Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Brick Decoupage

Scene 3 Brendon Interrogates Dode

Shot 1 Coffee Shop
Medium Shot
Normal Lens
No movement
Available/outdoor light
Loose framing

Shot 2 Coffee Shop #2
Close up 
Telephoto Lens
No movement
Available outdoor light
Tight framing

Shot 3 Brendan Walking
Close up
Wide Angle Lens
Tracking shot
Outdoor/available light
Loose framing including 3 characters

Shot 4 Dode
Medium Shot
Normal
No Movement
High Key
Loose Framing (Dode and the Dumpsters)

Shot 5 Twisted Straw
Close up
Normal
No Movement
Low key lighting
Tight Framing

Shot 6 Brendan walking
Medium
Normal
Pan
Natural Light/Filtered
Loose framing (two shot)

Shot 7 Brendan
Close up
Normal
No Movement
Low Key natural lighting
Tight Framing

Shot 8 Dode
Medium
Normal
Tracking
Low key natural
Tight Framing

Shot 9 
Close up
Normal
No Movement
Low Key natural lighting
Tight Framing

Shot 10 
Close up 
Normal
No Movement
Low key natural light
Tight framing

Shot 11 Gang
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 12
Close up
Normal
No Movement
Low Key natural lighting
Tight Framing

Shot 13
Close up
Normal
No Movement
Low Key natural lighting
Tight Framing

Shot 14
Extreme Close up
Wide angle lense
Shaky camera
High key natural light
Tight framing

Shot 15 Dode Punched
Medium shot
Normal lens
No movement
Low key natural light
Loose framing

Shot 16
Medium shot
Normal lens
No movement
Low key natural
Loose framing

Shot 17
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 18
Medium
Normal lens
No movement
Low key natural
Loose framing (brendan walkin towards cam)

Shot 19
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 20
Close up
Normal
No movement
High key natural
Tight framing

Shot 21
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 22
Close up
Normal
No movement
High key natural
Tight framing

Shot 23
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 24
Long shot
Normal
No movement
Low key natural
Loose framing

Shot 25 
Medium Shot
Normal
No movement
Low key natural
Tight framing

Shot 26
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 27
Medium Shot
Normal
No movement
Low key natural
Tight framing

Shot 28
Medium shot
Normal
No movement
low key natural lighting
Loose framing

Shot 29
Close up
Normal
No movement
Low key natural
Tight framing

Scene Analysis: Jasmine Jones

Film: Prime
Director: Ben Younger

Prime is a love story about two people in completely different walks of life trying to cope with the age difference between them. Raphael Gardet is 37 while David Bloomberg is 23. The two of them fall into a passionate romance not knowing that Rapahel's therapist is David's mother.

The scene I watched is the first time Dave ever goes to Raphael's apartment which is large and airy and full of exquisite art work, while his house that he lives in with his grandparents is very old fashioned and he only has his bedroom.

First shot:
A Reaction shot. Raphael opens the door and smiles. David is in the left corner of the shot and out of focus while Raphael is completely in focus. Everything around her is in perfect focus while everything behind her is unclear.
Second Shot:
David's reaction. Raphael is now unclear and David is in the right side of the frame. The wall behin him is blank and a deep blue as opposed to Rapaheal's which is bright and slightly cluttered.
Third Shot:
A cut to David and Raphael in the doorway together. Her white outfit seems to be the exact opposite of his deeper blue one as he walks past her. Outside if the apartment is out of focus while the two of them are the only thing we can see clearly.
Fourth Shot:
A long shot. David is giving Raphael her soup and commenting on her art work. They're behind a counter, which gives the impression that we're peeking in on something private. There's also a form of Natural Light coming in from the window against the wall on David's lefthand side. The sun is supposed to be setting so it is low on the wall.
Fifth Shot:
Raphael. She's completely in focus and lit in Low Key Lighting. The background is very out of focus and dark whereas she is the bright light in the apartment. Her face is brightly lit and the apartment look deeper, like her cabinets are very far behind her in this shot. I think that the reason everything that's behind Raphael is always out of focus is because in the film she is trying to move forward with her life after a bad divorce.
Sixth Shot:
Here is a frame within a frame. David is facing a piece of artwork and we can see his reflection in the glass. The frame is on the left hand side of the bigger frame whereas David in the smaller frame is on the right hand corner as he is in the bigger frame also. The darker portion of the painting is the part his face is in which makes me think he doesn't really know what he's doing with his life right now, which is completely in context with his character in the film.
Seventh Shot:
Another Long Shot. The two of them are sitting on different sides of the room, but facing one another. David's body is a little off to the left whereas Raphael's body is head on facing him. He's a little more open, and she's got her legs curled up by her face. The lighting is low key. Her face is almost completely in the dark while her blonde tresses are light up like Christmas. His face on the other hand is lit pretty well whereas his body and his back aren't at all.
Eighth Shot:
Close-up on David. His chest is lit while his face is hidden suggesting he's opening his heart to this girl and isn't really aware of it. (He claims in the next scene that he's never felt this way about a girl before.)
Ninth Shot:
A reverse shot on Raphael, her hair still lit with her face hidden.
Tenth Shot:
David again. Same Lighting.
Eleventh Shot:
Raphael. Same Lighting. Everything once again is out of focus around her but she is in perfect clarity.
Twelfth Shot:
David again.

The colors:

The colors in this scene were very low key suggesting that this was a very calm setting. Raphael is a classy woman with a high class job, but a low key apartment to help her slow down. It's elegantly lit and quiet, lots of beige and a little red here and there to show her spark.

David was dressed in all blue and Raphael was dressed in all cream. I think this is to show the differences between them in age, personality and in their ideas of comfort.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Star Brown: Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut
Director: Stanley Kubrick (1999)

Eyes Wide Shut encapsulates an intoxicating story about a semi-naïve doctor, Bill Hartford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman) and the dwindling trust toward her after she confesses sexual desires for a naval officer she had seen in the past. This heartbreaking news leads him on a path of deception as he encounters a hooker, a sex party and eventually a high class, secret hedonistic society introduced to him by a long lost friend. Knowing what he has seen, Bill and his family are in danger but his obsession obscures the serious warnings. Eyes Wide Shut brilliantly examines the psychological nature of infidelity in the obsessions of lies and deceit.

Setting takes place in New York City around Christmas time. The ambience in most of the scenes portrays the colors red and blue—to heighten the sexual and provocative nature of Bill’s obsession.

Scene: The Mansion out in the remote suburbs of NY

Upon entering the mansion, a medium shot of Bill entering the large foyer and greeted by a well-dressed man in a gold mask who takes his coat. It is low-key lighting from the lights on the walls. The carpet is bright red. Bill walks to enter where the action is taking place to the right as the camera reframes his exit. The continuous cut shows him entering the main room with a medium long shot as Bill, cloaked and masked, walks to the right, having the camera follow his body thus revealing the large circular auditorium where a circle of black clothed peoples stand surrounded by crowds looking on at the ceremonial action taking place. Bill walks to the right of the frame as the red-cloaked man in the background is strolling around in a circular path among the cloaked figures surrounding him. The scene cuts to a medium shot of the red-cloaked man encircled by kneeling cloaked figures as the camera slowly pans around the viewer sees a crowd of cloaked figures with masks in the background witnessing the ritual. The red-cloaked man stomps his staff on the ground and paces around. It then cuts to a medium long shot of Bill’s friend, the pianist blindfolded while playing the keys while the red-cloaked man paces around within the circle in the background of the frame. Then cuts to a CU of Bill’s masked face. Cuts to a long shot of the auditorium as the knelt figures stand up and uncloak after the red-cloaked man stomps his staff on the ground. Then it cuts to a slow swish medium shot around the topless women also wearing masks while the red-cloaked man is positioned at the right of the frame. It then cuts to a medium shot of cloaked and masked onlookers as the camera pans to the left. Then it cuts back to the medium shot of the pianist with the ritual taking place in the background. Then repeating the same slow swish around the kneeling women as they lean to the left and mask kiss their neighbor. Then it cuts to low-angle shot of two cloaked figures on a balcony. As they turn to look down the camera zooms in on their mysterious masks then cuts to a CU of Bill’s face looking up at eye-level angle. Cuts back to the balcony and the CU of the masked figure to the right nods his head toward Bill who nods back in the same CU eye-level shot with low key lighting to enhance the shadows on their painted masks. Cuts to a medium swish pan of the red-cloaked man stomping his staff in front of selected women as they get up and turn to walk out of frame. Medium long shot of one woman approaching a cloaked figure and walk into the background of the frame. Cuts to medium long shot of woman with feathered headdress walking toward the right and toward the foreground next to the rows of cloaked figures filling the right side of the frame. During this shot, the camera moves with her, being pulled back on a dolly until she reaches Bill. CU shot of their masks kissing—slight zoom in and out. Medium long shot of her escorting him off as the camera pans to the right and follows the two into their background—another dolly shot.
This scene seques into a long take of Bill roaming through several rooms by a tracking shot. The cuts crossfade into medium shots of people lounging and watching into medium close ups of Bill watching.

This scene portrays the fluidity of movement that tracking shots have by collapsing time and space into one take. As most people are quite familiar with Kubrick’s famous style of using long and extreme tracking shots meticulously planned to set the tone and mood of his movies—most of them haunting and provocative.

Anisha Payne- The Silence of the Lamb

The Silence of the Lamb ( 1991)
Director: Johnathan Demme

The Silence of the Lamb is a mystery thriller about an FBI Agent Clarice Stalling played Jodie Foster trying to solve a crime with the help of “Hannibal the Cannibal” played by Anthony Hopkins. The crime involves a man that has murdered five females. In Clarice’s attempt to get inside of Hannibal’s mind she eventually gets what she wants, “ an advancement” in the case, stated by Hannibal. Clarice thought she had control but in the end the thought of someone dying affects Clarice.
The scene where Clarice goes to the Hospital for the first time brings you into the mind of Hannibal. Johnathan Demme wants his audience to experience what it means to be in a mental hospital. It starts with the long, tracking shots of Jodie Foster walking into his station. Then it captivates the audience by having doors, the doors symbolizes another entrance one must go through in order to reach Hannibal. When Clarice arrives in the station that enables her an entrance to his cell, Johnathan Demme pans the camera about 360 degrees. Another tracking shot that explores everything
The lighting in this scene starts with natural lights of the Hospital. In the area that gives way to Hannibal’s cell is red. Red symbolizes danger, caution, alert. When Clarice walks down the last path to Hannibal’s cell the there are high key, high contrast on both Hannibal and Clarice’s face.
Another way Johnathan Demme tries to get the audience into Hannibal’s character is with camera shots. He continuously shows close-up shots. Johnathan wants the audience to understand the dialogue or rather action through the characters expressions. Because Hannibal plays close attention to his surroundings, he wants the audience to pay close attention to the film. Johnathan Demme cinematically illuminates all the elements of storytelling.

Justin Afifi - Cool Hand Luke

Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg

Cool Hand Luke is the story of a rebellious man sent to a correctional facility for a misdemeanor charge. While in prison he plays by his own rules and gains a following amongst his fellow inmates.

The opening scene of Cool Hand Luke features Luke at night in a drunken haze cutting off the tops of parking meters off, just for kicks. A drunken Luke plops down and continues to drink some more, until a police officer pulls up and places Luke under arrest. The scene sets up the story of Cool Hand Luke as it introduces the ultimate nonconformist and shows just how something as stupid as cutting parking meters in half can land you in a correctional facility.

Shot 1
A closeup of a parking meter that reads violation.

Shot 2
Closeup on a device cutting into a parking meter.

Shot 3
Another closeup of the parking meter

Shot 4
A hand twisting the device to cut the parking meter.

Shot 5
Yet another closeup of the parking meter violation.

Shot 6
Low angle shot of Luke's feet as he spins around the parking meter.

Shot 7
Closeup of the parking violation again.

Shot 8
Closeup of another meter being cut.

Shot 9
Eye level shot of the meter and Luke cutting it off.

Shot 10
Low angle shot of Luke's feet and the meter top falling to the ground. The camera pans up to an eye level shot of Luke drinking a beer. Luke is lit high contrast, a streetlight supposedly providing the light.

Shot 11
The camera fades to a canted right angle shot of Luke walking in between two rows of parking meters.

Shot 12
Back to an eye level shot of Luke cutting off yet another parking meter.

Shot 13
A medium longshot of Luke in between the rows of meters and falling to the ground.

Shot 14
An eye level shot with Luke leaning against a parking meter, popping a bottle top. He's lit (high contrast) by light acting as a police headlight.

Shot 15
Medium longshot focusing on the brightness of the police headlight as a police officer questions what Luke is doing.

Shot 16
An eye level shot with Luke smiling after the police officer tells him that he's under arrest.

Thelma and Louise- Ferraro

Ridley Scott - 1991

The easiest scene to pick was from "Thelma and Louise" at the end (if you haven't seen it, I suggest you don't read on)

At the part where Thelma tells Louise to "just keep going", the camera switches back and forth to the face of whoever is talking, and is set at eye-to-eye level. Each shot is a tight close-up of the girl's face, which gives us a close impression of what they're feeling: They're seriously deciding to drive off the Grand Canyons. There's alot of emotion in that. The next frame is a wide long shot of the car driving off. Wide long shot was a good choice here because it shows the vast emptiness of the mountains and the emptiness that Thelma and Louise are about to drive into.

The scene of Hal running after them as they drive off is consisted of a medium-long shot as from behind, and a medium shot from the front.

The lighting in this scene appears natural. There are no extra lights set up anywhere as the picture looks saturated and shines on Susan Sarandon's face, while Geena Davis looks darkened out.

When the car nears the edge, there seems to be a camera is front, running ahead as the car reaches us and passes.

Tight framing is used only with the conversation between Thelma and Louise. Everything else is wide and loose, with so much open space. It represents the freedom that these women are chasing for. Wide lenses appear to be at play in this scene.

Bad Boys

Director: Mike Bay

There's a scene in "Bad Boys" where Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are in a car discussing how they're going to solve the case. The scene was done in a car and the camera was put on each side of the driver and passenger side windows. The lighting was natural light from the sun. It looks like the scene was shot during mid-afternoon. There was alot of inter cutting between the two characters to show each character's reaction to the other character's statement. The music used in the scene assisted in providing a comedic tone to the scene. Some of the shots were two shots which had both characters in the shot but most were close ups of the characters talking or reacting.

I Heart Huckabees - Elyse Stefanowicz

I Heart Huckabees (2004)
Director - David O. Russel
Written by - David O. Russel and Jeff Baena

A man goes to a husband and wife existentialist investigation team to help him make sense of a coincidence that has been plaguing him. They interfere in all aspects of life and see the world that is crashing down on him. He is losing his coalition to his arch enemy who wants to dispose of it anyway. He makes friends with a man who is trying to make sense of the world as well and they both decide to ditch the detectives and believe in another competitor's belief in life. It turns out that the competitor and the detectives are actually working together and the coincidence that he wanted investigated was merely a coincidence--and that is all.

Scene 1
Shot 1 - Tracking shot of Jason Schwartzman - The shot begins with a long shot to a medium close up. It is a tracking shot with a pan at the end. The lens is a telephoto lens and the framing is loose. The character moves through the axis and the lighting is a natural high key.

Shot 2 - Shot of crowd clapping - Medium long shot with no movement. The lens is a normal lense and there is tight framing. The lighting is natural high key. There are some extras in the background a different distance from the focus characters which shows different lengths from the camera.

Shot 3 - Jason Schwartzman talking - Shot reverse shot - Medium close up with a telephoto lens. There is no movement and the framing is loose. The lighting is yet again, natural high key and there is no movement through the axis.

Shot 4 - Protest dude - Shot reverse shot - Close-up with a telephoto lens. No movement and the framing is tight. Lighting is the same. There are people in the background which gives the idea that they are different distances from the camera, but the lens is telephoto so the distance isn't really know.

Shot 5 - exactly the same as shot 3

Shot 6 - exactly the same as shot 4

Shot 7 - Jason Schwartzman saying "Exactly, What Aftrican guy?" - The distance of the shot is a medium close up and the lens is telephoto. The camera is stationary and the framing is loose. The lighting is exactly the same. The distance from the camera changes at the end when Schwartzman moves from where he is standing diagonally off the screen.

Scene Analysis - The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight
Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Scene Description: The Joker "brings Harvey down to [his and Batman's] level" by introducing him to a little anarchy while Harvey recovers in the hospital room from an explosion that destroyed the left side of his face. (About 23 shots)

Camera Angle: In the beginning of the scene, the camera is below eye-level signifying the Joker's manipulation of Harvey and the fact that he intimidates him. It helps that the Joker not only pins Harvey's wrists down, but also that Harvey is helpless in the hospital bed as he looks up at the crazed clown. From the two-shot aspect, they appear to be stacked -- Harvey on the lower diagonal gazing upwards at the Joker. This shifts with Harvey's shift from insecurity to confidence as the Joker manipulates him and by the end of the scene, Harvey and the Joker are level with each other and the camera reflects this by showing them from the same height.

Camera Distance: We begin with a medium long shot of the Joker from the waist up as he pins Harvey's wrists down. From there, most of the shots in this scene are medium shots from the chest up and close-ups of their faces. We get two more two-shots, one of the Joker leaning in towards Harvey as his lies and manipulation intensify and one of the Joker pulling a gun from the pocket of his nurse's uniform. The close-ups also allow for the camera to exploit Harvey's emotions -- the closer we get, the more the Joker's words start making sense to Harvey until finally, he and his double sided coin are right up in our faces as he takes the bait and leaves Joker's destiny in the hands of fate.

Camera Movement: The camera remains stationary save for a few adjustments on the faces in the close-ups as the actors move around. We get a little tilt when the Joker goes out of the frame to retrieve his gun. We also get a tilt when Harvey tosses his coin up in the air to decide the Joker's fate.

Lighting: Motivated; The source appears to be coming through the window as though it were the fading orange sunlight. We get a bleached glow on the Joker's face and deep orange with yellow highlights on Harvey. A severe shadow cuts a diagonal right across Harvey's face in the two-shots which symbolizes not only the actual division of his face by the burns but also the conflicting emotions running through him as he mulls over the Joker's words. We see hard shadows and bleached light even though this scene takes place in a relatively plain hospital room -- the lighting helps amplify the situation thereby voiding the neutral hospital setting.

Color: The colors pop -- the red upon Joker's Glasgow smile, the pink trim of his uniform, Harvey's golden hair and bright blue eyes, the green in Joker's blonde hair -- we get all this even in the bleached lighting.

Lens: Normal. Nothing is distorted, stretched, or smushed.

Mise-en-Scene/Depth of Field: The encounter is shown with Harvey's pillow out of focus and the background hospital equipment out of focus in certain shots. We care about Harvey and the Joker, who are in the middle layer.

Framing: We are framed by the pillow on the left-hand side, but other than that, the camera serves as the main frame.

Film Scene Analysis

The Squid and The Whale (2005)

Writer/Director : Noah Baumbach

The film surrounds a dysfunctional family in 1986 Brooklyn. The parents, both writers, are going through a divorce while the children take sides and suffer abnormal social effects. The scene I chose to analyze is short and simple. It involves the mother Joan, played by Laura Linney, and the youngest son Frank, played by Owen Kline, son of Kevin Kline and Pheobe Cates, in the bathroom of their home looking into a mirror discussing their physical similarities.

1st shot: Both characters are balanced in the shot, one on each side. Frank is moving in the two axes. The lighting is high key. The framing is somewhat tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is medium. The lens type is normal.

2nd shot: Frank is in the foreground and Joan is in the background. The lighting is high key. The framing is tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is close. The lens type is normal.

3rd shot: Both characters are balanced in the shot, one on each side. The lighting is high key. The framing is somewhat tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is medium. The lens type is normal.

4th shot: Frank is in the foreground and Joan is in the background. The lighting is high key. The framing is tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is close. The lens type is normal.

Theresa Corvino - Iron Man

Iron Man
2008
Director: Jon Favreau

Synopsis:
Rich and cocky playboy, Tony Stark, is forced to build a suit of armor after he is captured by terrorists. Returning to his previous life, he fully develops the suit into Iron Man to fight evil.

First Shot:
LS of Tony Stark entering his living room taken with a wide lens. The shot is static. There is low-key lighting (high contrast) to display nighttime and a shift to a darker place in the film. The framing is very loose with Tony set to the far left with not much else in the room. Depth in the shot is created by having Tony walk towards the couch in the background, further into the frame.

Second Shot:
MS shot of Tony Stark answering his phone. Tony is slightly more defined in a frame by the lines of the window though no true frame is created.

Third Shot:
CU of cell phone. It is high key (low contrast) lighting that is rather neutral. The frame is tight, not even displaying the entire cell phone.

Fourth Shot:
CU on Tony Stark looking at his phone. There is low-key lighting on his face and much of the background of the shot is blurred. He is set at the edge of the frame to not reveal a key plot point.

Fifth Shot:
MS of Tony Stark on the couch with the villain. The shot tracks out and upwards to reveal the villain into the frame.

Sixth Shot:
CU of Tony Stark, straight on his face, looking at the villain. The lighting is still low-key but has shifted to more normal to normal as the shots are now more intimate.

Seventh Shot:
The shot flips to a CU upward angle of the villain, Obadiah.

Eight Shot:
Cuts back to the CU of Tony on the couch.

Ninth Shot:
The shot is a canted angle MS of Tony and Obadiah with strong angles creating depth and dimension.

Tenth Shot:
Cuts back to CU of Tony.

Eleventh Shot:
Cuts to CU of Obadiah.

Twelfth Shot:
Cuts to MCS from the side canted angle, though a little closer than before.

Thirteenth Shot:
Cuts to CU of Obadiah with very low-key lighting and a strong directional lighting coming from the device off screen.

Fourteenth Shot:
Cuts back to CU of Tony Stark.

Fifteenth Shot:
Cuts back to MCS of Tony and Obadiah side canted angle, a little closer still. As Obadiah sits on the couch beside Tony, the shot tilts and tracks in towards the actors as it squares off to a normal, flat angle. The shot ends with very tight framing on the two actors.

Sixteenth Shot:
CU of Obadiah and Tony straight on.

Seventeenth Shot:
Cuts back to side MCU of them on the couch.

Eighteenth Shot:
The shot zooms in from a CU to a ECU on Tony’s Face to show emotional trauma.

Nineteenth Shot:
WS of Tony and Obadiah and the living room as Obadiah leaves. The shot mimics the opening shot of the scene, but pans over as Obadiah walks towards the camera (creating depth to the frame) as he walks out of it.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Brian Herron

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

Director - Sergio Leone

Scene - The Contest

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a Spaghetti Western film about three men who are hunting for a a box of gold. The film takes place in the American South West during the time of the Civil War. The three main characters of the film are represented as "the good" (Clint Eastwood), "the bad" (Lee Van Cleef), and "the ugly" (Eli Wallach). In the scene "the contest," which takes place in a cemetery, the three men face each other for a dual to see who will get the burried gold. This scene does not contain much dialog so it relies heavily on the cinematography to tell the viewer whats going on.

Camera Angle - For most of the shots the camera is angled eye level except when on Clint Eastwood the camera is low-angle to make him more majestic than the other two characters. When Lee Van Cleef is shot, Leone uses a high-angle shot on him when he is on the ground to emphasize his defeat in the battle.

Camera Distance - Leone uses mostly close ups shots to emphasize the facial expressions of the characters who are about to do battle. He mostly cuts to close up shots of each character to build tension between the three of them. Leone has one high-angle extreme long shot to define the position of each character within the setting. There are also extreme closeups of each characters guns and their hand to show that the battle is one step away from actually happening.

Camera Movement - Leone decides to keep the camera still throughout this scene and relies on editing to create movement.

Lighting - The scene is filmed outside and uses natural lighting from the sun. However, Leone decides to film this scene in the middle of the afternoon when light is the strongest to emphasize that they are in the middle of a hot dessert climate, which explains why the characters look sweaty.

Lens and Depth of Field - Leone uses what appears to be a telephoto lens on the close up shots to blur out the background and put more attention on the facial expressions of the three characters. For the one extreme close up shot that Leone uses in this scene, it is apparent he uses a wide-angle lens because the depth of field is so strong and the viewer can see the detail of the cemetery they are in.

Brian Herron

The Godfather (1972)


The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenwriter: Mario Puza and Francis Ford Coppola

The scene of Michael Corleone talking to Carlo Rizzi, the husband to his sister, Connie Corleone. Carlo was abusive to Connie and received a beating from the now deceased Sonny Corleone, Connie’s brother. For revenge, Carlo had Sonny murdered and Michael finds out telling Carlo he’s been expelled from the Corleone business. Carlo looks at Michael in fear knowing his death is coming very soon.

- In the composition, the light is darker in the bottom of the shot and to the left of Michael, the daylight rests on one side of his body. The top of the shot is lighter and you’re able to see all the character’s faces within the frame.
- The depth of the shot is dark, where all of the characters are also wearing dark colors. In the background, the furniture is dark and the background of the shot shows a wall with an amber color. The dining room has a shade of light brown. One of the character’s standing in the background doesn’t blend in because of his dark suit. The character’s body covers the light through the window. In the foreground, there are three characters all in dark colors. As the scene goes on, you can see all of them within the frame.

- The movement in the scene is steady while Michael talks to Carlo. Michael intimidates Carlo by peering over him. Carlo’s shoulders are hunched over as if he’s embarrassed by what he’s done. Carlo is nearly in tears and Michael never takes his eyes off of Carlo. The other men in the scene stand there as if they were soldiers.

- The shot is low key, high contrast because everything surrounding the characters are seemingly dark, even though technically some of the colors are bright like light brown and amber. The high contrast primarily focuses on Michael’s face.

- The light comes from the window’s natural light, which explains why the background looks somewhat dark.

- The shot distance goes from close-ups of Michael and Carlo engaging in a conversation. When the scene comes to a close, the scene turns into a wide shot of Michael standing up and placing a chair behind the table. One of the men help Carlo put his coat on and walks out of the house.

- The scene was used with wide lenses because of the vastness of the shot. The director wanted to make sure the audience could see all of the characters and scenery.

- The camera stays in one angle through the entire scene. The framing stayed tight through the whole scene moving only once to see Michael grabbing a chair and taking a seat.

Fellini-Satyricon

Dir. Fellini
1969

This film is a take on Petronius's Satyricon during the reign of Nero in Rome. Fellini's original intent was to create a, "profound sense of estrangement throughout the film", and that certainly came through.
The very first scene depicts a man named, Encolpio talking to himself about how his friend, Ascilto, stole his lover, a boy named Gitone. The Camera opens on a wall, but backs away revealing what looks like graffiti. A silhouette of Encolpio is seen, and then the dialogue begins. The Camera angles cut back and forth between medium shot and close up on Encolpios face. The Camera backs away pretty far once he sits on the ground for a moment with his back to the lens. This particular shot is framed so that Encolpio is sitting with his back to us, on the left side of the screen.
Most of the film is shot in a studio, you can see by the closed space and the lighting Fellini uses. He doesn't stress the lighting, the viewers attention is strained enough by the bewilderness of the plot. Fellini also chose not to match up the dubbing exactly in order to help with the off-beatness of the film. The backgrounds of the scenes are decorated with a high sense of what Rome must have felt like. It depicts a time without sanitation and little humanity. A sweet scent of decay looms every set.
Once we leave Encolpio, Ascilto is shown coming out of a dark space with fog looming over the ground. He monologue takes place while he crawls on the floor. The two meet in what follows in a serious of long shots depicting their fight. The fight is obviously well rehearsed, very acrobatic. There seems to be a sexual undertone with every movement of these characters.

JOSH COHEN

Stroszek: The Fourth Post by Davis Rivera

“Stroszek”
Written and Directed by Werner Herzog
Released in 1977

Synopsis: In Berlin, an alcoholic man, recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin.

Scene: The main character, Bruno, a Berlin street singer, has just had his home towed away.

Shot distance:
Camera angle: High-angle shot. The camera is positioned above Bruno and aimed downward, minimizing Bruno in a humiliating way. He is never depicted as in control of things in the film and never is it more evident than in this scene. This is also an aerial shot probably filmed from the top of a building. Herzog’s decision to not reveal Bruno’s face as his home is being taken away from him creates a sense of foreboding, emphasizing the isolation of the Wisconsin landscape where he is trapped.

Camera distance: Long shot. The camera captures the figure of protagonist Bruno from behind in his entirety. It could also be considered an extremely long shot as Bruno does appear very small in relation to the surrounding environment (a rural field in Wisconsin). This only occurs once his home is driven out of the shot by the repo man encouraging the viewer to step back from the character, though instead of distancing the viewer, we’re made aware of the distance this has created between Bruno and his dream, creating an even closer bond with the German.

Lens shot: Normal lens. In this shot, Herzog has chosen to approximate the vision and perspective of the human eye to great effect. No spatial distortions are apparent and the range of acceptable sharpness before and behind Bruno remains apparent and clear throughout the entire scene. Had he chosen to use a wide-angle lens, the viewer may have interpreted this as a foreshadowing of rapid progress coming Bruno’s way and it wouldn’t have had such a heartbreaking effect. A telephoto lens may have been effective in creating a shallow depth isolating Bruno even more from the background had Herzog had the money to afford one, but given his limitations, the scene works brilliantly.

Camera Movement: Crane shot. Though he almost certainly didn’t have access to a crane, the implication that this is supposed to be a crane shot is made apparent by what we see as sweeping, three dimensional movements. Only a crane shot could create such an unforgettable sight; Bruno left alone to stare at the forbidding winter Wisconsin landscape.

Color: Desaturated. The gray, pale and washed out colors of the shot suggest the alienation and confusion of Bruno at what is happening around him. Even from behind, his posture reveals that he is the type of man who has long been expecting the worst to happen.

Lighting: Natural-key. Because this scene occurs right after the auctioning off of Bruno’s home, high-key lighting would have been inappropriate due to the extraordinary amount of misfortune Bruno has had to deal with and low-key lighting would have diminished what the viewer sees in the shot, Bruno excluded, so important to establishing an atmosphere of emotional and psychological discomfort.

Framing: Extremely loose framing. There is a great deal of open space around Bruno suggesting his intense isolation after having been left by his girlfriend, Eva, after she has had enough of his drunken ramblings and after losing his most important possession, his home.

Foreground/Background relationship: Herzog does not attempt to put any emphasis on anything other than Bruno in this scene, whom is neither in the foreground nor the background but rather in the middle. If one had to choose, it would be more correct to say he is in the foreground and the imposing Fleetwood trailer home, briefly, is in the background. Once the trailer leaves, we do see a solitary black dog roaming around some unrecognizable rubbish in the background. Though this is probably merely a coincidence, for a director as hands-on as Herzog, the viewer can only be appreciative for this moment as cutting away from this scene any earlier would have diminished the visceral impact of this remarkable scene and hampered the film’s power.

Jose Saca - The Battle of Algiers (Fourth Post)

The Battle of Algiers is a black-and-white historical drama released in 1966 and directed by Gillo Ponticorvo. The film chronicles the period from 1957-1962 when Algiers was in the midst of a war for independence against its French occupants.

The following post will look at formal elements in the film’s opening scene in a shot-by-shot analysis. Camera distance, lens types, camera movement, lighting (high vs. low key), framing (tight vs. loose) and foreground/background relationships will be covered for each shot.

OPENING SCENE

Algiers 1957. A handful of French soldiers surround a shivering thin man in a room used for torturing. The man has cracked under pressure and “finally come clean.”

Shot One

A wide-shot, the subject (thin man) is seen at the center of the frame as soldiers surround him in a half-circle. A wide-angle lens is used to create a sense of distance from the action, furthering the intimidating power of the half-circle. The camera is still throughout. This gives the film a documentary look and feel. Natural-key lighting is used to emphasize the documentary feel given off by the static camera, and perfectly balances the differing contrasts caused by high- and low-key lighting. Through small flourishes in the lighting, the thin man is brightest lit, while the French soldiers, though not smeared in darkness, hover over their victim with faint shadowing emphasized by the decision to keep them under lit. Tight framing emphasizes the cramped room and the smallness the thin man feels against the towering, intimidating soldiers. Rusty metal tools, a metal bed, a dirty faucet, and cracked walls are present in the background. The items and the soldiers forming the half-circle appear slightly out of focus to convey the staggered feeling of the subject after being tortured. A large washing bucket is emphasized in the foreground as a visual indication of the means by which the thin man was tortured (one would assume water torture, since he is shivering and only wears a towel around his waist).

Shot Two

A medium-shot, the subject is now fully surrounded by a cluster of soldiers as he is offered a cup of coffee. A telephoto lens creates a tighter relationship between the soldiers and the subject to emphasize the supposed offering of peace symbolized by the coffee. A still camera and natural-key lighting still emphasize the documentary feel. In the last seconds of this shot, the camera tilts upwards in unison with the French soldiers as they lift the thin man and have him standing up. Tight framing captures the subject in the center of a cluster of soldiers and heightens the intimidation and hopelessness he must’ve felt prior to the scene taking place. The tightness captured in the frame also helps victimize the subject, succeeding in earning the audience’s sympathy along the way. Two standing soldiers are in focus from the waist-down in the background, heightening the intimidation and looming force the soldiers have against the subject. In the foreground, however, are the out of focus shoulders of two soldiers. The subject is seen between these two shoulders, creating a sturdy exterior to the half-circle.

Shot Three

A long-shot emphasizes the puniness of the thin man against the French soldiers, who are in a tighter cluster that captures a claustrophobic vibe. A wide-angle lens captures a wider-angle of vision that is greatly altered because of the cramped positioning of the soldiers. The camera is still but the lighting is low-key as the thin man is brightly lit and the cluster of soldiers are dimly lit or heavily shadowed if near the thin man. Tight framing augments the diminutiveness of the thin man. The soldiers in the background appear in focus, while the soldiers in the foreground appear slightly out of focus. This complicates the established identity the audience had prior to the third shot. It adds complexity and texture to the soldiers, nearly humanizing them. There is a slight movement within the z axis as a soldier keeps gesturing for the thin man to take the cup of coffee.

Shot Four

A medium-shot captures the sudden entrance of the French captain. A telephoto lens keeps the captain and the thin man in focus, while all the other soldiers are slightly out of focus. The attention is deliberately placed on the thin man and the captain. The camera pans to the right and captures the captain’s sudden entrance and his approaching the thin man in a single move. High-key lighting brightly lights the thin man’s entire body and most of the captain’s face (his body is shadowed). The soldiers in the background are also lit brightly, carrying on with the theme of humanity presented in the shot four. Loose framing makes the relationship between the captain and thin man oddly casual, as if both men were allies. This framing emphasizes the satisfaction on behalf of the French for the thin man’s choice to “finally come clean” with what he knows. The background shows three of the clustered soldiers and has them in focus. The bright lighting emphasizes their youth. In the foreground are two apparently older soldiers who were also part of the cluster, but they are out of focus and dimly lit. One would assume their veteran positions with the French army have given them an unintentional loss of innocence. A slight movement in the z axis is caused by a young soldier who is ordered to take his hands off the thin man.

Shot Five

A medium close-up on the thin man gets his reaction to the French captain ordering him to dress as a French soldier in an operation to capture Ali La Pointe, an Algerian revolutionary. A telephoto lens keeps the thin man as the object of focus. The camera is still. High-key lighting keeps a bright glow on the thin man. Tight framing keeps the thin man’s reaction as the sole emphasis of this shot. The background slightly displays out of focus soldiers. The foreground is mainly the thin man’s chest, which looks disproportionately bigger than usual. This foreshadows a future event in this scene.

Shot Six

This shot is identical to shot four in camera distance and lens choice. The lighting is low-key, with a small glow on the thin man and shadows on the French soldiers. Tight framing emphasizes the claustrophobia caused by the shadows on the French soldiers. The camera is still though faintly shakes (an emphasis on the hand-held nature of the documentary feel it embraces). The background has French soldiers but they’re barely visible not due to focus issues but because of the foreground’s emphasis on the thin man and the captain. The thin man and the captain are in focus.

Shot Seven

Close-up on the thin man as he’s dressed in soldier fatigues. He turns towards the camera without looking directly at it. A mournful expression is on his face. He shakes his head and screams “NOOOO!!!!” to illustrate the change of heart he’s had for betraying the Algerian cause. A telephoto lens is used to keep the thin man, positioned to the right of the frame, as the main subject of the shot. The camera is still and captures the thin man’s transformation by analyzing the actor’s expression. Low-key lighting casts a brighter light on the thin man and a greater shadow on the soldiers, particularly the captain. Tight framing captures only the thin man as he’s surrounded by the soldiers and is stared down by the captain. The framing is so tight on the bodies the room is barely visible. The background shows soldiers out of focus and heavily shadowed. The foreground presents greater emphasis on the thin man’s face and his reaction as he goes through a sudden change of heart.

Shot Eight

A medium shot captures the subject heading for the window in an attempted suicide. This is prevented by a French soldier who pulls him down, slaps him, and escorts him out of the room. Wide-angle lens usage illustrates the intimidation and power the French soldiers have against the thin man by keeping the soldiers in focus with the thin man, while the world around them is blurred, as if made to seem unimportant. A hand-held pan to the left of the screen assists in emphasizing the French soldier’s escorting of the thin man. It creates a hectic immediacy for the following scene and prepares the viewer for the opening credit sequence (which is frickin’ awesome). Natural-key lighting usage creates a balanced humanity to the soldier’s reasonable escorting of the thin man. The soldier is somewhat humanized after slapping the thin man, in part because he nicely tries to reason with him by using kind words. Natural key lighting establishes a balance in power between the soldiers and the thin man, and indicates that he’s now one of them. Tight framing emphasizes the constricted space created by the soldiers as they wait for the thin man to be escorting out of the room. Nothing in the background is out of focus. The soldiers are in focus and serious. This helps heighten the seriousness of their mission and inadvertently risen the stakes as to what is at play throughout the film. The foreground presents the soldier and the thin man in sharp focus and larger than what they appear on screen. The attention is on them, and the sharpness of the focus assisted by the foreground helps make this point clear.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Fourth Post - McGuirk

Garden State (2004)

Directed By: Zach Braff

Scene: "Spin the Bottle"

Shot Distance: In this scene, most of the shots are medium close-ups, with the actors being shown from the chest up. At points towards the end of the scene, medium long shots and medium shots are used slightly.

Lens: Normal lens is used throughout the scene until the end as it becomes fast-motion. At this point, a telephoto lens is used to single-in on Zach Braff, making him clear and the other people around him out of focus.

Movement of Camera: The camera is still for the entire scene.

Lighting: The main source of light appears to be coming from little lamps around the house. The lighting is mostly high key with little to no shadows.

Movement in Foreground/Background: Most of the movement of actors takes place in the foreground. We are focused in on the game and the people playing it.

Camera Speed: The start of this scene is at normal pace. It then becomes slow-motion as the other actors start the game. It goes back to normal when Zach Braff's character is told the bottle stopped on him and the girl kisses him. Then the pace goes into fast-motion as his character is more affected by the drug he took earlier.

Framing: The main frame is the camera. I didn't see any signs of other framing in this scene.

Little Miss Sunshine, Colorblind Scene- Isaac Richter

I'm not sure I'm doing this right, but here it goes. The scene I pickes is from Little Miss Sunshine, a film about a family riding on a yellow VW bus to California so their daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) can compete in a children's beauty pageant. Her older brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) took a vow of silence until he became a test-pilot for the Air Force, but in this scene, after Olive gives hin a colorblind test, his Uncle Frank (Steve Carrell) informs him he's colorblind and can't fly. Dwayne starts to freak out and Frank tells parents Richard (Greg Kinnear) and Sheryl (Toni Collette) to pull over. They pull over, and this scene starts.
Note, the camera barely moves through most of this scene, except for some indicating reframing and panning, but otherwise, the camera stays still on the action on these 22 shots. Also, many shots are similar, as noted in this list of shots. I picked this scene because it has characters in the background in several shots, and it starts with action in the background.

1. The VW van pulls over in the background, and Dwayne jumps out of the van and runs to the foreground, where he kneels down and yells “Fuck!!!!!!”. The rest of the family get out of the van and stay in the background, where Frank tells Sheryl and Richard that Dwayne is colorblind. The camera reframes as Dwayne runs out of the van and kneels to the ground and where the camera stays steady on his face. The framing is loose, and the lighting is high key with the key light on Dwayne’s left side (right side from the audience’s point of view). The foreground and background are separated by a hill made in the grass path.
2. In the second shot, the van is on the foreground on the right side of the frame, with Richard, Sheryl, Frank and Olive on its left, looking at Dwayne, who is still on the grasspath on the left side of the frame, with mountains in the background. It’s an extreme long shot of the van, with everyone else kept in the background. There’s a curve and a sidewalk making a z-axis on the shot. Loose framing high key lighting, though it’s shot during daylight since the sky is clearly visible.
3. This shot is very similar to shot #1. Sheryl walks from the background to the foreground down the hill and tells Dwayne she’s sorry. Dwayne says he’s not getting on the bus again. Long shot of both Dwayne and Sheryl, with Frank, Richard and Olive in the background next to the van. High-key lighting loose framing. The camera doesn’t move.
4. The camera reframes as Dwayne stands up and approaches his mom, saying “you’re not my family”. It’s a medium shot of Sheryl’s back and hair, and a long shot of Dwayne as he scolds her. There are bushes in the background, and the distance between Sheryl and Dwayne creates the z-axis on the frame. It’s a tight frame, with low contrast lighting.
5. Same setup as 1 and 3. Dwayne has his back to the camera and Sheryl is facing it, both in the foreground, Frank, Richard and Olive face the camera and the background and watch them. Key light is on the right side of the frame, casting a shadow on both actors on the left. Loose framing, the camera doesn’t move.
6. Same as shot #4, Dwayne points at Richard and Frank, unseen in this frame.
7. Long shot of the right side of the van on the left side of the frame, and Richard, Frank and Olive on the left side, facing the camera. Shadows are cast on their left (from our point of view), but it’s low contrast. Z-axis created by the front of the van, created another dimension in the frame. Tight framing, only the sky is in the background.
8. Long shot of Dwayne and Sheryl, facing each other. Dwayne is all the way to the left of the frame, while Sheryl is all the way to the right, and there’s a lot of space between them in the middle, suggesting a loose framing. A shadow of Dwayne on the ground creates the z-axis, and there are houses and trees in the background. A shadow is cast on Dwayne’s face and on Sheryl’s back, low contrast, so the key light is on the left side of the frame. The camera doesn’t move.
9. Extreme long shot, similar to shot #2. Dwayne turns away from Sheryl and kneels back down.
10. Similar to shot #3, same framing, same lighting, same position of the characters.
11. Long shot of Dwayne sitting on the grass, with his back to the camera as Sheryl turns toward the camera and disappears. A shadow is cast behind him, low-key lighting with some natural light from above. Tight framing, taller weeds in the background, creating another frame.
12. Similar to shot #1, Sheryl walks to the background to join the rest of her family saying she doesn’t know what to do. A shadow is cast behind Dwayne and toward most of his face, suggesting a low-key light, but natural daylight is cast from above. Loose framing, the van is still in the background, the camera doesn’t move.
13. Tracking shot follows Sheryl as she joins her family, and it becomes a medium shot of her with the rest of her family from the side, each in a different frame, and the van on another frame, and houses further in the background. Two shadows are cast on the van, but none on the characters. High-key lighting. Tight framing.
14. Similar to shot #7, except Sheryl is now in the shot, all in the same frame. High-key lighting, tight framing, and the only background is the sky, but you can still see the front of the yellow van creating another frame.
15. Starts like shot #13, and then it becomes a tracking shot of Olive as she leaves her frame and walks down the hill. High-key lighting and loose framing. The road is in the background acting as a z-axis.
16. Similar to shot #11, Dwayne is sitting down with his back to the camera, staring at the weed. Same shadow behind him, and the framing is tight.
17. Similar to the first shot in its composition, Olive walks into the foreground, and it reframes as Olive as sits down next to Dwayne and puts her arm around him, and then reframes again as they both stand up and remains steady to watch them walk toward the background. High contrast lighting on their faces but the background is lit by the daylight. Loose framing.
18. The camera pans from left to right as it follows Olive trying to climb up the hill back to the road and then Dwayne carries her up the hill. The elevation of the hill acts as a z-axis. Shadows are cast on both their faces, suggesting there’s a low-key light on the left of the frame. Tight framing. As the camera pans, we get the road back in the background and the van at the right side of the frame.
19. Olive runs to her mother, while Dwayne stays in his own frame in the front, with his back to the camera, Sheryl, Olive and Frank are a frame behind him facing him and the camera, casting shadows on the yellow van next to them, and Richard is a frame behind them, facing the sky. Low-key lighting, tight framing, and the sky in the background. The distance between Dwayne and Richard is diagonal. The camera doesn’t move.
20. Medium shot of Dwayne with the grasspath right behind him as a background. Dwayne is toward the right of the frame, with a loose framing and a shadow on his face, suggesting a low-key light. A tire-track on the path behind him acts as a z-axis for the frame.
21. Same composition as shot #19.
22. The camera pans on a medium shot of Dwayne as he walks up to his mother’s arms. Houses and grass in the background. High-key lighting on the van with low contrast, tight framing and the grass creating the z-axis.