The moods and effects created in the sewer scene in The Third Man.

The sewer scene at the end of The Third Man, a film noir made in 1949 staring Orson Welles and Joesph Cotton, is very famous and was even used in the making of the game LA Noire by rockstar. It is memorable for many reasons like it's claustrophobic shots, disorientating camera angles and atmospheric scenery.

Harry Lime hiding from the police who are trying to catch him

This shot of Harry Lime (Orson Welles, the man being chased) is very close and tight. It creates a claustrophobic effect that makes the audience relate to Harry's situation. But it isn't only the shots that make this scene claustrophobic, throughout the whole scene he is hiding and running through tight tunnels with low ceilings so that he has to crouch down just to get through them.
The close up also allows us to clearly see all of his facial expressions and emotions, you can see that he is scared and lost, but he has no way out and everywhere he goes there are just more police waiting for him. It is very controversial from earlier scenes of him where he is very calm and seems powerful, not he is panicked and powerless.

Two police men looking down at Harry 

There are a range of camera angles used in this scene, but for the most part it is a still shot with a large tilt. With quick editing this creates a very odd and disorientating effect. In this picture harry is trying to escape the sewers but finds that police men are guarding all the exits. This leads to this very obscure and powerful shot of the police men looking straight down at him, by having this camera angle it makes it look like they are better than him, like he is nothing. This also links to the idea that the sewer is a metaphor for hell that is closing in on him, the two policemen could be seen as God in this case, judging him and making sure that he does not get out.

Holly Martins after he has shot Harry Lime

The lighting throughout the whole sewer scene is very important in creating the enigmatic mood. Single source lighting is very common in film noir and The Third Man uses it perfectly, but no clip uses it better than here, Holly has just shot harry and then it jumps to this shot of him in the tunnel with smoke and the single source back light to show only his silhouette and prowess. You can tell that he is very important but you cant tell if he is good or bad, he is just there and it creates this eerie feel about him.