Week 60: Socials Roundup
Posts from 20 February to 26 February 2024
Week 60 saw posts on Girlfriends (1978); Camp X-Ray (2014) and ALI3N (1992); Past Lives (2023); For All Mankind (2019-present); and The Lego Movie (2014).
Girlfriends
This scene from Girlfriends (1978) is about Susan's emotional turmoil - conveyed through acting, but also demonstrated with shot choice and editing.
The scene starts with a closeup of clothes being agitated to establish the laundromat.
As Susan rambles to Anne about her good news, the scene mostly holds shots from the same general place in the room. These shots are mostly on Susan, cutting to Anne for important lines such as a comment about a photo or delivering her big news.
When it moves into a medium as the two hug, that shot also holds, moving back and forth with Susan as she paces with excitement, and closeups of her face are the majority.
But when Anne drops her bombshell - she's getting married - after a few moments of emotions warring on Susan's face, Anne comes in for a hug, and there's a distinct change. From 0:58-1:01 there are three quick from three different angles, which don't quite 'match' on the motion.
This is an intentional technique (used throughout the film) not simply as a result of low-budget, but to replicate Susan's uncertain emotions; agitated, just like the washing at the scene's start.
Camp X-Ray and ALI3N
Last week we looked at framing, montage, and repetition in Camp X-Ray.
Meanwhile, this shot of PFC Cole (Kristen Stewart) and her abusive superior officer Ransdell (Lane Garrison) reminds us of something . . . .
Oh, that's it!
Past Lives
The goodbyes that start and end Past Lives (2023) are deliberately staged to echo each other: with Hae Sung on screen left, Na Young / Nora on screen right, and shot in unfussy, clean coverage.
But the flashback to them as 12yo doesn't reuse the original shot. Instead, it's been re-staged, ostensibly to make it integrate better: it's shot a night; the blue of the door is more prominent — connecting it to colour of the garage door in the present, the orange of the sodium vapour lights Nora in both past & present; and her face is positioned roughly in the same point in frame so our eyes don't move over the cut.
So when they do cut to this shot, it doesn't "pop". Rather, we feel the past sneaking up on the present, while the present reimagines the past. The quiet stillness of the moment encourages us to feel the space with meaning and emotion. It's a powerful, deeply affecting scene created through gentle and wise filmmaking.
For All Mankind
CW: Violence.
I (@stuwillis) speculate that the blood splatter on Margo in this scene from For All Mankind S4E03 is a VFX shot. But not in the way you'd think —
The blood is real and has been placed there by the SFX makeup team. The VFX team *paint it out* on the first frame of the shot, then bring it back over a few frames. They add a bit of 'something something' — dark red splotches travelling through the air — on the preceding shot and on the reaction shot to help sell movement. Super simple and effective.
So why do it?
It saves a lot of time on resets. Rather than shooting multiple takes, cleaning up Margo every time (including wardrobe!), you can apply the blood makeup once AND art direct it too.
Solid, invisible #VFX.
The Lego Movie
One of the great joys of The Lego Movie is how much playful it is, not just with The Hero's Journey but with the language of cinema — especially action cinema.
Take this moment where Wildstyle explains to Emmet that he's The Special One.
We cut to a single of the Copper Chopper, which ramps into slow-motion — perfectly choreographed with the spotlights, rotors and sound design.
Wildstyle gives her speech while around her (in beautiful defocus) chaos unfolds in comedic irony.
The camera pushes in on Emmet as he is given his Call to Adventure.
We move out of these close shots with a wonderful wide (reminiscent of a platformer) of Wildstyle *kicking* a helicopter.
So fun!