MasterShots Vol 2

by Christopher Kenworthy

  The next shot uses a longer lens. Thomas is in roughly the same place, but he is seen from another angle. Most of the frame is taken up with somebody else’s back in silhouette. This pushes the audience to the outside of the circle. This setup achieves three things: It shows that the character is on the outside of the group, it makes the audience feel that they are on the outside with him, and it connects the viewer with him as his is the only face in focus.

  The third shot looks similar to the opening shot, but is actually from another angle. Now Thomas walks around the table, turning his back to the camera. This again emphasizes his outsider status in the scene, but also shows that he’s asserting himself, pushing himself in the way (quite literally) so that he cannot be ignored.

  The dialogue that takes place in this scene is frantic, but what’s said is perhaps less important than the relationships that are set up visually. Spielberg also shows that repetition can be a powerful thing. When you work with this idea (physically placing a character in a way that reflects their status), making the point three times — in just a few seconds — will drive it home.

  E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Universal Pictures, 1982. All rights reserved.

  5.8

  PLAYING WITH SPACE

  If a meeting between two characters is particularly potent, or emotionally charged, you can reflect this with lens choice. By using a wide range of lenses, you can create the slightly dreamlike feeling that occurs when your emotions run wild.

  The first shot is more interesting than most over-the-shoulder shots, because it’s taken from further back than usual, placing the character’s face almost central in the screen. This could be because the camera couldn’t be moved any further to the left, since the actors are positioned next to the lockers. Whether intentional or not, the effect is to create a powerful shot of Reece Ritchie, showing his connection to Saoirse Ronan. If the audience only saw her shoulder or the edge of her head, as normally happens, this wouldn’t be as strong, but because more of her head is shown, the audience feels how intently Ritchie is looking at her.

  In the film itself there is more coverage of the two talking, before the camera cuts to the second frame that’s shown here. This shot is taken from a near-identical camera position, but with a much wider lens. This makes them appear further back, farther apart from each other, and increases the scale of the surrounding corridor. The camera also floats around a little, and the overall effect is one of minor panic and disorientation. Having established a beautiful moment, it is a brave choice of the director to let it drift into a more surreal mood.

  The next cut surprises the viewer by looking almost straight into Ronan’s eyes. This cements the relationship that has just been established, because now the audience sees the scene from Ritchie’s point of view.

  A conventional director would probably have shot from the corridor side of the actors, rather than the locker side, and would have been satisfied with angle/reverse angle. You can see that pushing visuals to their extremes can add a lot of potency to a scene, even when the dialogue on the page is relatively simple.

  The Lovely Bones. Directed by Peter Jackson. Paramount Pictures, 2009. All rights reserved.

  5.9

  PACING

  Characters who make speeches try to connect with the crowd they are talking to. Whether or not this is successful depends on the script, but a director needs to show the effect the speech is having on the crowd.

  The opening shot of Brad Pitt establishes that he is giving a speech, largely because of his performance. It is an interesting choice, though, because many directors would open a speech scene with a wide establishing shot.

  In the next shot, the view shifts behind the characters he’s addressing, and the camera dollies with him, keeping him roughly central in the frame. The director keeps Pitt’s performance in view, but also shows how many people are there without resorting to an establishing shot.

  When he turns around to walk back up the line, the camera cuts to another dolly shot from the other side of Pitt. This time, the camera is focused on those who are listening to him. He remains largely in profile so the viewer can see the essence of his performance while watching the crowd’s reaction to his words.

  When shooting speeches, you can keep the speechmaker still, standing on a podium, but movement opens up many possibilities. The simple arrangement of actors and two dolly tracks used in this scene makes for a rich and visually powerful setup.

  There is only one cut, when Pitt changes direction. If you tried to cut between the two setups throughout the scene, everything on screen would appear to be changing direction with each cut. When shooting a scene like this, be certain that you’ve got good footage of the moment that he changes direction, because that is where you will need to cut.

  Inglourious Basterds. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Universal Pictures, 2009. All rights reserved.

  5.10

  PARALLEL SPEECH

  Long speeches can be difficult to pull off, especially when there is a lot of exposition taking place. Ideally, your script will keep this to a minimum. If, however, you have a scene that requires somebody to make a relatively long speech to a large crowd, you can maintain interest by making changes in height, angle, and proximity throughout the shot.

  This is easier to achieve than it might sound. In these shots from A. I. Artificial Intelligence, William Hurt walks down the center of the room. By carefully spacing the extras, the director makes the room seem full. Some of the extras and some props are close to camera, so that as the camera dollies to the left, this movement is emphasized and the shot is kept interesting.

  The camera then moves around to the left, so the audience meets Hurt as he comes to a halt at the top of the steps. The audience is looking down on him, but rather than seeming diminished, he now appears to have the crowd in the palm of his hands. He is more brightly lit, and he is above them. In capturing the crowd’s attention and rising to such a strong visual position, Spielberg also captures the attention of his film audience. They know from this brief camera move that Hurt is a character worth listening to.

  As with many of Spielberg’s moves, it is his combination of techniques that makes it powerful. The camera move itself, the actor’s apparent height change, and the ending with him close to camera all contribute to the overall effect.

  The real challenge with a shot like this is timing the move to exactly match the actor’s performance. If you plan to shoot a scene like this, try to work with an actor who’s capable of accurate timing as well as strong performance.

  A. I. Artificial Intelligence. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Warner Bros., 2001. All rights reserved.

  CHAPTER 6

  REVEALING PLOT

  6.1

  SHIFTING LEVELS

  At a turning point in your movie, when things step up a gear, you might find it useful to direct your actors to move more energetically through the scene as they talk. This can help to show that change is occurring, and that decisions are being made.

  These shots from Melinda and Melinda are achieved with a pan and tilt, but because the actors move to different positions on the steps, and because different numbers of people are in the frame at any one time, it makes for a fascinating scene.

  The opening shot shows the two men leaving the apartment, and Radha Mitchell meets them. She turns to lean against the railing, which helps open this group up, so the audience can see their faces as they talk. The men leave, and she heads up the steps. The camera stays on her and moves in slightly (although the shot would have worked without any move at all).

  She turns to talk to them at the top of the steps, again ensuring that her face is on screen. It doesn’t matter that they are off screen at this point, because the interest in the scene is whether or not she will join them for a day out. That’s all they are interested in, that’s all the audience is interested in, so the viewer only needs to watch her. The director doesn’t need to cut back to them.

/>   She then moves back down the steps and joins them, and the final moments of the conversation show their reactions to her decision, so it doesn’t matter that she has her back to camera. You can execute this type of setup so long as you are willing to let some actors go out of frame. Don’t always try to get absolute coverage of every angle. If you can capture the scene in a more elegant way, do so.

  Melinda and Melinda. Directed by Woody Allen. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2005. All rights reserved.

  6.2

  CLOSE CUT

  Showing both actors in one shot is a good way to shoot a dialogue scene, especially when plot is being revealed. In many cases, you can shoot the whole scene in one take, moving to a second angle as the scene progresses. Or, as shown here, you can cut to the second angle.

  In the first shot, the characters are focused on the envelope they’ve retrieved from the mailbox. Although the actors angle their heads slightly so that the camera can pick up their faces, they can’t really be seen clearly. The audience is also focused on the envelope.

  The cut then shifts to a view that is face-on to the actors, shot by a second camera at a similar distance and with a similar lens. The audience, however, is able to see their expressions more clearly because of the cut. To further facilitate this, the director places the actors physically very close to each other. This level of proximity between two people is rare, but it works on screen because when the actors look at each other, they have to really look. You can’t glance at somebody when you’re this close.

  For the actors, this will feel unnaturally close, and they may need some coaxing. It will be easier to get them to put their faces this close together if you arrange them so their bodies are touching, with one character leaning on the other slightly.

  Shots such as this help show the relationship between two characters, but when you want to make a plot point that the audience remembers, it helps to limit the number of cuts in the scene. By cutting to this one shot of the characters in close contact, you enable your audience to listen to everything they say.

  Ghost World. Directed by Terry Zwigoff. United Artists, 2001. All rights reserved.

  6.3

  HARD REVERSE

  These shots from Nineteen Eighty-Four show how much power you can achieve with one cut. Most of this scene takes place with the characters walking toward a moving camera, but as they come to rest, the camera jumps to the opposite side of them. This cut comes as a vital plot point is revealed.

  Master Shots 2 stresses the benefits you can gain from having actors talk without looking at each other. You can mix this up by having one character try to make eye contact, while the other remains uninterested. Here, John Hurt looks across at Richard Burton throughout the whole scene. Burton barely glances at him, and the power imbalance between them is clearly established.

  As an audience member, you want Burton to look at Hurt, but when he finally does, it is a surprise. The two of them stop walking and turn to face each other. This is a powerful moment, because they are facing each other for the first time in the film, and a major shift in the plot takes place. At this moment, the director cuts to a shot taken from the opposite side of the actors.

  This cut is powerful because it cuts to the exact opposite angle. A cut to a different angle would not be as powerful as this opposite angle, because the viewer sees the actors reversed in the frame. This suggests that something has been exchanged between them.

  The lighting here is also crucial, because in the opening shots, both characters are quite brightly lit against the surrounding darkness. But then, as a secret is exchanged, both are thrown into silhouette. It is as though they have entered a secret world together, with nothing more than a cut.

  When you shoot a scene like this, the cut works most effectively when the audience doesn’t suspect it is coming, so a long, slow walk should precede the moment of change.

  Nineteen Eighty-Four. Directed by Michael Radford. Atlantic Releasing, 1984. All rights reserved.

  6.4

  FACE TO FACE

  There are times when you need to show a character revealing plot points, without him dominating the scene. In these shots from A. I. Artificial Intelligence, it’s important for the audience to see Sam Robards revealing some plot details, but this scene has to be emotionally owned by Frances O’Connor.

  To achieve the correct balance, the director starts with the two facing each other. Then, as the plot details are revealed, Robards moves around to the side, so that his face is favored. This movement of his could look unnatural or unmotivated, but because the camera is moving in, it appears realistic.

  Once the plot details have been revealed, Robards needs to move out of the way, so that the focus is on O’Connor’s reaction. To achieve this, Robards moves back to face her. By now the camera is close and looking up. He bends forward and looks up at her, as though trying to get a response from her, which means she can look down at him, thus facing the camera almost directly.

  If this scene was shot with two characters standing next to each other, the camera cutting from one to the other, it would be dull. By adding a simple camera move, and shifting one actor, Spielberg causes the audience to notice the plot, and then to feel the scene’s emotional charge.

  As with so many of Spielberg’s setups, the challenge is to make the actors comfortable with moves that are somewhat forced. If the actors are uncomfortable, a scene like this will just look like a flashy setup. You really see the skill of the director here, not in the moves he’s chosen, but in the level of comfort the actors appear to feel when acting out the scene.

  A. I. Artificial Intelligence. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Warner Bros., 2001. All rights reserved.

  6.5

  FACE UP

  During scenes where plot details are revealed, or hinted at, it can help to show that one character knows more than another. This scene from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me uses three cameras, two of which remain motionless. The camera that is close to Sheryl Lee slowly pushes in on her to show that she is the one in the know.

  The establishing shot from above does more than just set the scene. Establishing shots can be tiresome, because they can be a lazy way of revealing nothing more than where the scene takes place, and where everybody is positioned. If you’re going to use an establishing shot, it helps to push the image as far as it can go. Here, a high camera with a wide lens looks down on the two characters, who are arranged in unusual positions on chairs.

  This kind of staging, with actors lying in strange positions, could be dismissed as Lynchian weirdness, but it adds richness to the scene. Real people do not sit or stand talking to each other the way they do in soap operas. Real people flop and lie and position themselves all over the furniture.

  With the establishing shot out of the way, the director cuts to shots of their faces, but as the conversation takes place, only the camera above Lee pushes in. This shows an imbalance of power; she is the one who knows what’s going on. Although she is the victim of much that goes on in this film, the camera move here makes it clear that she is the one on the inside of the mystery.

  When moving your camera, even in small, slow moves such as this, remember that it can have a huge effect on how each character is perceived. Had the director pushed the camera in on both actors, it would have a completely different effect.

  Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Directed by David Lynch. New Line Cinema, 1992. All rights reserved.

  6.6

  BACKGROUND SWITCH

  When one character reveals key information to another, there is often a sense of discomfort. In this scene from V for Vendetta, the character that’s seated at the beginning is reluctant to share his suspicions. By starting the scene with the character’s back to the camera, the director suggests his reluctance.

  The second character faces the camera, asks a question, and then moves to the left to sit down. As he does so, the first character crosses the frame, and the camera follows him. He moves across the room simply to get a dr
ink of water. In other words, there is nothing in the plot that requires him to move. He could sit where he is and say what he thinks. The reason the director gets him to stand up is that by moving him across the frame and past the second character, we feel his unease.

  By having him move from one side of the frame to the other, without a cut, the director shows a subtle change is going on. The fact that the first character’s back remains turned to camera at the end of the shot also reflects his unease. He glances across at the second character, but only slightly.

  The camera itself does not move position, but pans to follow him. It’s an alarmingly simple setup, with the characters’ movements and orientation to the camera dictating the level of discomfort.

  Don’t underestimate the effect that can be created by shifting the character from one side of the frame to the other. Although people move around scenes all the time, when you do it in a slow way, in one move, without a cut, it raises the tension. The plot revelation becomes far more interesting than if the characters merely looked at each other and spoke their lines.

  V for Vendetta. Directed by James McTeigue. Warner Bros., 2005. All rights reserved.

  6.7

  INVISIBLE BARRIER

  While plot is being revealed, it is important that the audience remains interested in characters and relationships. These shots from The Reader show one character’s resistance to the other’s attention. The dialogue is minimal, so the layers of character are added by careful positioning of the actors and the camera to create the impression of a barrier between the characters.