MasterShots Vol 1 Read online

  3.3

  THE TURN IN

  We love to see a character's face, so when a scene opens with a character's face hidden, we can't wait for the actor to turn around. The Turn In is a good way to introduce a character to a scene, when they are about to make an important announcement or change in their life, or start approaching their problems in a different way.

  You can even start the scene with a few lines of dialogue, as the actor talks to somebody off-screen, before he ever turns to face the camera. It might help to set up your camera so that the other actor's shoulder is just visible in shot; otherwise the audience may think your hero is talking to himself.

  In this example from 36 Quai des Orfèvres, when Gérard Depardieu turns into the shot, the moment is made far more powerful because he walks straight up to the other character. If he had only turned around, it would look like he was staring out of a window and finally joined a conversation. The Turn In works because he turns in and storms into the scene, taking over and showing his strength and determination.

  Don't get your actor to stare at a wall, or something else close-up, because it looks ridiculous. Give your actor a window or balcony to peer out from, so that there's a reasonable justification for him to be staring off into space.

  Set up your camera behind the actor, with a long lens. Although you can move the camera to accommodate the actor's movement as he walks toward the second actor, the less movement this shot contains, the better it works. Set up your actors' marks so that the camera barely needs to move.

  36 Quai des Orfèvres. Directed by Olivier Marchal. Madman Films, 2004. All Rights Reserved.

  3.4

  OBJECT REVELATION

  There's something extremely powerful about placing a character dead center of the screen, when they first appear in the film. It's a way of saying that this person is important, so take note. One way to do this is to place the character in the center of the screen, behind an object, and then to move that object out of the way.

  The simplest solution, as illustrated with these frames from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is to have a door, or doors, open in front of the character. An ordinary door, which swings to one side, isn't as powerful as double doors, or sliding doors, which part to reveal the character. You can use other objects, such as cars or boxes that are pushed out of the way, but if doors are available, they work well. Whenever an audience sees a closed door about to be opened, it arouses their curiosity.

  You can build this moment into a complex shot, with lots of camera moves, but when the doors are about to open, bring the camera to rest. The longer your lens, the more clearly we'll see the new character. Be wary of using too long a lens, though, or the door frames may not be in view. The door frames help frame the character, and this gives her much more significance than if she's standing in open space.

  The character who opens the doors will have to stand to one side, which may feel a little artificial for the actor, but is essential for the new character to be visible.

  To add real power to this shot, let everything come to rest for a moment — the doors, actors, cameras — and then have the newly introduced character walk into the room. This underlines her importance.

  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Directed by Ang Lee. Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, 2000. All Rights Reserved.

  3.5

  WINDOW PUSH

  Sometimes you want a character to do more than simply leave the scene. You want to signal that she's leaving behind a part of herself, or a section of the film. At moments of such change, the Window Push is a good way to signal this sense of closure.

  In these frames from Amélie, a simple combination of effects creates the correct emotion, without it looking like a technique at all. The camera moves toward the windows, as they are closed, and then the character walks out of the shot and turns out the light. It's the combination of these factors that makes this work.

  When a camera dollies forward, we get the feeling we're going to see something new, so when the character walks out of the dolly shot and leaves a dark window, it creates the surprising feeling of closure. It breaks expectations. If the window was already closed, or the light already out, the effect would not be as powerful.

  Set up your camera outside a window, and dolly smoothly toward your main character as she closes the windows, backs out of the shot, and turns out the light. Make sure there's plenty of light on the outside wall, otherwise the shot simply goes dark, rather than revealing the dark, empty room.

  The technique can be varied in many ways to create other emotions. You could, for instance, follow a character toward a front door, which is slammed behind her, leaving us dollying in on a closed door. Or you could push in on a character sitting in a car, which drives out of the shot.

  Amélie. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Becker Entertainment, 2001. All Rights Reserved.

  3.6

  SCENE SWAP

  Imagine that you want two conversations to take place in the same location, one after the other. How do you get one character to leave the location, and introduce the next character to the scene without awkward pauses or dead screen time?

  The frames from Always, directed by Steven Spielberg, show how you can connect two mini-scenes. First we see Richard Dreyfuss ending his conversation with Holly Hunter. We see him looking at her, and then from his Point of View we watch her go up the stairs. At this point, you're expecting a cut to another shot or to another scene. Instead, John Goodman slides into frame, in medium close-up. After a couple of seconds we cut to a wide shot of Goodman sitting down with Dreyfuss, and the effect is complete.

  By connecting the two mini-scenes visually, in one shot, they flow together. If Spielberg had simply cut from Dreyfuss to a medium wide of John Goodman walking in, it would have felt like two scenes were being forced together.

  For this effect to work, the scene change should almost be seen through the eyes of the character who stays put. Set up your camera as though it's looking through this character's eyes, and follow the actor who moves away in the background.

  The third character should be close to camera, stepping into the shot from the side. In most cases, the distance between the background and foreground characters will require a quick focus change at the moment the third character steps into frame. This focus shift enhances the effect.

  Camera movement can be used to enhance the effect. In Spielberg's example, the camera follows Hunter up the stairs, and the camera keeps moving upwards to take in Goodman's full height.

  Always. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Universal Studios Home Video, 1989. All Rights Reserved.

  3.7

  THE PENDULUM PAN

  The Pendulum Pan is best used for a final exit, either from a section of the film, or from the whole film. It creates a feeling of closure, as though the character really is leaving, and is an ideal way to see a character leave the film for good.

  From the frames shown here, it looks as though the actor walks past, and the camera pans after him. There is, however, a subtle move that makes all the difference to the overall effect. As the actor goes past the camera, the camera moves forward. It moves into the pathway that the actor was following, and continues to pan after him. For reasons best left to psychologists, this creates the feeling of seeing somebody really leave.

  This is a particularly fascinating effect because it is so subtle. To see the power of tiny differences in camera moves, you can try shooting it both ways; once with a simple pan, and then with the Pendulum Pan. The difference is enormous.

  Set up your camera perpendicular to the path that your actor is taking. It works best if the actor walks in a straight line, but it doesn't matter whether this is in a street, open space, or even down a hill. The camera pans as the actor approaches to keep him framed, but is otherwise motionless. Only as the actor steps in front of the camera does it begin to move toward him.

  Continue to pan, but stop the forward movement as soon as you're on the actor's line of movement. All t
hese moves should be gentle, although the pan will pick up some pace when the actor passes close to the camera.

  An alternative approach is to have the actor further away, and a longer forward camera move, but in some locations and circumstances this can look forced and overly dramatic. Of course, that may be what you want, so this is a good move to experiment with.

  Onegin. Directed by Martha Fiennes. Siren Entertainment, 1999. All Rights Reserved.

  3.8

  DIRECTION SHIFT

  The Direction Shift is a special case, in that it can be used as an Entrance or an Exit. The shot begins with the camera some way back from the character, or characters, as they walk along. The camera tracks with them, keeping them in frame.

  Toward the end of the shot they turn and walk toward the camera, as the tracking movement gradually slows down to a halt. To use this technique to introduce a character or characters to a scene, you would have them walk to this final position and begin a conversation, or perform some action. This sort of entry is best used when we already know the characters, and are introducing a new section of the film, or a new scene.

  To use the technique as an exit, the characters should continue walking past the camera. This is not the sort of exit that creates real finality, but more of a sense that the characters are moving on elsewhere, and we'll catch up with them soon.

  Set up the end of the shot first, with your characters in their final positions. This enables you to have a set camera height and angle throughout the shot, meaning there is no movement except the tracking. Now set up the beginning of the shot, and position your actors so they are in frame. You may need to make small angle adjustments while shooting, to keep them accurately framed, but the main sense of motion should come from the tracking move.

  Timing of the tracking move can be quite difficult, so practice several times before shooting. The technique works well during dialogue scenes (so long as you have wireless mics), but if there's no dialogue, keep it short.

  The Girl on the Bridge. Directed by Patrice Leconte. Madman Films, 1999. All Rights Reserved.

  4.1

  SUBTLE DOLLY

  The Subtle Dolly, as its name suggests, is a camera move so slight that the audience won't notice the camera moving, but will feel uneasy.

  This shot is used when characters are creeping around in a dangerous space, hoping not to be spotted, or shot at. As the actor creeps toward the camera, the camera moves back slightly. For the audience, this feels like we're backing up into dangerous territory. The last thing you want to do is turn your back on the danger, but that's exactly what this technique makes the audience feel. Sometimes the smallest moves have the largest effects. Without this move, the tension would have to come entirely from the actors' performance.

  The example shown here has the camera set up close to a wall, and this also adds to the feeling that we're creeping around. The technique can, however, work in open spaces, because creeping around in an open space is also frightening. The trick is to have your actors moving forward, glancing around, while the camera backs off slightly.

  Set up your camera pointing toward the actor, and have him move toward you. It's fine if he's looking off to the side, or above, but his movement should be directly toward camera, rather than weaving through the scene.

  The camera should move back a short distance, and the actor should come to a rest close to the camera. The move doesn't need to end here, of course, because you can have the actor move off and continue with a longer shot.

  If there's more than one character in the scene, try to keep the audience attention on one lead character. Get the other actors to follow a tight line, so they are barely seen behind the lead actor. If the actors spread out too much, it takes away the sense of danger and the need to hide.

  Enemy at the Gates. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Roadshow Home Entertainment, 2001. All Rights Reserved.

  4.2

  THE UNSEEN

  It's been said so many times that it's almost a cliché, but things that aren't seen are far more frightening than those that are. What people often forget, however, is that it takes some skill to indicate that there is something out there, something that's frightening.

  A technique shown here, from Philip Noyce's Rabbit Proof Fence, is an excellent example of how to create fear and tension by showing almost nothing. The characters are escaping from a tracker, and at this point in the film, he's a good distance away. The story could, as a result, become dull, but we want the tension to remain high until the tracker is much closer. Noyce shows this fear by having a close-up of the main character, and then showing her Point of View. But the Point of View isn't what we'd expect. She's not looking into the forest, but up at the treetops. Her Point of View darts from one tree to another.

  For some inexplicable reason, this unexpected, jerky Point of View makes the actor's look into empty space feel like a moment of real dread.

  It's unlikely that you'll want to recreate this exact scene, but the essential keys to adapting this for your own film are here. You need to get a good close-up of your actor looking afraid, in the context of an ongoing chase. This shot should be quite still. Don't go circling around, or dollying in. Keep the camera still.

  The Point of View should be shot handheld, and at an unexpected angle. If this was taking place in a city, with an on-foot pursuer, it would work to have the character look up at the street signs. It unsettles the audience, they don't quite know what's going on, and fear is created.

  Rabbit Proof Fence. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Magna Pacific, 2002. All Rights Reserved.

  4.3

  ANTICIPATING MOTION

  In the middle of a chase scene, there's nothing more likely to raise tension than having everything come to a halt. So long as we know that the attack is about to resume, then coming to rest is far more frightening than actually being chased.

  In these frames from Blade Runner, Harrison Ford's character makes it clear to the audience that he's anticipating something, because he points his gun into empty space, and every shred of acting ability is put into his body movement to convey this expectation. This is enhanced, however, by framing Ford as almost incidental, in the bottom right-hand corner. Our eye is drawn to the bright, empty space in the top left, which makes us know something is going to appear there.

  When Rutger Hauer steps in, we're completely expecting his appearance, but it's still frightening.

  Set up your camera behind your main character. This should be more than an over-the-shoulder shot, but should put your main character almost out of sight, so we look where he looks. There should be an empty space for us to look into, and also a plausible entry to this space. In other words, just looking down a dead-end corridor won't create any fear. But if there's a door on the left with light coming through it, we know somebody can come through that door.

  Anticipating the appearance of the character is how you create the tension, and what you do with it after that is up to you. In this example, Hauer disappears in an instant, but you could just as easily have him run at the camera. This is a powerful technique because it can be used in many locations, and followed by any number of actions and shots.

  Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott. Warner Home Video, 1982. All Rights Reserved.

  4.4

  PUSH ON NOTHING

  Without any scary music, or anything jumping out, you can create a sense of fear and tension in the audience. You do this by moving a Point of View shot through an empty space.

  When you wander around a scary house or frightening street at night, you're scared not by what you can see, but by the expectation that something may appear. You see nothing at all unusual, but as you move forward, new things come into view, and you keep hoping nothing frightening will jump out. This is such a familiar human experience that it can be translated directly into film.

  When your character's moving through an unpleasant place, you can create tension by letting the audience see things exactly as they would see them. Y
ou move your camera through the empty space.

  In film, when you push in (or move toward) something, it can signify a thousand different things, but it nearly always means something has changed. To push through empty space means you echo the human experience of walking through a frightening place, while also using a cinematic signifier of change. This makes the audience worry that something is about to happen or appear. Whether you actually have something frightening appear or not is up to you, but to create this tension, you need nothing more than an empty corridor.

  Shoot your character at eye level, moving the camera backward at the same rate they pace through the corridor. Then turn the camera around, and shoot the same scene as though from their point of view. Although pushing down empty corridors is frightening enough, a move through a door to one side heightens the sense that something unpleasant is about to happen.

  The Shining. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Warner Home Video, 1980. All Rights Reserved.

  4.5

  WIDENING THE SPACE

  When your character is trying to escape from a heavily guarded area, there are several techniques that help raise tension of the scene. A classic is to keep the camera low, and look up at the character as he creeps around. This works because it feels unusual, and also obscures our view of the surroundings, making them mysterious.

  Widening the Space is a technique that begins a shot low down, hiding the environment, but then has the character come down to the level of the camera. You can see in these frames from Children of Men that as Clive Owen creeps around, the camera pans with him, but also moves behind him. This means that by the time he's crouched down, we have an over-the-shoulder shot, looking into a wide open space.