The Book of Eli. Directed by the Hughes Brothers. Summit Entertainment, 2010. All rights reserved.
3.8
VELOCITY DOLLY
When you introduce a character to a film, you can establish her importance by pushing in on her as she moves toward the camera. This has the effect of making her go from relatively small, in terms of the frame, to much larger, and signifies her potential impact on the story. It helps if there are other actors in frame, to give both camera and character somewhere to go.
You can see in these frames from Inception that the camera moves toward the male actors, at the same time that Ellen Page moves toward them. It is clear from the beginning of the shot that the actor and the camera are going to end up in the same place.
This works well to establish a space, but then closes in to focus on the dialogue. Rather than showing a wide shot of the room and a series of medium shots, this move enables you to show the room, and then position the camera for the dialogue without a cut. The move is helped by Michael Caine’s slight turn away from camera, which pulls us in that direction.
It can be quite difficult to keep focus in a shot like this, where there’s camera and actor motion. One solution is to close the camera aperture, but this has the effect of making the background sharper than you may want. That appears to be the case in this shot from Inception, where artificial blurring has been added in post.
These frames from Blade Runner show a much slower push in. It is essentially the same shot. Daryl Hannah’s character is being introduced to the scene, and she moves in slowly, as the camera pushes in slowly, with another character marking the destination of both camera and actor.
Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1982. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 4
EXPERT FRAMING
4.1
LINE CROSS
By using a conventional setup, and then switching from it abruptly, you can create a moment of drama. The first two frames from Love Actually show the camera set up in a conventional way, filming each actor in turn, from the same angle and height, staying on one side of the actors.
Even if there were several other angles, the camera would always remain on the same side of the actors, never crossing the imaginary line drawn between them. This is one of the first things you’re taught at film school. Draw a line between the actors, and wherever you put the camera, keep it on one side of that line throughout the scene. Most of the time this makes sense, and helps to orient the audience, but a sudden switch has a powerful effect.
At the moment that we hear a noise off camera, we cross the line. The camera is suddenly on the other side of the actors. To make this cut randomly in the middle of the scene would draw attention to the cut, and would feel abrupt, but it comes just as we hear the noise, and is followed by Colin Firth’s head turn.
We then immediately cut to a two-shot of the actors. If we’d cut straight to this two-shot from the original setup, it would have felt like a very abrupt cut. The brief shot of the head turn connects everything together. As always, cutting at or around the time that something moves makes the setups flow together seamlessly.
Love Actually. Directed by Richard Curtis. Universal Pictures, 2003. All rights reserved.
4.2
BREAK CUT
One of the most beautiful ways to frame actors is to put the camera alongside them, capturing both faces at the same time. This works while they are looking forward, and even when they turn to each other. It is considered quite a hard angle, however, and presents some problems in editing, so you need to prepare for these.
The first frame from Blade Runner shows a perfect example of this hard framing, with a long lens capturing both actors’ expressions, even though the focus is sharper on Harrison Ford. Both are staring at the sheet music on the piano, and we cut to this briefly. We don’t need to see the sheet music — it’s obvious what they are looking at, and from the sounds and how they act. The reason we cut to the sheet music is to create a break between this hard framing and the next shot.
The shot of Sean Young is also quite a hard frame, but not such a tight angle. Even so, cutting around this far would feel almost like a jump cut, so the shot of the sheet music acts as a softener between cuts. When setting up hard angles, be certain to get useful and meaningful cutaways that will enable editing to flow.
The frames from Bridge to Terabithia show another approach, with the opening two-shot establishing where the actors are in relation to each other. Once this has been made clear, we cut to a hard framing. Again, both characters are looking outward rather than at each other, and the focus is on Josh Hutcherson.
In the next cut, he looks at AnnaSophia Robb and she turns her head slightly toward him. The angle, once again, is not as hard in this second shot. If it was, then we wouldn’t see her face as clearly.
Hard angles, which capture both faces alongside each other, are beautiful, but they can only be used briefly, and need other shots and angles to connect them to the rest of the scene.
Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1982. All rights reserved.
Bridge to Terabithia. Directed by Gábor Csupó. Walt Disney Pictures, 2007. All rights reserved.
4.3
PAN MOTION
One of the simplest camera moves, the pan, can be used to create elaborate and expressive framing. By combining actor motion with the pan, you create rich shots with minimal effort.
The frames from The Book of Eli show the camera panning slowly to follow Denzel Washington, keeping him in roughly the same part of the frame as he moves. Then, as Mila Kunis runs into the frame, the camera pans hard, putting them both on the right of frame. It is as though her movement speeds up the pan.
The shot then continues with them both in this part of the frame. The purpose of this shot is to show her running to catch up and then joining him. As such, it needs to show his pace, then her increased pace, and then the two of them walking at the same pace. If the pan didn’t change its pace during the shot, it would not capture these elements. By tying its motion to hers, the meaning of the shot is successfully conveyed.
The frames from The Karate Kid show a pan combined with a small dolly motion. The camera dollies from left to right, as it pans from left to right, following the characters as they walk. This shot is used to show the characters returning to a familiar place. If the camera merely panned it would feel as though the actors were rushing past the camera. If you are trying to show extreme pace, that would work, but for a casual walk-in, you need a different effect.
The Book of Eli. Directed by the Hughes Brothers. Summit Entertainment, 2010. All rights reserved.
The Karate Kid. Directed by Harald Zwart. Columbia Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
4.4
PUSH THROUGH
One of the more interesting ways to frame is by shooting through a group of actors, and then having your main character push through those actors. The opening framing from Never Let Me Go shows Nathalie Richard facing a group of schoolgirls. Rather than showing a shot of the girls and then a shot of her, we see her in the distance, appearing tiny in the frame, whereas the girls, although out of focus, are large.
The balance of power is uncertain at this point in the film, but what this opening frame establishes so well is that Richard feels uneasy and overwhelmed by the small group of girls. This framing also effectively shows that the girls are a barrier. She clearly wants to head toward camera, but they are blocking her way.
When she does move forward, the camera creeps back a short distance. This reflects her movement, but gives the feeling that the barrier is still there, as though she is pushing through a barrier, even though the girls move gently aside.
Once Richard is through the barrier, the camera moves back at the same pace as her, so that the girls recede into the background, but we see them turn and wat
ch. This is an elegant move that underlines everybody’s unease with the situation.
Don’t think of your actors as movable props, but ensure that any time you frame through the actors in this way, there is a good story reason to do so.
Never Let Me Go. Directed by Mark Romanek. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.
4.5
REPEAT ANGLE PUSH
By combining a simple move with an unusual angle, you can heighten the atmosphere of a scene. To take this even further, it helps if you use two shots with unusual angles, one after the other.
The opening frame from The Return of the King is simple to achieve, but looks stunning. The camera is placed above the actors, pointed at them, and then canted over to the right. When you cant the camera, you lean it over on its side. This makes it look as though Elijah Wood is leaning out toward the left of frame. In itself this is an unusual and effective framing.
We then cut to a reverse shot, looking up at the two actors. The upward angle is much shallower, and we are almost at Elijah Wood’s head height, as this move is about his expression. The camera, however, is canted over to the right. By having the canted angle in both shots, they cut together easily.
The camera then pushes in on Wood, and the cant is reduced until the camera is almost level at the end of the push. Both of these shots are easy to achieve — the first with a tripod, the second with a dolly — and yet the final effect feels like a complex crane shot.
If you started the second shot without the cant, the nightmare feeling would be lost, and it would feel more like a moment of realization. By using the cant in both shots, and then reducing it to level, it feels like we’re spinning out of control throughout the scene. This gives everything a dreamlike feeling, ideal for a moment of almost overwhelming disorientation.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Directed by Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, 2003. All rights reserved.
4.6
TILT REVEAL
Directors are always looking for new and visually exciting ways to reveal information. You may want to introduce a character, establish a space, or show that something is about to happen. When you plan carefully, you can reveal all these details with an actor’s movement and a gentle tilt of the camera.
The frames from Léon: The Professional show how the shot begins with a low camera, looking up at the actor. He’s signaling to somebody behind him, so we suspect somebody is there. Usually, a shot this close would cut to something wide. His unexpected move backward lets us see his fear.
As the camera follows him, tilting down, the rest of the scene is revealed, and we see the other characters waiting with their guns drawn. He joins them, and draws his gun, pointing straight at the camera.
There are many ways this move can be utilized, but it is especially powerful when you want the character’s face to remain in shot. You could also do this move in reverse, changing the focus from the wider scene to a close-up of one character.
When you set up a shot, it’s always a good idea to think about the strength of your framing at the beginning and end-up shots. Ideally, the framing should be strong throughout. This shot is a good example of a well-framed image through the move.
Léon: The Professional. Directed by Luc Besson. Columbia Pictures, 1994. All rights reserved.
4.7
ROTATE OUT
This scene from Blade Runner is an elegant combination of actor and camera choreography. It includes an arc, and is slightly more difficult to achieve than a dolly or crane shot, but the results are superb.
As you can see, the director has chosen to favor Rutger Hauer for the latter part of the scene, and rather than cutting back to Joe Turkel, he lets the staging remain strong. He may have shot other angles, and more coverage, but as the grace of this shot works to focus on the character’s conflict, there is no need for a cut.
The scene begins in what appears to be a standard over-the-shoulder shot, with Hauer’s back to us. As he moves around to the left of the other character, the camera arcs around. He turns so that he is facing the camera, and the camera faces him. The other actor remains in place.
From here we are focused on Hauer, but see the other character in the same place, being closely observed. He remains out of focus.
Hauer sits, and Turkel walks across and out of the frame, with Hauer’s eyes following him. In the overhead diagram, you can see the arc made by the camera is an almost exact opposite of Hauer’s small arc. These opposing arcs make it feel like Turkel is being encircled or trapped. This makes his move out of the frame a brave move, which, in story terms, it is.
When you want an actor to move alongside another, consider arcing around them to frame, and see if you can execute the entire scene without cutting to coverage.
Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1982. All rights reserved.
4.8
SILHOUETTE
Silhouettes should not be overused, because they can frustrate the audience by hiding too much, but when used carefully they can have a profound effect. The first thing a silhouette does is make us wonder what a character is thinking. The irony is that the actor cannot convey these thoughts through the face, but has to use body acting. Make sure your actor knows you’re shooting a silhouette, so he can adjust accordingly.
The first frames from The Book of Eli show this well, with the first making us wonder what Denzel Washington is looking at, what he’s deciding. The second, which uses the tunnel as a frame around him, as he stands, makes us wonder where he’s going to go next. If these were shot without the silhouette effect, we wouldn’t speculate as much.
The two frames from Bridge to Terabithia show a more subtle use of this. This scene is from the opening of the film. We don’t really know the character yet, so seeing him in silhouette lets us observe that he’s an active boy in a rush, but we wonder who he actually is.
The remaining frames, from There Will Be Blood, show an extended scene in which Daniel Day-Lewis mumbles to himself before addressing a crowd. He is in silhouette so that we can’t be sure of his mood or his intentions, and we wonder whether his thoughts are contradicting his words. He remains in silhouette even as he moves to approach the crowd (they are lit strongly), and this maintains the air of mystery about what his next move will be.
To create a silhouette all you need is a background that is brighter than the subject. This is usually the case when you’re using available light, and you need to do nothing more than expose for the background, and let the subject flatten out to black.
The Book of Eli. Directed by the Hughes Brothers. Summit Entertainment, 2010. All rights reserved.
Bridge to Terabithia. Directed by Gábor Csupó. Walt Disney Pictures, 2007. All rights reserved.
There Will Be Blood. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Paramount Vantage/Miramax Films, 2007. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 5
SYMBOLIC STAGING
5.1
DOUBLE PUSH
Every shot needs to reveal character and convey story, but the most skilled filmmakers manage to convey symbolism through their setups. Sometimes this can be a major thematic symbolism, and at other times it can reflect the meaning of a scene or moment.
In this example from Heavenly Creatures, the scene is staged in a way that tells that story through the actors’ expressions and the camera move itself, rather than what is said. In this scene the characters are ostensibly talking about a serious subject, but the subtext (which screams loudly through the scene) is that they are attracted to each other.
The staging is quite simple, in that we start with two over-the-shoulder shots, and cut between them. Each of these shots, however, is a dolly shot that closes in on the opposing character. During the course of the scene we go from two over-the-shoulder shots to two close-ups.
Although this isolates each character in their own frame, the move does not separate them. Instead it shows how their focus on the other grows, how the other enlarges in
their vision, and how they are drawn together.
When you want to show attraction between two people, whether it is spoken or not, close the camera in on both. It can be done rapidly, as in this scene, which has a comical effect, or much more gradually.
Heavenly Creatures. Directed by Peter Jackson. Miramax Films, 1994. All rights reserved.
5.2
MAGNETIC CHARACTERS
Sometimes the staging of your characters tells the story as much as the camera angles themselves. These frames from Inception show straightforward shots of the actors, but their positions within the frame, and throughout the scene, affect the impact of the story.
The opening frame shows Ken Watanabe sitting in the plane, looking out at Leonardo DiCaprio. Although DiCaprio is facing toward camera, his body is almost turned away, as though he doesn’t want to continue the conversation. Behind him, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has turned his body away. Everything here suggests that Watanabe is leaning into a conversation he wants to continue, while the others are hoping to get away.
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