by Gil Bettman
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This completes the one’er, the purpose of which was to pay homage to Hitchcock, and along the way prove for the ages that Zemeckis is in the same league as Hitchcock and all the masters of visual design who have preceded him. Seamlessness lends elegance and an aura of mastery to a shot. This is why, as cameras have become more nimble, directors have increasingly made a practice of putting more seamlessness into their shots. This requires tipping the balance between motion and drama in favor of motion. But if this is done masterfully, as in this one’er from What Lies Beneath, only a minimal amount of drama is sacrificed. In addition, a talented director and DP, like Zemeckis and Burgess, can exploit the more dynamic camera movement to the max and do an exceedingly impressive job at satisfying the needs of Tasks 1, 2, and 3.
THE MASTER OF NORMAN’S CONFESSION — A UNIQUE MASTER FOR A UNIQUE SCENE
Again, the factors that determine the uniqueness of the scene are (1) the location where it takes place; (2) the way the drama unfolds in the scene; and (3) the point at which it takes place in the film. These three factors combined to determine how Zemeckis forged a very unique application of the Five Tasks to the needs of a scene that occurs toward the end of What Lies Beneath. (To view a video clip of this scene from What Lies Beneath, go to this link on the Internet: http://hollywoodfilmdirecting.com/directing-the-camera.html)
The visual design of the master shot for this scene diverges significantly from the default pattern, because the default pattern is simply a starting point. A great visual stylist crafts a one-of-a-kind application of the Five Tasks to each scene.
The shot starts framed up in a medium wide shot, head on Norman (Harrison Ford) as he comes down the stairs into the living room of his house and catches sight of his wife, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), walking into the room (Figure 3.089). As he delivers the opening lines of the scene, telling Claire:
NORMAN
I called you last night and left a message on Jody’s machine.
The camera backs up in front of Norman until he comes to a stop facing Claire, who is waiting for him at the base of the stairs (Figure 3.090 to 3.093). It holds there in an on-axis shot over Claire’s shoulder while she intones:
CLAIRE
I want you to answer one question. Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?
While Claire is talking the camera makes a little push into a tight close-up on Norman and then again comes to a stop (Figure 3.093 to 3.094). This little push turns this portion of the master into an “Oh my God” shot. We see Norman stiffen with anxiety as he realizes the secret of his infidelity has been discovered. This extra bit of motion reinforces the drama, because drama is what this moment is all about. For an overhead 3D view of the pull-back and then push-in on Norman at the start of this master see Figure 3.094a.
Norman’s Confession — Opening Beat — Why Zemeckis Departs from the Default Pattern
By starting the master this way, Zemeckis has departed radically from the dictates of the default pattern. This shot reveals almost none of the space in which the scene is going to take place. It therefore completely ignores the demands of Task 1, which prescribe that a good moving master immediately establishes geography in an all-encompassing shot. But there is no real need to do this because this scene takes place about three-quarters of the way through the film. The audience has been in this same living room many times before and already has a very good picture, in their mind’s eye, of everything in relation to everything else in the room. This master establishes where Norman ends up in relation to Claire, and that is sufficient.
Zemeckis’ master also does what most masters do not do until the middle or the end of the scene. It almost immediately comes to a stop in a shot/reverse/shot configuration (Figure 3.093). As soon as he finishes saying his opening line (above), and Claire starts to ask her question (above), the center of the drama will switch to her eyes, requiring the editor to cut out of the master into the reverse, over-the-shoulder single on Claire (Figure 3.095). So, contrary to the dictates of Task 2, there is no seamlessness at the head of this master.
This is because, uncharacteristically, there is a confrontational moment of the first magnitude right at the beginning of this scene. You could say that the scene climaxes as soon as Claire asks Norman, “Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?” because the “her” Claire is referring to is the girl, Madison, who Norman murdered, and who has returned as a ghost to haunt their house. As Claire has now guessed correctly the trouble began when Norman had an affair with Madison. There are few moments of drama in any scene in any movie as fraught with conflict as when a wife asks a husband to tell her the truth about an affair he had. Because this climax comes right at the beginning of this scene, Zemeckis responds appropriately and tips the balance from motion to drama.
Norman’s Confession — Middle Beat — Why Zemeckis Departs from the Default Pattern
Up to this point in this scene the way the drama unfolds is fairly unique. But now the intensity of the confrontation suddenly dissipates to a level more typical to the opening beats of scenes that lend themselves to being shot with a moving camera. Just as Avery turned away from Jerry after initially confronting him face-to-face in the opening beats of the scene from Jerry Maguire, Norman now turns away from Claire and confesses to this, his infidelity, while walking away from her. Avery walked away from Jerry because she was ashamed of him. Norman is walking away from Claire because he is ashamed of himself. He cannot bear to look Claire in the eye as he recounts the story of his infidelity and the role he played in Madison’s disappearance (Figure 3.096 to 3.106).
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NORMAN
I had an affair with her, and when I tried to break it off she became unstable. She came out here to the house and threatened to kill herself . . . or you.
Because it works in the context of the drama for Norman to walk away from Claire, Zemeckis is now presented with a golden opportunity to fulfill the three Tasks which are enhanced by motion — Tasks 1, 2, and 3 — to the max and at the same time do an excellent job at the most important Task — 4 — which ordinarily fights the first three Tasks. Norman has all the lines in this middle portion of the scene. So the center of the drama stays in his eyes. The perfect balance between motion and drama is easily achieved by simply keeping the camera, for the most part, pointed into Norman’s face as he walks away from Claire, and then designing the path of his walk and talk and the accompanying path of the camera in a way that (1) maintains geography; while (2) eliminating the need for edits; and (3) (most importantly) pumps the maximum amount of eye candy into the shot.
One of the three factors that make each scene unique and determine the design of the best moving master for that scene is the exact physical characteristics of the location in which the scene takes place. All of the interiors in Norman and Claire’s house in What Lies Beneath were part of a large set built on a soundstage at 20th Century-Fox Studios. Zemeckis and his production designer intentionally packed every one of these interiors with as many white, vertical, architectural facets, such as railings, bookcases, doors, and doorframes, as possible. To best exploit the presence of these bright verticals in the living room set of this scene, Zemeckis now makes every effort to move the camera as much as possible on the X-axis in front of these verticals and thereby generate the maximum amount of eye candy.
This is why Norman starts his walk and talk by admitting “I had an affair with her,” and then steps in front of Claire and moves straight across the X-axis from camera right to camera left (Figure 3.096 to 3.100). The camera retreats in front of him and this sweeps the brightest, whitest objects in the room �
�� the rails supporting the banister up the stairs — through the frame behind his head. Because Zemeckis has reversed the eyelines in the shot, he can now walk Norman down the camera left side of the living room in front of everything white and vertical built into that side of the set: the doorframe, the bookcase, the lighting sconces, and the mantel to the fireplace (Figure 3.099 to 3.106). Norman continues his confession walking to the far side of the room while telling Claire:
NORMAN
. . . She came out here to the house and threatened to kill herself . . .
Both Norman and the camera come to a halt, and then he throws his eyes dramatically across the frame back at where Claire is standing off-camera right, and ominously intones, “Or you.” (Figure 3.104 to 3.106)
At this point, Zemeckis could have had Norman finish his confession by walking and talking back to where Claire is still standing at the base of the stairs. This would have been perfectly natural. A less imaginative director might have done this. But then both Norman and the camera would have been mostly moving on the Z-axis. This is not the best way to generate eye candy. Rather than do this, Zemeckis parks Norman on the opposite side of the living room from Claire and has him say his final line with his back turned to her (Figure 3.106 to 3.112).
At first glance this may seem like an unusual choice. But there are a number of superb reasons to block the actors and the camera in this way. Norman completes his confession by telling Claire, “I never thought she would go through with any of it. But then, she disappeared.” While saying these lines, he shifts his gaze and his shoulders back from camera right to camera left. In order to catch up with his eyes the camera must pivot 90 degrees in a dramatic arc back across the X-axis of the frame. This pivot sweeps everything bright and white and vertical built into the left wall of the set back through the frame behind Norman’s head for a second time (Figure 3.106 to 3.112). In this way Zemeckis most fully exploits the unique characteristics of this set in order to generate the maximum amount of eye candy. This enables him to craft the best moving master for this portion of this scene. For an overhead 3D depiction of this middle portion of this master which keys off Norman’s walking and talking across the living room see Figure 3.112a.
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He also does his cinematographer, Don Burgess, a big favor because this second move across the X-axis also sweeps Claire through the background from camera right to camera left. This realigns the geography and the eyelines to where they were at the beginning of the scene with Claire on the left side of the frame and Norman on the right (Figure 3.091 to 3.096). And this makes it easier for Burgess to light the set by keeping the key light coming from one direction.
It also makes perfect sense in a dramatic context for Norman to tell Claire while remaining on the opposite side of the room with his back to her, “I never thought she would go through with any of it. But then she disappeared.” Norman is lying. He murdered Madison. The dramatic subtext of this moment is eloquently conveyed by this unusual blocking of actors and camera.
And, finally Zemeckis has put the camera in the perfect position for the final beat of the scene.
Norman’s Confession — Final Beat — Why Zemeckis Departs from the Default Pattern
Claire has most of the lines from here until the end of the scene. First she tells Norman:
CLAIRE
It was her, Norman, she tried to kill you. You said it yourself, she wanted you dead!
As Claire says this, the camera racks focus back to her face (Figure 3.112 to 3.113). But the center of the drama is now in her eyes. And since she is on the other side of the room her face and eyes are very small. So it seems counterintuitive that this is the best place for the camera to be at this moment. But in fact, Zemeckis is ultimately able to do a better job of telling the story by keeping the camera on the opposite side of the room from Claire.
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Norman protests, “What are you saying? That I was attacked by a ghost!?” (Norman’s line was covered later in a static reverse, shot from Claire’s POV: Figure 3.116. Claire now walks halfway across the room while delivering her interpretation of why Madison’s ghost is haunting their house.
CLAIRE
You had an affair with a girl who threatened to kill herself, and now there is a presence in our house . . . a young, blond girl.
This walk and talk brings her from a head-to-toe shot into a shot from the knees up — a “cowboy” close-up, enabling the audience to see more of her eyes (Figure 3.113 to 3.115). She correctly analyzes the facts, emphatically asserting, “Don’t you get it? She did it, Norman. She’s dead, and now she’s trying to hurt you, or both of us.” Trying to steer her away from the truth, Norman counters, “We don’t know she’s dead.” (Norman’s line was covered later in a second, tighter, static reverse shot: Figure 3.117. Claire argues back, insisting, “Of course we do! It’s the only thing that makes any sense.” Now, she has an epiphany and discovers for herself (and the audience) the true cause of the ghost’s entrance into their house and their lives.
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CLAIRE
Oh, God! It’s . . . it’s my fault. I opened a door. I stole a braid of her hair. Madison’s. And it . . . it gave her power.
As she is flooded with this realization of the truth, the camera pushes in from the “cowboy” close-up to a full screen, over-the-shoulder shot on Claire (Figure 3.118 to 3.123). In this way, by staying back in two wider framings on Claire, Zemeckis was able to apply great visual emphasis to the final climactic moment of the scene by buttoning it with a wonderfully appropriate “Oh my God!” shot (explained in detail in Chapter 2, page 16 above). By keeping the camera on the opposite side of the room from Claire, even though she is doing the talking and carrying the scene, Zemeckis is guiding his camera so that it behaves like a cue ball and ends up in the perfect spot to do this dramatic push-in.
From here to the end of the master, Zemeckis follows the dictates of the default pattern and does what probably any director would have done. Having landed in this OTS on Claire at this highly confrontational moment, Zemeckis simply keeps it there for the balance of the scene. He is in a perfect shot/reverse/shot configuration. By staying in this OTS on Claire he is doing the best job possible of capturing the drama and picking up one-half of the coverage he will need to complete the final cut. Claire almost never speaks. Norman stays in her face backing her up in this OTS while trying to convince her that, “There are no ghosts. I had an accident. I am fine.” (Figure 3.125 to 3.126) But Norman is lying. She knows it and is barely listening to him (Figure 3.124). She gives him a blank stare (Figure 3.127) and brushes him off, telling him, “I want to be alone for awhile.” (Figure 3.128) Then she turns and exits back up the stairs (Figure 3.129 to 3.131). For an overhead 3D view of the actor and camera blocking which concludes this master see Figure 3.131a.
This highly confrontational moment at the end of the scene and the equally confrontational beat at the beginning of the scene when Claire demands the truth from Norman (like the moments of peak conflict in the scene from Jerry Maguire discussed above) both cry out for being covered in the shot/reverse/shot configuration of two matching over-the-shoulder shots. Most astute directors would have put the camera where
Zemeckis put it.
It is what Zemeckis does with the moving master to capture what comes between these moments that is most unconventional and where his brilliance as a visual stylist is most conspicuously on display. The way he jacks up the eye candy to the max by having Norman cross the line as he starts his confession (Figure 3.096 to 3.106) and then pivoting the camera 90 degrees around Norman to reset the eyelines at the conclusion of the confession (Figure 3.106 to 3.112) was brave and highly counterintuitive. As was his decision to have Norman and Claire argue with each other from opposite sides of this large room, while keeping the camera back wide, so he could push in on Claire’s epiphany and give a full-throated visual emphasis to the climax. For most of us, this elaborate choreography of actors and camera is not what would have come to mind first. It required a highly tuned sensitivity to all possibilities for visual dynamism inherent in the space as well as a deep and accurate understanding of the text and subtext of the drama. It is easy to look at such a well-choreographed shot after it has been done, and done very well, and assume that one would have done the same. Zemeckis makes it look easy. It is anything but.
