From the bottom up
In the opening sequence of the film, Stone shoots the intersection of four buildings from the ground up. The shadows of these buildings appear to tower over us in the frame. The imagery foreshadows the fact that Bud Fox will be working from the ground up in his career. It also shows that the desire for momentum in the business world is always the desire to ascend, to accumulate more, to build higher skyscrapers and amass more wealth. This image evokes the heights that Bud will achieve, and also the distance he will fall at the end.
Bud's apartment
When Bud achieves major success working for Gordon Gekko, he eventually is able to afford a luxe Upper East Side penthouse apartment. It is an incredible place at an incredible height, with views of the whole city, but it is also an isolating and distant place. The shots of Bud's apartment represent the adage that it is "lonely at the top" and that, while Bud is achieving major success, he is also becoming increasingly isolated both from the world and from his sense of right and wrong.
Behind Closed Doors
Bud Fox calls Gekko's office in order to get a meeting with him through Gekko's secretary. We see the door to Gekko's office open and we hear his voice, but we do not see him. The camera comes all the way to the threshold of this door before the opening is closed in Bud's face. The image shows the way that Bud wants desperately to get into exclusive rooms, to break into the business world, but he is, both literally and figuratively, on the outside.
Carl in the hospital
When Bud gets deeper into the deal with Gekko and Bluestar, he abruptly learns that his father has had a heart attack that landed him in the hospital. He goes and visits Carl, who is vulnerable, sunlit in his hospital bed. The image of the guilty Bud seeking redemption from his helpless father is one of the few tender images in the film, and shows the ways that Bud wants to reconnect with where he comes from and leave the greed of Wall Street behind.
