Simple & Complex: SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT
how blocking and framing can give big surprises and small emotional cues
It’s more fun to watch this with no preamble; see you in less than a minute!
Blocking and Framing for Surprise
Part of why this works so well is it seems to be ‘emotionally complex, visually straightforward’ — as every scene up until now.
Lola and Jamie talk in individual medium shots, the camera completely still . . . then Jamie lies down to reveal someone was next to him the whole time!
It’s not just a surprise, it recontextualises everything Jamie said in the last 30 seconds He knew the other woman was in his bed, yet he said Lola’s name (Destiny’s Child would be . . . proud?). He also makes sure to say it’s an ‘emergency’ even though Lola hasn’t said anything on the other end of the line.
His lover clearly knows what’s up, but he’s still putting on the pretence of a performance — the physical shift and reveal is purely for the audience’s benefit.
Blocking and Lighting for Emotional Cues
From start to finish, blocking, movement, and lighting add up to tell us both characters are in different emotional places.
Lola’s bedroom is dark while Jamie’s got his bedroom lights on; we’re looking at Lola from the top but at Jamie side-on; Lola lies down going from Right-to-Left on our screen, and the scene ends on Jamie getting up from Left-to-Right.
The visual contrast and directional opposition echoes how they’re after different things in life, even if they can’t or won’t let go of each other just yet.
Takeaways
Not every surprise or compare/contrast scene has to involve a big camera move or complicated blocking.
Sometimes simple isn’t just best, but more profound . . . which may be why it can also be hard to nail!