These film extracts were shown in class. I'm going to analyse them and discuss how these findings can contribute to my own work.
Cinematography: Starting from the beginning of the extract, the camera slowly tracks around from a side angle until it frames Firth's character centrally within the frame. The original placement of the camera presumably acting as somewhat of an establishing shot, placing Firth's character within the location he's sat. (Personally, I'm a fan of any sequence that minimises cuts, using them only when attention needs to be brought to some other aspect in frame or to suggest certain things to an audience. This sequence ticks these boxes for me). This unassuming camera movement tells the audience a whole lot. Firstly, the slow movement is a delicate way of introducing the character to the scene, it would have been jarring to the audience had there had been a cut from the previous shot (not shown in this clip) of the outside of his house to him squarely facing the camera. (This method of using a track or pan to introduce a scene is widely used). Secondly, the fact the shot stops where it does places Firth directly in front of an audience member, better suited for capturing the actors performance and forcing the audience to look at nothing else.
The next edit is to a cut away of the character taking off his glasses, suggesting an uneasiness or some kind of nervous habit. It also sets up a shot to come where Firth drops them, implying a lack of control, both physically and emotionally. Since the shot where the glasses are dropped is loaded with such important meaning, to not include this cutaway would perhaps cause the later cutaway to seem over dramatic or unusual as there would have been no prior understanding of him holding his glasses in his hand. In terms of performance direction, having the actor take off his glasses makes him easier to empathise with. Eyes are the window to the soul, being able to see directly into the actors eye's make the performance more powerful.
It then momentarily cuts back to the 'front on' shot of Firth but changes very quickly to a side angle of his face. I'm not entirely sure why the director has chosen to include this second angle. The result is that we see his reaction from another perspective; for me personally this adds to the impact of his performance, from the side the audience is able to see slight facial movements that they are not aware of when watching him from the front. For this reason I believe its fair to say that the reason for this scene's impact is due to Firth's performance, meaning that in our own work we may not be as lucky with our 'talent'. Regardless, if I'm to include a similar technique in my work I'll have to explain my choices if it's not clear through the actors performance.
It once again then cuts back to the main shot of Firth, however rather than remaining static the director has chosen to use a very slow track in. The result of this is that as the conversation progresses, more is discovered and more emotions start to be visible, the audience are getting closer and closer to these emotions. Essentially, as the scene reaches it's climax, the audience are forced to take in all the emotion that comes as a result of it. Again, this is quite a common technique and one that I plan to emulate in the two minuet film. The fact that there are no cuts for quite a while guarantees the sequence to be unrelenting, for the audience there is no escape from the performance and its this lack of fear to hold the shot that contributes to the emotion of the entire scene. It only cuts once the phone conversation is complete, back to the side angle, capturing the action of Firth putting the phone down. Then back once again to him centered in frame, still crushed in as he was before the shot cut and still savoring all the small emotions Firth brings to the character.
It's now that the second cut away of the glasses is used, the audience see them fall to the floor, now able to understand why we saw the first cut away and the importance of it. Very quickly it cuts back to the shot before it, lingering further still, then back to the side angle, showing the second perspective and finally back to the original before the scene ends.
If anything is to be taken from this sequence, it's the fact that so much emotion and comprehension of a character can be captured through a very simple set up. It doesn't always have to be the case of over complicating the camera angles or the amount one might think is necessary. In this instance, just using the two and switching them back and forth is far more effective in terms of forcing the audience to empathise with the character. I'll definitely take this into consideration when story boarding for my project. If I can, I'd like to use as little number of angles as Ford does.
Sound: Like this cinematography of this sequence, its the simplicity and the less is more mentality that works so well. The only sound heard apart from the conversation for the majority of the scene is the rain out side. Pathetic fallacy at its more obvious. Having said this however it works really well, the type of rain is worth considering, in film there are many ways to record rain and many ways it can be portrayed. In this case, though its heavy (as you see in the establishing shot of the house) it doesn't at all sound violent On the contrary, though it's noticeable its almost relaxing, reflecting the calm demeanor of Firth's character while he's on the phone. Its only when he hangs up and allows him self to break down does it gradually get louder and louder and more chaotic sounding, intensifying the scene.
The only other sound you hear relate to the phone, the most noticeable being when Firth attempts to hang up. Though the camera angle doesn't depict him placing it down, though considered sound effects, its portrayed that he fumbles for a second before managing to successfully put it down. This is a great example of how all three elements of a scene come together to convey an emotion. The camera crushed in, capturing all the emotion, the sound, used to suggest an instability and of course the excellent performance from Firth. From this I would say I've learnt not to underestimate the power of sound in a scene, especially in terms of sound that comes from out of frame. The actor may not have been directed to do this and if that's the case then it goes to show what some carefully considered sound can achieve.
Cinematography: Starting from the beginning of the extract, the camera slowly tracks around from a side angle until it frames Firth's character centrally within the frame. The original placement of the camera presumably acting as somewhat of an establishing shot, placing Firth's character within the location he's sat. (Personally, I'm a fan of any sequence that minimises cuts, using them only when attention needs to be brought to some other aspect in frame or to suggest certain things to an audience. This sequence ticks these boxes for me). This unassuming camera movement tells the audience a whole lot. Firstly, the slow movement is a delicate way of introducing the character to the scene, it would have been jarring to the audience had there had been a cut from the previous shot (not shown in this clip) of the outside of his house to him squarely facing the camera. (This method of using a track or pan to introduce a scene is widely used). Secondly, the fact the shot stops where it does places Firth directly in front of an audience member, better suited for capturing the actors performance and forcing the audience to look at nothing else.
The next edit is to a cut away of the character taking off his glasses, suggesting an uneasiness or some kind of nervous habit. It also sets up a shot to come where Firth drops them, implying a lack of control, both physically and emotionally. Since the shot where the glasses are dropped is loaded with such important meaning, to not include this cutaway would perhaps cause the later cutaway to seem over dramatic or unusual as there would have been no prior understanding of him holding his glasses in his hand. In terms of performance direction, having the actor take off his glasses makes him easier to empathise with. Eyes are the window to the soul, being able to see directly into the actors eye's make the performance more powerful.
It then momentarily cuts back to the 'front on' shot of Firth but changes very quickly to a side angle of his face. I'm not entirely sure why the director has chosen to include this second angle. The result is that we see his reaction from another perspective; for me personally this adds to the impact of his performance, from the side the audience is able to see slight facial movements that they are not aware of when watching him from the front. For this reason I believe its fair to say that the reason for this scene's impact is due to Firth's performance, meaning that in our own work we may not be as lucky with our 'talent'. Regardless, if I'm to include a similar technique in my work I'll have to explain my choices if it's not clear through the actors performance.
It once again then cuts back to the main shot of Firth, however rather than remaining static the director has chosen to use a very slow track in. The result of this is that as the conversation progresses, more is discovered and more emotions start to be visible, the audience are getting closer and closer to these emotions. Essentially, as the scene reaches it's climax, the audience are forced to take in all the emotion that comes as a result of it. Again, this is quite a common technique and one that I plan to emulate in the two minuet film. The fact that there are no cuts for quite a while guarantees the sequence to be unrelenting, for the audience there is no escape from the performance and its this lack of fear to hold the shot that contributes to the emotion of the entire scene. It only cuts once the phone conversation is complete, back to the side angle, capturing the action of Firth putting the phone down. Then back once again to him centered in frame, still crushed in as he was before the shot cut and still savoring all the small emotions Firth brings to the character.
If anything is to be taken from this sequence, it's the fact that so much emotion and comprehension of a character can be captured through a very simple set up. It doesn't always have to be the case of over complicating the camera angles or the amount one might think is necessary. In this instance, just using the two and switching them back and forth is far more effective in terms of forcing the audience to empathise with the character. I'll definitely take this into consideration when story boarding for my project. If I can, I'd like to use as little number of angles as Ford does.
Sound: Like this cinematography of this sequence, its the simplicity and the less is more mentality that works so well. The only sound heard apart from the conversation for the majority of the scene is the rain out side. Pathetic fallacy at its more obvious. Having said this however it works really well, the type of rain is worth considering, in film there are many ways to record rain and many ways it can be portrayed. In this case, though its heavy (as you see in the establishing shot of the house) it doesn't at all sound violent On the contrary, though it's noticeable its almost relaxing, reflecting the calm demeanor of Firth's character while he's on the phone. Its only when he hangs up and allows him self to break down does it gradually get louder and louder and more chaotic sounding, intensifying the scene.
The only other sound you hear relate to the phone, the most noticeable being when Firth attempts to hang up. Though the camera angle doesn't depict him placing it down, though considered sound effects, its portrayed that he fumbles for a second before managing to successfully put it down. This is a great example of how all three elements of a scene come together to convey an emotion. The camera crushed in, capturing all the emotion, the sound, used to suggest an instability and of course the excellent performance from Firth. From this I would say I've learnt not to underestimate the power of sound in a scene, especially in terms of sound that comes from out of frame. The actor may not have been directed to do this and if that's the case then it goes to show what some carefully considered sound can achieve.
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