If the camera move is hidden, why have it at all? Although brief, this scene denotes a change in mood. When they begin talking, they feel stuck in a problem, but by the time they’re on their backs, they have an idea of how to solve it. This sensation of hope is echoed by having them look up and out. If the camera remained still, but they moved to look up and out, the director would not capture the mood change. By tying the camera to the actors’ movements, the director reveals the heart of the scene.
To create this shot, use a crane or a handheld camera. Whatever equipment you use, maintain the same distance from the actors as you move up by creating a smooth arc. If you get too close before moving up, the effect will be more dreamlike than hopeful. The key is to keep the same distance from the actors until you are above them. You then have the option to bring the camera to rest or to keep it moving upward.
Love Actually. Directed by Richard Curtis. Universal Pictures, 2003. All rights reserved.
9.4
RAISED CAMERA
This scene plays out between a mother and child, but could just as easily work with adults. The intimacy shown here is uncomfortable, because the child is so vulnerable and almost submissive in his desire to be loved, while the mother resists that intimacy.
The scene opens with her much closer to camera, but she is in profile, and therefore he becomes the focus of the scene, even though he is less brightly lit. He moves from this standing position to put his head on her knees, as the camera rises up to look down at him.
The camera only needs to rise up a short distance, but it tilts down at quite a strong angle and the move itself is quite rapid, to match his urgent movement into position. The shot works because he is so focused on connecting with her, making direct eye contact. By having the camera rise up, the director has the audience look down on him and feel his need and vulnerability.
In so many scenes, it’s what changes that counts. If the scene had opened with him right next to her or kneeling next to her, the audience wouldn’t feel the change that occurs when he moves to connect with her. It is by having him stand back, and then move in to a lower level, that the director achieves the effect.
A. I. Artificial Intelligence. Directed by Steven Spielberg. DreamWorks/Warner Bros., 2001. All rights reserved.
9.5
ARC AND PUSH
A scene that ends with a kiss should start by conveying some anticipation — but not certainty — that the kiss is coming. Not least, the viewer needs to hear the dialogue that’s going on in the build-up. If the shots give away that a kiss is coming, the audience stops listening.
This shot ends with a push in on the two actors as they move closer together. If the shot was nothing more than this push in, it probably wouldn’t work. (It works in 9.1, Push to Talk, because they only talk — they don’t kiss.) So in this shot, the camera’s starting position is almost alongside the actors. It then arcs around until it’s in front of them, then pushes in.
When you open with this shot, you may need to get the most distant actor to lean forward so your audience can see him. The closest actor should also face forward. As the camera moves around, they can both face the front, then look at each other as the camera gets closer.
A shot like this might not actually end with a kiss, of course, but it is set up for one. If a kiss occurs, that will fulfill an expectation, and if one doesn’t occur, you’ll leave the audience eager for one to come later.
To achieve this move, you need to find a way to arc smoothly and then change direction. You can do this handheld, or with a Steadicam, or using a wheel-based dolly. Whatever you use, make sure the transition is continuous, without a pause between the end of the arc and the beginning of the push forward.
Donnie Darko. Directed by Richard Kelly. Newmarket Films, 2001. All rights reserved.
9.6
WHISPERING
When one character whispers to another, you can show both faces on screen at the same time. It’s a realistic way to show reaction and interaction. In this scene, the actors soon turn to face each other in classic angle/reverse angle, but by opening in this way, the director makes the scene richer.
No major camera move is required, and the camera is in roughly the same place for both shots. In one, a wider lens is used, and the actors are pushed to the side of the screen. In the next, a long lens is used so that nothing other than their faces is shown. This draws the viewer into the conversation, and because the actors are whispering, the viewer listens closely.
To shoot this way, you have many options, such as dollying past the actors, or pushing in, but the simple approach of a jump cut to a medium close-up is effective. The less motion there is in the camera, the more your audience focuses on the actors’ quiet words.
In the wider shot, you can push the actors to the edge of the frame to emphasize that this is covert, and that they are hiding away.
The Other Boleyn Girl. Directed by Justin Chadwick. Columbia Pictures/Focus Features, 2008. All rights reserved.
9.7
PARTIAL ANGLE
When two people are physically close together, you can jump cut between two close angles to create a gentle intimacy between them.
Rather than giving each actor a close-up, the director of The Science of Sleep chose to shoot the scene from two angles that are not far apart. One angle favors him, and the other favors her, but in both shots the two characters can be seen clearly. Although an unusual approach, this works well and is more intimate than a jarring cut between two close-ups. It allows the viewer to see their body movements as well as their faces. By shooting two angles, the director also has more editing choices than if he’d shot this with one roving camera.
When you shoot in this way, you will find the main challenge comes in editing, because every cut is essentially a jump cut. You should remain aware of this when shooting, and instruct your actors to repeat their physical actions as closely as possible from take to take.
As with many of the shots in this book, you can see that the characters are using their hands as a physical connection. This is a great device for generating intimacy between two characters who aren’t yet fully intimate. It’s also an excellent way to give the actors something to look at other than each other, which can go a long way toward making their performances appear more realistic.
The Science of Sleep. Directed by Michel Gondry. Warner Independent Pictures, 2003. All rights reserved.
9.8
OUTER FOCUS
A good way to establish a connection between two people is to show them close together each time they are in the scene. One way to do this is to have them focus outward on something other than each other. In this example, the couple is watching television.
The director cuts to their point of view, showing what they are watching on television, but at no point does he cut to a shot of just one character. Whether using the wide shot or the medium close-up, the director keeps both faces in view.
If the couple were to look at each other the whole time, we might not see enough of their faces to sense what they are feeling. By having them look out, the director makes his audience look almost straight into their eyes. If they glance at each other, that’s okay, but their apparent focus should be outward, even if they are talking about something important.
Set up one camera off to the side, with a wider lens, to establish where they are in the room. Place the second camera directly in front of the actors, with a long lens, framing nothing other than their faces.
The Company. Directed by Robert Altman. Sony Pictures Classics, 2003. All rights reserved.
9.9
LOW AND CLOSE
Although my aim in this book is to show you alternatives to the standard angle/reverse angle, there still are times when it can be used to great effect. The main problem with the standard approach is that people rarely stand facing each other while delivering dialogue. People move about, and they don’t look at each other. Sometimes, however, you can push two characters so closely together t
hat shooting them with the standard angles works well.
In Juno, Jason Reitman comes up with hundreds of different ways of arranging his actors, changing angles and camera height while choreographing great movement. When he really wants to focus on the dialogue though, he finds a way to get his actors right next to each other, and then shoots close-ups in the traditional pattern. If the whole film was shot this way, it would be dull, but by saving these setups for the really potent dialogue, Reitman allows his actors to act in a simple environment, and the audience gets to watch without distraction.
The trick is to find a way to get the actors facing each other, without making it seem contrived. Here, they are literally crammed into a space that’s too small for two people. They aren’t sitting opposite each other, but alongside each other, each backed up against a wall or bed. The brief establishing shot shows this position, then the director cuts to close-ups. This creates intimacy between the actors without artificially pushing them together.
Setting up this shot is all about finding a location that enables you to push the actors together in a physical space. Be wary of shooting in tight spaces, such as closets, as you might not have room to get behind the actors to shoot the reverse angles. If you’re shooting on a set you’re fine, as you can move a wild wall out and shoot from wherever you want. But if you’re on location, don’t cram your actors into a closet that forces you to shoot with ultra-wide lenses, or you will lose the warm close-up feeling you want.
Juno. Directed by Jason Reitman. Fox Searchlight, 2007. All rights reserved.
9.10
COUPLED ANGLES
Sometimes you want to switch from one character to the other, but you want to make it a bit more interesting than the standard angle/reverse angle. This scene from Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest shows how a mix of two-shots and a close-up can achieve this effect.
The first shot shows both actors. Johnny Depp is facing the camera, glancing up and across at Keira Knightley. She stares straight ahead. It’s also worth noting that the camera is shooting through the staircase, which creates a stronger sense of the space they are in. Shooting through something (also known as dirtying the frame) is one of the simplest ways to add interest to a shot.
Rather than using this first shot purely as an establishing shot, then moving to close-ups, the director cuts to a new angle that is the same distance from the actor. This time, Knightley is facing the camera. It would be possible to run the whole scene this way, cutting between the two angles as each character speaks. The director opted to add one close-up. This is shot from the same angle as the establishing shot, but with a longer lens. It’s a close-up, looking straight at Depp. The close-up is shot from his head height, which puts the focus strongly on his dialogue.
If you were to shoot the whole scene with the two medium-distance cameras, it might work, but by adding the close-up you give yourself a better chance to edit the scene seamlessly. Also, actors tend to work harder when in a close-up; if you need to lift the energy of the scene, the close-up will give you the footage you need.
Shooting a scene like this requires three simple setups. The first two shots should be taken using the same lens and at the same distance from the actors. Each camera should remain quite still as the actors move within the frame. The close-up should be shot with a long lens, and the camera can follow the actor’s movements.
Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Directed by Gore Verbinski. Walt Disney Pictures, 2006. All rights reserved.
9.11
OBJECT HINGE
Give your actors an object to look at, and you can cut between them at a shallow angle. This is less jarring than the traditional angle/reverse angle, but lets you show each actor clearly while connecting them by having the object in both frames.
This scene from The Science of Sleep illustrates this well. In both angles, the toy horse is placed between the camera and the actors. In the first frame, the toy horse is on the left and the actor is placed centrally. There is room on the right for the other actor to drift into the foreground, so the audience knows he’s there.
In the second frame, the setup is almost identical, although there is a slight difference in camera height, largely because he is leaning in to look at the toy horse.
By having them both look at one object as they talk, the director connects them more powerfully than if they were simply looking at each other. She does glance back at him, but having the toy horse as the focus of their attention gets them through an awkward moment in their conversation.
Having the actors physically touch the object, as he does here, reinforces the connection. It’s as though by touching something that is in both frames, they are almost touching each other. This is an effective device when you want to show two characters developing intimacy, slowly and nervously.
The Science of Sleep. Directed by Michel Gondry. Warner Independent Pictures, 2003. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 10
LONG DISTANCE
10.1
SOLO MOVE
Most directors dislike scenes that involve phone calls. It can be a sign of lazy writing. Also, films are usually about dramatic conflict, so where’s the interest in watching somebody talk to a phone?
This scene from Juno shows that you can use phone conversations to good effect, revealing plot details as well as giving some insight into the character’s state of mind. When shooting a phone scene, though, be aware that they are usually the first scenes to end up on the cutting room floor. Make them good, or don’t shoot them at all.
The shot opens with the newspaper ad and the phone in the same frame, while Ellen Page dials the number, so this simple setup shows three things at once.
The camera shifts from what she’s looking at to her. This move begins quite smoothly, with the camera moving down. As she moves the phone up to her ear, the camera whip pans with the phone. From there, the move continues slowly, with the camera moving around, going lower, and gradually tilting up to look at her. Although there is a very fast pan in this shot, the whole move feels slow and steady because the pan coincides exactly with her arm movement.
The beauty of this move is that it gives the director time to show her in close-up, as she waits for the phone to be answered. Then it opens up the space around her, so the audience can see her body language.
If you can avoid it, don’t shoot close-ups during phone conversations. Watch real people when they’re on the phone: They tend to act out what they’re thinking or saying. Use this in your phone-call scenes and you add realism and open many opportunities to show humor. In some cases body language can openly contradict what’s being said, which is something you couldn’t do so overtly if two people were in the room.
Juno. Directed by Jason Reitman. Fox Searchlight, 2007. All rights reserved.
10.2
REMOTE OBSERVER
Shooting an actor from slightly behind can induce in your audience a slightly voyeuristic feeling. Although that feeling could be creepy, it can be used to create something as subtle as a feeling of isolation, as shown in this scene from Lost in Translation.
As Scarlett Johansson talks on the phone, she is shown from two different angles, both from slightly behind her. The cameras are stationary, which is why the audience doesn’t experience a creepy feeling. If the cameras crept up on her, or wobbled a lot, the audience would feel as if they were watching a horror movie.
The director set up these shots to isolate her in two different ways. In the first shot, she is shot with a long lens, and because the viewpoint is from behind her, watching her, the audience gets the sense of her being alone in this room, struggling to make contact with the unheard person on the other end of the phone. If the audience were looking straight at her, they would just be watching somebody make a phone call. By having her almost concealed by the angle, and by having other objects intrude on the frame, the director isolates the audience from her. The long lens, however, shows enough of her face that the viewer conne
cts with her. This simple shot, which is a combination of angle and lens choices, makes the character appear to be alone while also making the viewer empathize with her.
In the second shot, her face can’t be seen at all, only the room around her and the city beyond. This places her firmly in the location, and stresses that she is a long way from home. If this scene only showed the hotel room, the director would have missed a great opportunity to show that the character is actually looking out at the city that seems to be engulfing her life.
Lost in Translation. Directed by Sofia Coppola. Focus Features, 2003. All rights reserved.
10.3
CONTRASTING MOTION
For scenes that show both ends of a conversation, it’s useful to show a strong contrast between the characters’ movements in the scene. These shots from Pretty Woman are already in contrast, because Julia Roberts is in a lush room while her friend is in a dingy apartment. Rather than relying on the production design to carry this contrast, the director moved the actors and camera to reflect the situation.
In the first shot of Roberts, she is lying down on the bed. This looks natural, but note how her head is angled back and to the right so only her face is in view. Her positioning looks luxurious, but is also far more interesting than if she were just sitting up against the pillows.
Her friend in the apartment is far from still. She moves from place to place, picking things up, struggling with objects, and generally finding it difficult to even cross a room.
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