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Analyzing Visual Symbolism in Into the Spider-Verse (pt. 2)

This shot-by-shot breakdown of Into the Spider-Verse explores how to teach film analysis and visual symbolism—even if you don’t have a film background. Perfect for middle and high school ELA!

Cara

02 May 2025 — 4 min read

Continuing with my examples of how you DON'T need a film degree to analyze a shot, tonight let's look at a shot that followed in the sequence we began yesterday.

In yesterday's post, we saw how Miles and his dad, Jefferson, are literally divided on multiple dimensions in one frame:

They are divided in the frame itself, Miles on the left, Jefferson on the right (signifying that they're on opposite sides)
They are divided by the police cruiser they are both sitting in, Miles in the back (and also the "background" of the frame), Jefferson in the front (also the "foreground" of the image)
They are divided by the "mise-en-scene" (in this case, props/setting): the car's "cage" or "partition" literally divides them in the car, but visually the cage takes up the center of the frame and divides them from each other
They are also divided emotionally, signified in the snippet of dialogue in this one shot, but if we review the dialogue of the scene, they are divided in their emotions AND their opinions (ex: Miles believes Visions is an elitist school and says he wants to be "at a normal school, among 'the people'", Jefferson replies, "these are your people"

🧠 Film Analysis Activity: Interpreting Symbolism in a Single Shot

Tonight we'll look at another shot that follows in this sequence, where Jefferson is looking back at Miles as they converse. This activity builds visual literacy and media analysis skills.

If you're looking at this image

What do you see?
What does it look like? What are your first impressions of this image?
What does it make you think of?

Pause and answer those questions before you keep reading.

For me, when we shifted this close to Jefferson, I felt like it looks like he is locked up, or that he's the one in the cage. Which is ironic, since he's the police officer driving the car (...*so what does this suggest/could it be a metaphor for??*).

Before I say too much more, if you're not sure what else to think about or look for - then I would ask you:

What does the partition signify?

Whose point of view (POV) is this? How can you tell?

If you consider the full context of this scene, who is actually "trapped" or "caged" and does "what it looks like" match up?

Who and what are Miles and his dad divided by?

The partition signifies the divide between Miles and his dad, but since it also looks like the cage that it is, it could signify a character being trapped.

We know from watching the sequence that this is Miles' POV, but since we've moved so close to Jefferson (it's a "closeup" [CU] "one shot" [one person in the shot] of him), it feels like it's our POV in the conversation, and it looks like Jefferson is the one who is in the cage.

While we know looking at the image, that Miles and Jefferson are divided by the cage and the car, to better understand even more, let's place the shot in context of the sequence, and rewatch a little clip

What is Jefferson talking about when we see him "in the cage"?

From the still frame, we know Uncle Aaron comes up. But let's notice more...

0:00

/0:41

So... what does is Jefferson saying while he's "in the cage"?

He tells Miles,

"these are your people"

"you have an opportunity here"

while ironically looking like he is trapped in a cage and without opportunity himself because he is framed behind the cage of the partition.

He asks Miles if he wants to end up like his Uncle Aaron.

Without knowledge of the rest of the movie, looking at the visuals of the scene and considering the content of their dialogue, the cage imagery might bring us to think that Uncle Aaron is trapped, or in jail, or also without opportunity like Miles has at Visions Academy. This is visual symbolism that students can explore in any film—especially one as layered as Into the Spider-Verse.

While framed in the cage, Jefferson also tells Miles, "you don't"...[have a choice about attending Visions or not], which is ironic because Jefferson has the power in this moment. He has the power to make Miles go to school, and Miles doesn't have the power or a choice, yet he isn't the one pictured.

It's an inversion!

Inversion in Film and Literature

This moment sets up one of the film’s most recurring techniques: inversion.

To invert something is to flip it, reverse it, or see it from a different angle.

In Spider-Verse, inversion shows up everywhere:

Miles falling upward during his leap of faith
The idea that Spider-Man isn’t just one person, but anyone
The reversal of expectations around who’s good, who’s bad, who’s trapped, and who’s free

It’s a move that reflects both comic book stylization and literary depth—and it’s one of the reasons this film is such a rich text for English classrooms.

definitions of inversion across rhetoric, math, and physics

And my super excited nerdy self went to look up the different definitions of inversion and found that this concept applies in multiple ...dimensions... which applies perfectly to a movie about the multiple dimensions of the spider-verse!

What’s Next

In tomorrow’s post, I’ll share the next shot in this sequence and walk through how inversion deepens—and how we can guide students to build meaning across frames, just like they would across stanzas or paragraphs.

If you’d like to use this shot analysis in your classroom, I'll be adding it next week to the 🎒Spiderverse ELA Survival Pack, which contains: