DiCaprio then walks back to the plane to continue the conversation, and moves into a close-up. The camera only moves slightly to make sure he is framed well. Behind him, Gordon-Leviit turns to face camera, as though he is being drawn back to the scene.
We then cut back to Watanabe, but this time the shot is closer. In the story, the point that’s being made is that this conversation has to take place, and the framing reflects this. The reluctant body language is cancelled out by a rapid move back into frame, and then a series of close-ups. We go quickly from seeing these characters shouting across open space, to seeing them in close quarters.
When you want to show that characters are being drawn to each other, especially reluctantly, you can keep the camera in place, and let body language, acting, and movement to the camera do most of the work. Be prepared to switch one of the shots to a closer angle, to match the close-up from the actor who’s in motion.
Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
5.3
INTIMACY BREAK
Intimacy between characters is essential in most films, but rarely achieved with great success. In Never Let Me Go, we see many moments of intimacy that are not overstated, but that remain unmistakable.
These frames show a moment where the characters are uncertain, perhaps even afraid, but they remain connected. For a few moments we doubt this, and that’s what makes their renewed intimacy all the more powerful. This is achieved through a sequence of shots, beginning with one where they have their backs turned to each other. They continue to hold hands, despite facing away from each other, which shows the mixture of uncertainty and connection.
The next shot, with a long lens, throws Carey Mulligan out of focus, making her appear more indistinct to Andrew Garfield and for a moment she is isolated from him. But then she returns and faces him directly, reestablishing their intimacy.
Clearly, this is not a setup that you could copy directly, because it is telling a specific story, but the points to note are that you can make enormous use of the frame, to show characters touching and holding on to each other, and that the audience cares about where they look. When they aren’t looking at each other, we feel a break in their intimacy.
You can increase a momentary sense of isolation by using a long lens to throw one character out of focus, but then show renewed intimacy by having the actors move into the same place, so both are in focus. Most importantly, make use of eye contact. It’s often said that the most intimate shots are those where we look almost directly into a character’s eye, but it’s also essential that we see characters looking at each other, if we are to sense the bond between them.
Never Let Me Go. Directed by Mark Romanek. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
5.4
HIGH DRAG
Many times, you want to indicate the apparent power of an individual, and a mix of camera angles can help you to do this. Putting the camera low can make people look powerful, but surprisingly, putting the camera above them can have the same effect, so long as they aren’t looking upward. It also helps if they are moving during the shot.
In Léon: The Professional, you can see how the camera has been placed above Frank Senger, and is tilted toward him. The camera dollies back as he strides forward. Although the camera is high, this angle makes him appear powerful and in control of his surroundings. The fact that he looks straight ahead, combined with his movement, creates an impression of somebody barging through the scene.
The angle also gives you the opportunity to cut out the faces of any entourage he may have. This enables us to see that he has people with him, following him, but because his face is so dominant in the frame, we assume he is the one with all the power.
The difficulty with a shot such as this is knowing what to cut to afterward. It is so powerful and dynamic that cutting away to a weaker shot would lessen the effect. In this example, the director shifts the focus to a minor character, and we watch him observing the frightening character. The whole gang approaches, almost out of frame, and then slide across screen in front of the minor character. This all has the effect of reemphasizing the power of the character, without losing the movement and flow that was established in the opening shot.
Léon: The Professional. Directed by Luc Besson. Gaumont Film Company/Columbia Pictures, 1994. All rights reserved.
5.5
POWER EXCHANGE
Camera placement can have an enormous effect on revealing who holds the balance of power in a scene. Whatever lens you’re using, and whatever the framing, the actual camera position can symbolize shifts in power. This is further enhanced by the actor’s position in relation to the camera.
In The Book of Eli, the scene opens with the camera close to Denzel Washington. We connect with him, and feel that he may have control of the situation despite being outnumbered. When we cut to a reverse of the gang who are watching him, the camera is still close to Washington. It is this placement of the camera close to the actor (whichever way we’re looking) that helps us identity with him and feel that he is in control.
The next cut, however, takes us across the street, relatively close to Gary Oldman. As the camera dollies back, Oldman gets closer and closer to the camera. The feeling we get is that whoever’s closer to the camera is in control, and here, we’ve seen that shift directly. Even though the camera is moving away from him, Oldman catches up, taking over the scene.
We then cut to a shot from behind Oldman, but the key point here is that the camera remains close to him. We do not cut back to the original close-up of Washington. Oldman’s character has apparently taken the camera away from him and is now in control of the scene and the situation.
You can achieve this effect with cuts, but the move where one character approaches the camera is a clever way to make the transition, so the audience actually feels the character taking over the scene.
The Book of Eli. Directed by the Hughes Brothers. Summit Entertainment, 2010. All rights reserved.
5.6
INDECISION
Some of the most memorable scenes involve almost no camera movement, but let the staging of the actor dictate the framing. This scene, from Love Actually, shows a moment of agonizing indecision for Andrew Lincoln’s character, and remains one of the most memorable shots, despite there being almost no camera move.
He enters at frame right, and moves toward the camera, which tilts up and centers him. This gives us an effective medium close-up, but then, surprisingly, he heads away from the camera, which tilts down to follow him. He is, however, kept in the center of the frame.
For the next few moments he moves backward and forward, uncertain whether to stay or go, and his indecision is reflected by the framing, which keeps him locked in the center of the frame. This is why it was important to show him entering the scene hard on the right of frame. At that point he was rushing out with certainty, but the moment indecision strikes, the camera traps him in the middle of the frame. It is only when he finally makes a decision that the camera stays exactly where it is, and he walks out of the frame, breaking free from his situation.
When a character is being indecisive, a central framing can help to show his feeling of indecision. By introducing a slight tilt you can give the actor great freedom to move toward and away from the camera, which is important in scenes that rely on body acting as much as facial expressions.
Love Actually. Directed by Richard Curtis. Universal Pictures, 2003. All rights reserved.
5.7
ISOLATING PUSH
There are moments in a film where you want to show intimacy between characters, which excludes a third party. Although the actors’ performances are essential for this to work, you can use two camera moves to enrich the feeling.
In Heavenly Creatures, the opening frame shows the two girls, with the camera placed behind Sarah Peirse. This is like an over-the-shoulder shot, except it is shot from the low angle. The reverse shows all three people, b
ut from here all appears to be well, everybody is smiling, and all three people take up roughly the same amount of frame.
Both cameras then push in. The camera that’s on the mother moves close to her, staying at the same low level, and looking up. The camera that’s pointed at the girls stays slow, and pushes in until they fill the frame.
Having the girls on one level and the mother on another immediately works to create a feeling that the girls are bonding, and that she is separated from them. The final frames isolate the characters from each other, but what’s so beautiful about this shot is that we see the isolation happen during the dolly moves.
As the camera pushes in on the mother, the girls drift out of her frame. As the camera pushes in on the girls, the mother drifts out of their frame. We feel the mother being left alone, and we sense the desperate friendship between the girls.
This combination of moves can be used when everybody’s on the same level, but having people at different levels really increases the effect, so long as it can be justified in terms of story.
Heavenly Creatures. Directed by Peter Jackson. Miramax Films, 1994. All rights reserved.
5.8
GROUP BREAK
When you’ve set up a good group conversation, you can create a substantial impact without any camera moves, by rearranging the position of the actors on-set.
It is challenging to stage a conversation between three people, because you require a lot of setups to get everybody’s face in shot, and you can end up cutting rapidly between all these setups. One good solution is shown in this scene from Never Let Me Go.
Although there are three people, and all are involved in the conversation, the main focus is the conversation between the two women. Look at the opening frame, and imagine that the man isn’t there. It looks almost like a conventional over-the-shoulder shot. The next two shots are conventional over-the-shoulder shots, but because of that opening group shot, it feels more complex than that.
This scene really takes off, and becomes beautifully dramatic, when the characters move to their next positions. At a critical point in the script, everybody moves. Carey Mulligan walks away from camera, passing Keira Knightly, who moves back in to the place where Mulligan was standing. At the same time, Andrew Garfield moves away from them. You can see these moves in the overhead diagram, and although they are simple, the effect on screen is astonishing, because in a moment, everybody is in their own frame.
With a few simple steps, a group that was so tightly knit has been broken apart. Having Mulligan pass Knightly makes this look more naturalistic than if everybody simply backed away from the group.
If you’re shooting a scene where disagreement is increasing, consider starting with a tightly knit group, and then move them out in their own frames. This works well when the conversation continues, but could work even if the characters all continued to walk away from each other.
Never Let Me Go. Directed by Mark Romanek. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 6
PRODUCTION DESIGN AND LOCATION
6.1
ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT SHOTS
Traditional establishment shots, where you show a location from a distance before seeing a scene take place, can become tiresome. Audiences used to expect many establishment shots, to break up scenes, and that remains the case in television, although to a lesser extent. Directors have learned to be more creative, so that even when some sort of establishment shot is required, it is handled with grace and ingenuity.
Although you can show a wide shot of your location, and then cut to the main scene, there are countless opportunities to introduce the scene in a more interesting way, revealing story at the same time.
The shot from The Road begins with a framing that could be said to be a classic establishment shot, but the camera is already in motion. Slowly, it dollies forward and to the right. This is a slow, gentle move that reveals more of the location, but also an important story point: The shopping cart has been left alone. If you can use an establishment shot to reveal story in this way, the audience won’t ever feel they’ve watched an establishment shot.
In The Book of Eli, we start with a shot of the sky. The camera is low, which means that when Denzel Washington walks past the camera it has to tilt down to follow him. In tilting down, the location is revealed. The establishment of the location seems incidental, even though it is the main purpose of this shot.
The Road. Directed by John Hillcoat. FilmNation Entertainment, 2009. All rights reserved.
The Book of Eli. Directed by the Hughes Brothers. Summit Entertainment, 2010. All rights reserved.
6.2
DIRTY FRAME
To make your shots interesting, consider using a “dirty frame.” Let props, people, walls, and other intrusions come into the frame, between the camera and the subject. This adds a visual richness that sets scenes apart from the ordinary.
It’s easier to dirty the frame when using a long lens, as the foreground objects get thrown out of focus more easily. In an ideal situation, the framing also establishes aspects of story or details about the location.
In these frames from Blade Runner, the machine on the table is the most obvious intrusion, but the table itself has also been included in the frame. This means that only the character is in focus. We concentrate on him, but are aware of his surroundings. Also, by seeing the machine on the table, we are less surprised when it’s featured a few seconds later.
The same machine dirties the next frame, appearing right in the center of the frame. When you place an intrusion so centrally, you may find that you need to dirty all the frames in a scene, otherwise it will stand out too much.
Imagine these scenes without the dirty frames. We’d see two people sitting at a desk, and nothing more. Instead, we see the machine that will soon be part of the story, and a lush framing.
The third frame shows a candelabrum used to dirty the frame to the extent that it almost obliterates the subject, William Sanderson. This is an ideal way to show somebody in hiding, or even trapped.
The next two frames, of Ellen Page in Hard Candy, show a more subtle use of the technique. The blurred objects, and the other actor’s hand, appear in both shots, which makes her feel connected to him. This reflects the intense look we see in her eyes, and there can be no doubt that she’s concentrating on the character she’s looking at.
The final frames, also from Hard Candy, show an even subtler dirty frame. As the camera follows the actor to the door, we see parts of the gate and other plants. This reinforces the idea that this house is locked away from the rest of the world, which is an important story point.
Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1982. All rights reserved.
Hard Candy. Directed by David Slade. Lionsgate, 2005. All rights reserved.
6.3
ENRICH THE FOREGROUND
By using background actors to frame your subjects, you can create a sense of a crowded, active room. When you’ve established a crowd, breaking away from it can show a character’s loneliness or longing.
Even with a limited number of background actors, you can create the sense of a crowd, with careful framing. The first shot from The Fighter shows Mark Wahlberg, quite small in the frame. A long lens is used, so that the background actors who dominate the foreground are out of focus. By placing them relatively close to the camera, and having him far away, the room seems crowded, even though there are no more than two or three extra people in the shot.
The technique is repeated for a slightly closer view of Amy Adams. Again, two or three people frame her. Rather than just having them on either side, the director has cleverly given the actors a motivation to raise their arms, so they frame her completely.
Now that the crowd has been established, we cut to a closer shot of Wahlberg, and nobody else is in the frame. This lets us watch his expression and sense his longing. If other people remained in this shot, we wouldn’t feel the emotion as clearly as whe
n he’s placed alone in the frame.
The final cut, back to Adams, is even closer on her, but other people remain in the shot with her. This further stresses that she is out of reach, hidden away by barriers that could be social, personal, or practical.
These are extremely simple setups, in technical terms, but it’s the thought behind them that makes this work. When setting up scenes in crowded rooms, consider what your characters are feeling, and know when it’s right to see them alone. Even if you can’t frame them completely on their own, you can probably frame them so no other faces are visible, which would have a similar effect.
The Fighter. Directed by David O. Russell. Paramount Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
6.4
FAKE WALL
When working in studios, it is common to have “wild walls” that can be wheeled out of the way to enable you to put the camera exactly where you want it to be. When working on location, you don’t have that luxury, so compromises have to be made.
Unfortunately, many directors working on location let the restrictions of the location dictate the shots. If they can’t move the wall out of the way, they don’t bother to shoot from that direction. More creative directors use a little imagination, and simply pretend there’s a wall there when there isn’t.
MasterShots Vol 3 Page 6
