In the example shown here, Winona Ryder only backs off a short distance, but the camera moves toward her faster than she's getting away. This makes it feel as though we are attacking her. It helps that the shoulder or hair of the second character occasionally brushes into the left-hand side of the frame. This is not an over-the-shoulder shot as such, but those glimpses of the other character help add to the sensation generated by the camera.
It helps if you frame the character hard to one side of the frame, as this constantly makes us feel that the attacking character is actually going to lunge into the empty frame.
Although you may be tempted to lunge the camera in jerking movements, you can create a more impressive look if the camera moves in steadily, even though the actor moves back in uncertain, jerking motions. As always, on-set experimentation at the last minute will help you decide.
Girl, Interrupted. Directed by James Mangold. Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, 2000. All Rights Reserved.
11.3
DEFENSIVE CAMERA
Sometimes the smallest of camera moves have the greatest effect. If you want to show that a character is getting the upper hand in an argument (in terms of emotional intensity) you can move the camera backward a little. It sounds absurdly simple, but there are a few more steps to make this work well.
You should set up your camera in front of the second character, and then back off slowly into a slight over-the-shoulder shot. The move should not be too sudden, but a gentle move away from the main character.
If the main character moves toward the camera at the same time, some of the power of this effect is lost. A good solution, as demonstrated by Spielberg in this example, is to have the main character moves backward and forward as she argues. This is realistic: people in arguments do move forward, back off, and then move forward again.
By blocking the actor in this way, and moving the camera back, you create the effect of a defensive feeling in the second character, rather than making the first character feel aggressive. Her movements are dictated by her emotions, and the camera's movement reflects the defensiveness of the second character.
Artificial Intelligence: AI. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Warner Home Video, 2001. All Rights Reserved.
11.4
LUNGING AT CAMERA
One of the best ways to show powerful aggression in an argument is to keep the camera exactly where it is, and have the actor move toward it suddenly. As can be seen in this example, the actor should be tightly framed to begin with, so that any forward movement feels like an intrusion.
When you want to exaggerate movement, you often use a short lens; this would have the effect of making a short forward movement seem larger. In this example, however, that doesn't quite work, as it creates too comical an effect. Instead, use a long lens, and frame the face tightly. When the actor moves forward, the framing will not change too abruptly because of the lens choice.
For the lunge forward to show up at all, however, your actor will have to move forward at least a foot. It may feel unrealistic to the actor, so you will need to reassure them how this is going to look on camera. Some actors find this kind of exaggerated lunge actually helps with their acting, because they are being given permission to go to the extreme for just a moment.
You can make the camera flinch, slightly, at the moment of the lunge, or cut to the second character, and show his reaction.
State and Main. Directed by David Mamet. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2000. All Rights Reserved.
11.5
MOTION IN ANGER
Two common techniques used to emphasize drama can be combined to make a moment of high impact in an extreme argument. The whip pan and the push in, when combined, create an unusual but potent effect. In the example here, the camera pushes forward, but as the gun swings to the right, the camera whips to follow it, reframing the character on the left. The two moves create a real sense of panic.
This works best when your actor is carrying a gun, waving his fists, or has something else to move across the screen. He should be pointing, or moving something, from one side of the screen to the other, so that as you push in, you have a motivation to whip to the other side.
The most important thing to get right is the timing. You don't want to be following the actor's movement, but you should be moving at the exact same speed. This will require rehearsal, and a good operator who should be worrying about nothing else other than the whip pan. Let everybody else handle the focus, dolly move, and other aspects of the shot.
Romeo + Juliet. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1996. All Rights Reserved.
11.6
BODY CONFLICT
Arguments and conflicts are often at their most interesting when the intensity and aggression dies away, and the final stages of weary diplomacy take over. This is particularly true when the argument is between a couple. Are they trying to make up, or are they continuing to argue?
In this set-up, most of the acting is done with the actors' bodies, so rather than using a complex move, set up the camera so that you can see their bodies, and the way they relate to each other. Have them both facing the camera, lying down. This has the effect of one character ignoring or shunning the other, while the other is trying to get attention and be heard.
Resist the temptation to move the camera at all. Keep it on their level, and don't pan to account for their movement. You will need to instruct the actors to stay in roughly the same place to assist with this. Their movements should be subtle, with the sense of resistance leading to a great stillness. This will help the audience to focus on the emotion and meaning of their words.
Romance. Directed by Catherine Breillat. Madman Films, 1999. All Rights Reserved.
11.7
BACK OVER SHOULDER
Arguments work well when your characters are on the move. Rather than having both move along together, it can help if one is fleeing the argument — not out of fear, but because she believes she has won and there's nothing more to say. Of course, in this scenario they do keep talking, even though she's acting as though the argument is over.
In this example from Stealing Beauty, the two characters rush along, and the camera tracks with them. Their distance from each other does not change, and the camera does not get any closer. This means the focus is on them and their relationship. To enable them to have a conversation, however, the leading actor has to look back over her shoulder. It is essential that she does this by turning in the direction of the camera and crew, so that the audience gets to see her face.
If she doesn't turn around, but speaks as she heads away, this can still be realistic, but indicates a more profound argument. When the character looks back over her shoulder, she's still in the argument, even though she's pretending to leave it.
You'll want to use quite a long lens, which means that however you choose to track the camera you'll need to keep it as stable as possible, to avoid the camera shake that can be induced by using a long lens.
Stealing Beauty. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1996. All Rights Reserved.
11.8
CRISS-CROSSING
You can create a dynamic argument with almost no camera movement by setting up the camera with a short lens and letting the emotion come from the actors' movement.
In this example from Hour of the Wolf, Max von Sydow is so intent on avoiding the argument (at least at face value) that he walks away from Liv Ullmann. This brings him toward camera, so we see his bad-tempered face. Although she is close behind, the short lens makes her seem distant, but closing fast.
They then turn to face each other, but again he takes off, side-stepping to the right of her, but heading to the left of the screen. This pattern continues, with the characters crossing each other's paths. The diagrams make this clear, with the black lines indicating how they cross paths repeatedly. If they only moved backward and forward, this scene would feel forced and unreal, but because they
are half-circling, and going first one way and then the other, it has a great deal of realism.
Although you should give your actors some freedom, it is important that they cross each other's paths, otherwise it just feels like one character is trailing after the other. Include several changes of direction, and the scene will work. You can even pause during this scene for face-to-face conversation and achieve the entire scene without a cut.
Hour of the Wolf. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. MGM Home Entertainment, 1968. All Rights Reserved.
12.1
EYE CONTACT
When the chemistry is right, a powerful look between characters that are falling in love is one of the most enduring images in cinema. Actors and directors pray for these moments. Love should be written all over their faces, so that we can see it clearly even though the characters aren't acknowledging it out loud.
There is a technique, using an extremely simple camera set-up, which helps to get this moment right. You will still need to do all the creative work getting the actors to perform, but this set-up and approach will ensure that it's captured in a way that makes it work on screen.
For this moment to work, you need to create some visual tension. You do this by having the characters avoid looking at each other for most of the scene, even if they are talking and standing close to one another.
Then, when they do look at each other, they take turns. In this example from A Heart in Winter, Daniel Autiel looks at Emmanuelle Béart only when she looks at the violin. And she only looks at him when he's looking away from her. They're so studiously avoiding eye contact that the audience can't wait for them to look at each other. This goes on for half the scene, and then they look at each other. The moment is complete. If the director had simply had them looking at each other throughout, the moment where they felt love might not have been clear to the audience.
Your actors can be arranged in many ways, but the arrangement here works well. They are ostensibly facing each other, but they keep turning their heads, and most importantly, their eyes, away. The camera should be at the height of the character being observed. Don't give each character their own frame — the other character should always be present at the edge of frame.
A Heart in Winter. Directed by Claude Sautet. Gryphon Entertainment 1992. All Rights Reserved.
12.2
FIRST CONTACT
An audience is always waiting for the first on-screen kiss, but it remains one of the most difficult scenes to shoot with any elegance. Kissing is, after all, something that hides the face, and what we can see of the face is often bent and crushed against the other person's face. It takes careful framing and precise body-acting to get this to work.
Ideally, you want to be able to see the actors' faces immediately before and after the kiss. It's their expectation and reaction that counts. A standard over-the-shoulder shot will not work, because the actors are too physically close, so you need to move the camera further around. This has the effect of including one actor's face, while the second actor is also clearly in the shot – albeit with his back to us. This is much more satisfying than an over-the-shoulder shot, given that we are trying to achieve a sense of romance.
When the kiss itself happens, however, these angles are not generally satisfactory, as too much face is hidden. It's better to have a camera perpendicular to the actors.
When the actors kiss, one of their noses will get hidden behind the other — this is unavoidable. You don't want one actor to completely shield the other actor, so the least tall actor (usually the woman) should tilt her head back more than would feel normal for a real-world kiss. This slight angling back helps to keep more of her face in shot. It's a highly technical thing to request of an actor who's trying to achieve a convincing kiss, and not all actors will be happy to comply, but it is worth trying to keep as much of her face in shot as possible.
The moment the kiss is over, cut back to one of the other angles, so we can see their reactions.
Romeo + Juliet. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1996. All Rights Reserved.
12.3
KISS ANGLES
In the previous section, First Contact, we showed how three angles could be used to show the main elements of the kiss. Instead of shooting from three angles, you can swing the camera around the actors, to cover the same angles in a move.
As you can see from this example, this works best if the camera is slightly above the actors, looking down at them. This approach also makes it possible for one character to dominate the scene, rather than having it be a shared moment. Here, Liv Tyler's character is the subject of the scene, so the camera passes behind the male actor. It's her face that we see most clearly at all points throughout the kiss.
Most people, when they kiss, lean to the right. In film, however, we need a little more variety, and in a shot like this, it helps if the actor who is facing camera changes the angles of her head as the camera moves. At the beginning of the shot she is leaning toward the camera, and by the time the camera has swung around behind the other actor, her head has angled toward the camera again. This isn't always essential, but is important if you want the scene to be more about her than about them as a couple.
You can also see how she has angled her body away from the other actor. This may be because it makes for a more beautiful framing, or because of the character's reluctance to kiss, but it is the sort of detail you need to be aware of. Most kissing scenes are shot poorly, and it's worth trying to be better than average.
Stealing Beauty. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1996. All Rights Reserved.
12.4
GETTING DOWN
If your kissing scene is to progress to a more sexual one, then at some point you probably need to get the characters to lie down. This can be quite awkward to film, but there are a few elegant solutions. One of the more beautiful ways is to cut from the kiss to a shot of an empty bed, and then have the characters fall back into the shot.
One of the benefits of this technique is that it eliminates a potentially awkward moment where the actors stop kissing and begin to move toward the bed. If you want this to feel like a flowing sex scene, rather than an awkward one, the cut to empty space can solve your problem.
At this point you may want your characters to talk more, to kiss more, or to undress each other, and this set-up has the advantage of being suitable for all three.
There are a few pitfalls to avoid. Be careful not to have the lower character fall back too fast, or there can be a trampoline effect which looks comical. It's also best if they move into shot almost as one; if one falls back, and then the other falls in later, the result can again be comical. It should look as though they have simply flowed out of a kiss and into this position.
This works best when the characters are not actually in an embrace, so you can put a little space between them before the intimacy is resumed.
Murder By Numbers. Directed by Barbet Schroeder. Warner Home Video, 2002. All Rights Reserved.
12.5
OUT OF BODY
Some of the finest sex scenes ever shot show almost nothing of the bodies, but concentrate on the actors' faces. You can even shoot such scenes where the actors are almost completely clothed (so long as this makes sense story-wise).
For this to work requires exceptional actors, but you may find that any actor will enjoy the challenge of a sex scene that is largely about the work they do with their faces and their feelings, rather than how much skin we get to see.
Set up your cameras so that both actors' faces are in shot. As you can see from these examples, the actors should not be facing each other directly, but have their faces close. There are many ways to achieve this, and a thousand variations, but essentially you are trying to get both faces in shot as much as possible, while making it plausible that they are exploring each other's bodies (and eventually making love).
The camera can either be at their head height, or slightly above, a
nd it's best to begin this with a fairly tight framing. You can move further out as the scene progresses, to reveal more of their movement, and more of their bodies if required, but keep their faces angled toward the camera so that the focus remains on their expressions. It's how they see each other, rather than what we see of them, that matters most.
Enemy at the Gates. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Roadshow Home Entertainment, 2001. All Rights Reserved.
12.6
FACING UP
One of the great challenges with intimate scenes, as has been expressed many times, is trying to keep both actors' faces in view at once. In this example, the effect is achieved by careful positioning of the actors within the frame.
The woman is lying back, and although she is in conversation with the man (as they engage in foreplay), her head is thrown back to some extent. She's turned it more toward the camera than toward him. He continues to simulate making eye contact with her, even though he probably can't see her eyes.
The man is also laying off to one side of her slightly, because if he was laying directly on top her of, her body would be obscured and his head would be at the wrong angle. Although this shot looks easy and comfortable, it is actually quite precisely staged and may be quite difficult for the actors. It does, however, enable you to achieve a beautiful framing, without being a gratuitous body-shot. It works best for scenes where the characters are still talking, rather than just having sex.
Romance. Directed by Catherine Breillat. Madman Films, 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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