Week 92: Socials Roundup
Posts from 07 Oct - 13 Oct 2024
Week 92 posts include shots from Veronica Mars (2004-2006); Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014); Point Blank (1967); Female on the Beach (1955); and The Haunting of Hill House (2018).
Point Blank
This gorgeous lighting change in Point Blank takes us from what feels like a "looking out at Chris in the cold darkness dark" to "standing outside with Chris waiting for Walker to let us into the warmth" with the flick of a switch.
The light change doesn't just shift our optical illusion, it clicks from shadows and blues with an orange highlight to mostly soft warm yellows with blue accents, changing feeling along with perspective.
The Haunting of Hill House
These two shots from The Haunting of Hill House are fairly standard by themselves, but intentionally jarring when cut together.
Shot One is a 'normal' depth of field, with Shirley in focus in the foreground and Nell out of focus in her casket.
The next shot is a split diopter with both Shirley and Nell in focus, and though not a 'true' line cross (diagram for approximate camera positions) . . .
Shirley and Nell switching sides of frame breaks with expected film grammar for still shots like this, where neither characters nor camera are moving.
Shirley starts in the centre in the first shot, but in the second the diopter split is centre frame while Shirley and Nell are on either side; the ‘eye scan’ is disrupted and tension created as our eyes aren’t sure where to look.
Together these techniques give a multiple 'something's not right' feeling as the scene cuts between shots, unsettling us and perhaps leading us to expect something is wrong with the scene, or about to happen between the two . . .
Female on the Beach
Sound mixing can really make (or breaks) shots. This scene from Female on the Beach leans heavily on sound to put us inside the haunting memories and fear Lynn (Joan Crawford) is experiencing, and then uses sound to convey her 'snap back to reality.’
As the scene begins, waves and boat noises are clear; then with Lynn's POV of the fuel pump comes a musical chord striking a 'moment of realisation' which starts the more surreal element, driven entirely by audio and Crawford's expressive face.
The scene cuts back to Lynn and boat noises fade underneath dialogue while the echoing effect of those lines make it clear she's remembering things. As music swells, the echoing, distant lines of her memory get sharper and clearer, fading into the 'reality' of Drummond (Jeff Chandler) yelling her name in the present, before the scene cuts to him, and he yells once more into silence, "LYNN!"
The cut back to Lynn in the boat shows her unable to speak, but the water and loud wind noises make clear she's hearing the 'present' before she stands and answers.
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars 2.01 "Normal is the Watchword"
Veronica Mars 2.22 "Not Pictured"
Michaelangelo "Pietà" 1498-1499
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The opening of The Winter Soldier deploys three tried and true tactics (and a bonus dick joke) to establish its titular character.
1. pretty wide shots with recognisable landmarks (self-explanatory)
2. comedy rule of three - Cap passes Sam with the same "on your left!" before Sam responds
3. #TexasSwitch (0:30-end) Chris Evans runs past the camera, which follows Anthony Mackie on its pan left . . . to where another runner is already staged sprinting off into the distance towards the Washington Monument
4. Speaking of, that monument stands as a symbol of Captain America's virility - which. before you think this a stretch, is a running theme of the film!