- A close up shot is used on a man who is being hanged for acting against his country’s government. The shot emphasizes the importance of his ideals. The audience is able to see the struggle that takes place before his death; even as his face moves off screen, his feet continue to kick, the man continues to fight. The supports the theme that ideas outlive the death of their founder.
- V is backlit and his face is covered with shadows to represent the uncertainty of his character in the beginning of the film, it is uncertain whether he is benevolent or malevolent.
- A low camera angle is implemented when Evey is looking at V after he rescues her from corrupt police. This immediately depicts V’s importance and his dominance over other people from a physical standpoint and maybe even a mental standpoint via his sophisticated verbose; however, a character’s speech is not a cinematic element.
- Modern editing is used on the first November 5th that the audience experiences with V. It is implemented as V orchestrate his explosions and is representative of the chaos and turmoil that V believes he needs to wage on England in order to garner its peoples attention. This scene is unique because the chaos is controlled, this contradicts the purpose of this style of editing.
- TVs displaying V’s public service announcement about liberty and corruption are slightly canted (similar to a Dutch angle shot where the scene is canted) this is representative of the emotional unbalance in the viewers. Government workers are uneasy and fearful of his words because they are aware of the corruption and constricted liberty that V so vehemently speaks about. The civilians that are watching are uncertain, yet intrigued because they are still unaware of their dystopian reality.
- Diegetic sound is used when pompous and patriotic music plays in the background of V’s public service announcement. Both the characters and audience feel prideful of V’s ideals, not the current state of England.
- Civilians are often framed in long shots when they are viewing the censored news to portray their insignificance and submissiveness to their government.
- V looking down on TV host, Lewis Prothero who ridiculed and defamed V on television before he killed him. Shows this man’s unimportance to V and his inferiority in the eye’s of view as a Citizen and spokesman of England
- The Major’s face is half lit and half dark as he discussing Larkhill detention with Eric Finch. This suggests that the major is withholding important information regarding Larkhill.
- When V is first assailing upon the bishop his mask is hidden by shadows, this is representative of the uncertainty of his motives. It is difficult to distinguish the true reason for V killing the bishop. Is V killing the bishop because of their presumably twisted relationship at Larkhill or is the bishop detrimental to liberty in England?
- Gordon’s face is fully lit when Evey arrives at his door in the escort garb that she was wearing when distracting the bishop for V. This depicts Gordon as an honest man with good intentions that will look out for Evey’s well being.
- Diana Stanton, a doctor at Larkhill, is partially covered by shadows when speaking to V about her role and her experiences at Larkhill. This implies that she has a good side and a bad side; the bad side being her time at Larkhill and the good side being her contribution to society as a medical examiner.
- A close shot on Adam Susan’s mouth when talking to Eric Finch is implemented to depicts how important Susan’s word and acceptance are to Eric Finch.
- A close up on Eric Finch as he begins to question his government is used to display the importance of free thought and individuality amidst an oppressive regime.
- A point of view shot is used to depict a TV spoof of the High Chancellor. This allows the audience to see that the people of England are not necessarily submissive to the chancellor; instead, they are afraid of him and his power. They are also afraid of changing something on their own, they enjoy the shows divergence from social norms, but they do little to emulate it.
- Americana/sepia lighting is used during a flashback that involves Valerie looking back on her childhood. This warm, brown tinted lighting is used to portray an unfortunate, yet warm account of her past. This flashback makes it clear that Valerie’s opinion was more important to her than conformity, and this is the gist of V’s message to England’s citizens.
- A medium frame was employed when depicting Valerie’s loss of Ruth, this juxtaposes the perceived comfort of the scene with the discomfort of the events unfolding in Valerie’s life. This is also representative of a recurring theme in the piece: ambivalence.
- The face of the man that is interrogating Evey is completely covered by shadows (dark lighting) during all of their encounters. This man turns out to be V and in turn it portrays the dark side of V and his strange perception of emotions. It also portrays the lengths to which he is willing to go to ensure his revolution is carried out.
- Non-Diegetic sound is employed via tranquil music as Evey is having an emotional breakdown because of her inability to feel, but she is able to find solace in herself and in V’s devotion to a cause.
- Flashback crosscut editing is used to accentuate the differences between V’s enlightenment and Evey’s enlightenment that resulted from emotional erosion and physical torture. V’s enlightenment was fueled by hatred and rage, and it ended climaxed with a fire. Evey’s enlightenment was forged from loyalty and understanding, and peaked with a rain shower. V’s past was scorched on to his skin, Evey’s past was absolved from her skin.
- William Rockwood disappears into darkness after telling Eric Finch about Adam Susan’s rise to power and the corruption behind Larkhill. This transition into darkness portrays an uncertainty about the story but also an uncertainty within Finch. Finch begins to have an internal conflict as to whether or not he should believe the old man’s story.
- Modern, MTV style editing is again used on the second November the fifth that the audience shares with V to reflect the chaos that V incited and flourishes in.
- A longshot combined with an eye level camera angle is implemented during V’s final fight scene to show that he is no longer important, for his ideals have been passed on and have now manifested in the populace. The people are now the focal point of his revolution. The eye level angle creates a neutral feel for the viewer, it saddens the viewer that V must die, but it satisfies the viewer that V’s revolution can is about to be completed. This scene also serves homage to V’s statement, “Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof.”
- A high angle, long shot of citizens wearing V masks is employed to show how unimportant these people are as singular beings, but the sheer number of people in the crowd contradicts this notion and clarifies how important the populace is to a revolution and in this case liberty.