MasterShots Vol 2

by Christopher Kenworthy

  The final shot is again set up in classic angle/reverse angle, but now the characters have switched sides, and he is on the right of the screen.

  You might be wondering if it really matters whether somebody is on the right or the left of screen. There’s a lot of theory about which side you should put the hero on, but few people agree on which side is which. What’s important is that you echo moments of change by changing the character’s position in the frame.

  Almost Famous. Directed by Cameron Crowe. Columbia Pictures, 2000. All rights reserved.

  3.4

  THRESHOLD

  A power struggle that takes place in secret is extremely dramatic. Equally, the best secrets are hidden in plain sight. These shots from The Other Boleyn Girl illustrate a silhouetted shooting style to reflect the clandestine nature of the struggle. Most importantly, the actors are placed on a boundary between the inside and the outside to create a sense of unease.

  The characters are at odds with each other, but rather than having an all-out argument, they are forced to struggle for power over each other. Their argument must remain secret (for plot reasons) and they are always visible to others (for plot reasons), so they speak in whispers, without dramatic movement. The director could have filmed them standing in any space, but he placed them on a threshold between inside and outside to create some uncertainty and unease. The characters aren’t really anywhere, because they are neither inside nor outside.

  The strong light from outside throws them into silhouette, which adds interest to shots that might otherwise be dampened by their stillness. The audience must listen to and care about every word, so by playing out the scene on this border between spaces, the director makes his audience eager to discover what is going on between them.

  Secret conversations are more exciting when they are held within earshot of those who must never hear them, and if your script contains such a scene, putting your characters on a border between spaces will create the tension you want your audience to feel.

  The Other Boleyn Girl. Directed by Justin Chadwick. Columbia Pictures/Focus Features, 2008. All rights reserved.

  3.5

  SPACE REVERSE

  People locked in a power struggle aren’t usually together by choice, but by necessity. Often a dangerous environment or situation throws them together against their will, and the audience sees them forced to confront one another.

  It is rare for real power struggles to occur while characters are on the move. Even in the midst of battle, they will usually settle their score when standing at rest. Often, they will stop at a threshold or barrier, facing an obstacle that must be overcome. This tips them over the edge, and makes them challenge each other. When you come to one of these scenes, you can make good use of the space surrounding the actors to emphasize that outside forces have pushed them together.

  To make the most of these moments, put the camera on one side of this barrier, and then the other, while the characters remain stuck in the same place, working their way through their argument.

  These shots from Terminator Salvation show the characters stopped at the edge of a dangerous area. There’s no doubt that this is a barrier to the characters, because there are warning signs and barbed wire. The director places the camera quite low, and the characters are looking down, apprehensively, into the space ahead of them. Once they are talking, the scene cuts to a shot from behind the characters, and we can see the unpleasant land beyond that they are unwilling to face.

  At the moment the camera turns, she also turns to face him, so that we can see her face as they talk. He angles his body around slightly, so that he isn’t completely turned away from camera.

  If you shoot this type of scene, you don’t need a physical barrier, but it helps. The warning sign used in these shots stays in the center of the screen in both angles, marking the barrier that they can’t cross, and also putting something physical between the two characters to emphasize their separation from each other.

  Terminator Salvation. Directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol. Warner Bros., 2009. All rights reserved.

  3.6

  CHARACTER CHASE

  You can create a lot of energy in a scene where one character is keen to talk and the other is less interested. This creates the feeling that one character is trying to chase the other. The script will usually dictate this sort of scene, but it’s a technique that can be applied cinematically to many scenes with startling results. It can be a useful way to get the actors to move beyond an obvious interpretation.

  The camera setup can be extremely simple, with the main idea being that you follow the character that’s being pursued. By doing this, you give the audience the sensation of chasing that character, which echoes what the second character is doing. The chase here is subtle and suggested, of course, and is more about one character trying to get the other’s attention, rather than an actual chase. As such, the physical movements don’t need to be larger than a walk across the room.

  In this example, the character played by Malcolm McDowell moves around the room, and the other character follows with a slight time lag. This slight delay is important, because it makes it look like the second character is catching up.

  You can shoot this with a single camera, which moves forward and pans to follow the action, or you can cut to a second camera. Whichever you choose, position the second character out-of-frame briefly. This means that he has to re-enter the frame at some point, which again emphasizes the idea that he is catching up.

  The Company. Directed by Robert Altman. Sony Pictures Classics, 2003. All rights reserved.

  3.7

  SIDE ON

  When a character loses power, you can reveal the intensity of his loss by shooting from the side as he makes a final speech. Although you will spend much of your directing time finding ways to show the characters’ faces from the front, this is a time when shooting in profile works. It makes the character, who was formerly powerful, seem cowed and submissive.

  There are many ways to shoot a character from the side, but this example from Star Trek achieves several different effects at once. By shooting with a long lens, the director focuses tightly on the central character, isolating him from the scene behind him. When he moves away, the long lens causes him to exit the frame almost instantly. The director then racks focus to the background characters to show their reaction.

  Actors enjoy scenes such as these, when they get to make a dramatic speech, and most of their best work occurs during moments of change. Unfortunately, the traditional cutting pattern can lead to every moment of change being missed, as the director cuts from one speaker to the next. A shot like this ensures the director doesn’t miss any of the actor’s work, and there is no need to cut away from this close shot.

  When the moment is complete, you will need to cut to a wider shot when the other characters move away from their marks. The only person your audience should see walking out of this close shot is the main character. If you show other people walking out of this frame, you take away some of the emotional impact of the hero’s exit.

  Star Trek. Directed by J. J. Abrams. Paramount Pictures, 2009. All rights reserved.

  CHAPTER 4

  GROUP CONVERSATION

  4.1

  ANGLE ANCHOR

  When you’re shooting a scene with a lot of people, one approach you can choose is to set up lots of cameras and get endless coverage. This will work, because it will give you plenty to edit with. You should make sure, however, that you don’t just get one establishing shot and a medium close-up of each person. If you do, you run the risk of a boring scene or, worse, confusing geography, so the audience doesn’t know who’s looking at whom.

  This can be especially problematic if the scene has been running for a while and you then cut to a character who hasn’t spoken. If you haven’t established where that character is, you need to do so.

  In this scene, Matt Damon has not spoken, and although he’s been visible in the background, the audience won’t be
completely clear about where he is standing. When he does speak, he could be talking to anybody in the room.

  The director cuts to a reverse angle, just to the left of Damon’s point of view. The characters are arranged in a way that forces them to move in order to see him speak. George Clooney makes direct eye contact, but the other characters (who are closer to camera) have to make a fuss of twisting around to see him. This fixes Damon’s position in the scene.

  If the director had cut straight to a medium shot of Clooney, the audience would know that the two were talking, but would have no sense of where everybody stood in the room. By setting it up in this way, the director reveals the reactions of many people, without confusing the geography, while maintaining direct eye contact between the two who are talking.

  When shooting large groups, arrange your actors so that they have to move or shuffle around to see each other speak. This staging gives far more depth to a scene, and makes the audience sense they are watching a room where something is happening, rather than a room where a lot of actors are talking.

  Ocean’s Eleven. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Warner Bros., 2001. All rights reserved.

  4.2

  EYELINE ANCHOR

  This scene from Ocean’s Eleven is used again here because the director is faced with the challenge of showing a group conversation with more than ten people. Everybody who’s in the scene counts, and they all have something to say. The audience needs to know where everybody is, who’s sitting where, and what they’re all thinking about. To do this, the audience needs to see that they are all listening to the main character, played by George Clooney.

  The shot of Clooney shows him standing against a wall, looking out at the room. He could be looking at any one of the other characters that traipses into the room. In scenes such as this, there are times when you’ll need to indicate exactly who’s talking to whom (as with angle anchor in the previous section). But at other times, you would simply want to keep Clooney as the focus and make it clear how the scene is set up, so that the audience can follow the conversation.

  Clooney looks out in one direction, and everybody else is looking at him. Their eyelines give away exactly where they are in the room. In some cases, their faces are toward the camera, but their eyes are strongly angled to the side, to emphasize the direction of the eyeline.

  In another shot, the director emphasizes the eyeline by shooting low and having two people look up in the same direction, their heads angled almost identically. The positioning of these actors’ bodies and eyes is not casual. The director has positioned them this way for the precise purpose of showing that they are listening to Clooney.

  You can move your camera in a scene such as this, but it can quickly become confusing when you start to cut. You solve this by gathering lots of coverage, from many angles, but also by positioning the actors — and directing their eyes — so that every shot leaves no doubt about who’s sitting where, and who they are listening to. Only when the scene is as clear as this will the audience be able to concentrate on the (relatively complicated) dialogue.

  Ocean’s Eleven. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Warner Bros., 2001. All rights reserved.

  4.3

  GROUP PIVOT

  You can shoot a group of three people in one move, without cuts, and still keep everybody in shot. Although there is nothing wrong with cutting during a scene, you may notice that this book stresses the value of scenes with no cuts. Cutting can, of course, give you more control over which performance you use. On the other hand, when you shoot the scene in one move, the actors will rise to the occasion, and your audience is drawn into the world more effectively than when there are lots of cuts. This is most important when you want them to listen to the dialogue.

  This scene from Munich shows the characters arranged around a table, with a big space on the camera side. By pushing in at an angle, the director shows the relation of Eric Bana to the other two. As the camera gets closer, he leans forward so that the three of them remain in shot. Then, as the camera comes to the end of its move, it pans left to face the other two actors.

  Although all three actors talk throughout the scene, this move shifts the focus from what he is saying to how they are reacting to his words. From this point, you might cut to traditional coverage or end the scene.

  For scenes such as this to work, you will have to ask your actors to lean into frame at the appropriate moment. You can see in these stills that they are positioning their bodies, most of the time, to suit the framing. Some actors will find this more challenging than others, but try to let them know that their body positioning is a detail they can use to improve their performance. If you tell an actor to lean in, it is because you want him to appear aggressive, or curious. Describe to your actors how the camera moves and blocking make sense on a performance level, and they will be far more willing to handle the technical side for you.

  Munich. Directed by Steven Spielberg. DreamWorks SKG, 2005. All rights reserved.

  4.4

  CENTRAL CHARACTER

  Even when your group of characters is quite small, somebody can be left out of the conversation. If this is your main character, rather than pushing him to the side, place him right in the middle of the frame.

  The exact effect you create will depend on the characters and story, but in general this positioning creates a sense of unease in the central character. Here, Zach Braff is sharing the same piece of furniture with the other two and is clearly uncomfortable. A lot of this discomfort is communicated by directorial choices, such as having the other male actor’s shirt off, having him smoke, having Braff lower his head slightly. These all contribute, but the positioning of the camera is also vital.

  The wide shot, which shows all three characters, is shot from their head height, looking straight at them. The main character is framed centrally, so the viewer notices him, even though he is the least talkative and offers the least visual interest.

  The other two shots frame the characters to the far right and far left of frame, respectively. This pushes them up against Braff, even when he isn’t visible. They are pushed against the edge of the frame where the viewer knows he is sitting. This sustains the crushed, uncomfortable feeling throughout the scene.

  Although you may spend a lot of your time trying to stop the actors looking straight at each other, this is one setup where the actors on either side of Braff should talk directly to each other. If they don’t, then their body language becomes too casual and makes the arrangement feel as though everybody is included. By having these two look at each other, but not at the main character, the director causes his audience to sense Braff’s feeling of exclusion.

  Garden State. Directed by Zach Braff. Fox Searchlight, 2004. All rights reserved.

  4.5

  ALONG THE LINE

  When you have three or four people in a scene, how do you keep them all visible without endless cuts? One way is to put them all in a line and orient them so that their faces are visible for most of the scene.

  If all three characters in this scene were facing the bar, the effect would not work, so the character closest to camera has her back to the bar. This is justified by having her carry a tray of drinks. It’s important to have this kind of justification, partly so that your actor feels comfortable, and to prevent this shot from looking like a forced setup.

  If she stared at the two men throughout this scene, you would have to keep cutting to a reverse angle of her. This is why, early in the scene, the director has her turn her head toward camera and motion to the dance floor. Again, there is a strong reason for her to do this, in terms of the plot, as there should be.

  Although the director did shoot a reverse angle, and uses it a couple of times, he keeps its use to a minimum with this wider master shot. By reducing the cuts, the director gives the scene a good rhythm and the audience listens to what is being said.

  By shooting the two men together, who are turning around to listen to her, the director can jump cut straight fr
om the wide shot to the medium close-up of the two of them. This is less jarring than if everybody has a close-up and the director is forced to cut, cut, cut from one person to the next.

  North Country. Directed by Niki Caro. Warner Bros., 2005. All rights reserved.

  4.6

  LINE OF THREE

  When you want all your actors to focus on something external, position them so that they are all in the frame as the scene plays out. Stand them in a line, at a slight angle to the camera, and have each one look into the distance. This works well if they are standing on the edge of something, such as a balcony, or, as shown here, standing at the railing of a ship.

  One danger with this is that if each actor moves into position one after the other, it looks comical. To avoid this, have the central character move in first, as Keira Knightley does here. Then move in the character that’s closest to camera. The most distant character can come in last, after some dialogue has been exchanged.

  This is meant to be an exciting moment in the film, but the camera doesn’t move, so the director makes great use of the characters’ eyes and head-angles to bring more energy to the scene.