Character Introductions 007: Dr. Leland Townsend
Introducing Evil's Antagonist
*these sequences from the pilot contains no show spoilers
Next in our series of Character Introductions is Dr. Leland Townsend from Evil.
We previously showed how the leadup to this scene puts us inside Dr. Kristen Bouchard’s headspace with wider lenses and low angles, pacier cuts, and the camera moving on two axes at once, following Dr. Bouchard as she follows breadcrumbs into a courtroom.
Dr. Townsend’s introduction tweaks how it uses techniques from the lead-up sequence (canted angles, moving shots, wider lenses) and adds a few more (fourth wall breaks, hi/lo reverse angles).
A Change of Pace
After a long chase, the payoff . . .
When Dr. Bouchard enters the courtroom the camera dollies in on her face — still moving, but slower, no longer wildly tilting or pointed at such an acute upward angle.
This best matches the next camera move: after Dr. Bouchard comes to a halt, we switch to a shot approximating her point of view, and it moves slooooowly, agonisingly revealing Dr. Leland Townsend on the witness stand.
The shots go from wider, to medium, to closeup, and show the other lawyers turning to look at Dr. Bouchard, the camera still moving slowly as the music swells.
Where the preceding few scenes were about Dr Bouchard’s frenetic hunt, this courtroom scene is about her realisation and a slow, sickening feeling: the thing you fear is true and sitting right there!
Back to Frantic
Then bam! we jump back outside and immediately into canted angles, quick cuts, freneticism again with a different scene, camera quick-dollying in, etc.
To smash us into this changed scene Evil starts with a medium closeup. Dr. Bouchard feels slightly ‘off’ because it’s shot on a slightly wider lens (again like the leadup sequence) and on a tilted angle (with those great lines of the stair rails and fluorescent lights emphasising the tilt!)
When Dr. Townsend approaches he breaks the fourth wall, while Dr. Bouchard looks just off-camera up at him: thus we identify with her, and feel intimidated by him.
Bouchard and Townsend’s conversation continues in eyelevel closeups, crowding them together in OTS shot-reverse-shots.
When David approaches, the camera angles change, looking up at David who is trying to intimidate Townsend, and down at Townsend whom David (and we) despise.
When David punches Townsend who falls (pretty easily, I may add!) the angles switch between low and high to dramatise Townsend’s fall and keep us off-kilter.
Takeaways
First, all of these scenes work within their own right: Dr. Bouchard feels frantic while trying to figure out who is taunting her, so the pacing and angles are quick and tilted; there’s a slow, creeping dread when we first meet Dr. Townsend in the courtroom; the confrontation in the courthouse hallway further introduces how Dr. Townsend is scary, actively destabilising Dr. Bouchard, and someone who David despises.
The juxtaposition of the scenes emphasises their techniques; both sequences of quick, tilted panic and punching work better because there’s a scene of slow, creeping dread in between to break them up.