does a phenomenal job of conveying panic and still maintaining the accent and persona. He sticks his head out the window and watches his “face” get run over by a truck. There is a shot of the face on the street, and as the truck goes by, it almost imperceptibly cuts even closer to show the mask with tire marks on it. The social worker comes in and Daniel puts frosting from a cake on his face to hide it, then passes it off as a nightly routine facial mask. However, the frosting starts to drip, from the heat of the set lights, and Williams just goes with it, aiming for the tea, improvising and quipping about how the social worker has sugar with her tea, and “I’m melting like a snow cone in Phoenix” and then leaves. All of this improvisation is what made Williams such a phenomenal actor.

I really like this scene because it is such simple comedy at heart, and the same idea has been used countless times before, the idea being a person who pretends to be two people, and then by an unfortunate event must pretend to be both at once. However, the scene does it’s own thing, and Williams’ improvisation and general acting skill take it to yet another level. I think this scene speaks highly of the movie as a whole. I would absolutely recommend this movie to anyone.