Week 82: Socials Roundup
Posts from 29 July - 04 Aug 2024
Week 82 posts include shots from La Belle et la Bête / The Beauty and the Beast (1941); Blue Steel (1989); Wynonna Earp (2006-2021; 2024-?); Atlanta (2016-2022); and The Leftovers (2014-2017).
La Belle et la Bête / The Beauty and the Beast
Jean Cocteau's The Beauty and the Beast places great importance on eyes, and this sequence has everything:
actor Jean Marais's eyes shining amongst the incredible fur of the Beast makeup; Belle (Josette Day) opening her eyes and barreling the camera (note both times the camera cuts *right* after the eyes shift); the Beast staggering away telling Belle to look in his eyes; sparkling jewels setting off eyelights; a hard cut from the door closing to 7PM darkness where the only white showing are the glowing eyes of an enchanted servant/castle-fixtures who then looks to the clock.
Magnificent.
Blue Steel
Blue Steel has a fantastic ECU (Extreme CloseUp) Rack Focus in this scene, but the setup / payoff on either side are also crucial.
The setup is a tense sequence of closeups where bad guy Eugene (Ron Silver) holds a gun on Nick (Clancy Brown).
As Eugene talks about see the knowledge (of his impending doom) on Nick's face, the scene cuts to an ECU of the trigger (Frame Right, where Eugene has been all along) and racking to Nick's eye, drawing out concentration . . . .
BANG! Payoff to a sudden cut to of Eugene getting shot, and a quick flurry of action shots as everyone scrambles, closeup tension broken with medium-and-wide chaos.
Wynonna Earp
A fun shot/cut/sound mix sequence sets the audience up for a camera move which gives us a taste of the surprise and disorientation Doc experiences getting knocked out.
Bonus for gorgeous yellow-and-teal-with-lens-flare cutting to jet-black-inside-trunk. *chef's kiss*
Atlanta
Atlanta has some of the best episodic title cards of the last decade.
The pilot goes for a standard 'over the titular city' vibe, while the next three move into show style going forward: font remaining the same while colours and textures adapt to the environment.
We're also partial to Vida's title work, so clearly we love that 'vaguely incorporated into a scene' style - what other shows are doing work like this?
The Leftovers
Everything from props/set design to staging and framing to lighting works perfectly in this The Leftovers 2.10 "I Live Here Now" karaoke scene.
Kevin is starkly lit, feeling exposed, Behind him, a red arrow points not only at wheel of songs, but 'gun to head' style at his shadow as he's forced to sing to return to his life