MasterShots Vol 3 by Christopher Kenworhty

Author:Christopher Kenworhty [Kenworhty, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781615931545
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions
Published: 2013-10-29T23:00:00+00:00

AI: Artificial Intelligence. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2001. All rights reserved.

The Book of Eli. Directed by the Hughes Brothers. Summit Entertainment, 2010. All rights reserved.

Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010. All rights reserved.

6.6

FRAMING FOCUS

Window frames offer you many opportunities for creative shots. It’s best to work with window frames that contain small panes of glass, otherwise you’re shooting through pure glass, and there isn’t enough frame to make the effect work.

The shot from Schindler’s List opens with the actor moving to frame right, coming from behind the windows, and then arcing around to the left. This effectively establishes that the windows are there, and that the character is coming from the room behind them. This is vital to orient the viewer. Without this opening, what follows may feel like the actors are outside the building, staring in.

As he moves further to the left, and peers through the window, we pull focus to Liam Neeson in the distance. The framing effect is further enhanced by the other actors on the left of the screen. Their position is not overly realistic, because if they wanted to peer through, they would move into position to do so, but this moment is so brief that the arrangement still works.

We cut quickly to a shot from roughly the same position, with a longer lens. This prevents us from identifying with the observing characters too strongly. This is not their story, and they have served their purpose by making us want to observe Neeson voyeuristically. We now do that.

The lighting on the window frame changes at the cut. This may be deliberate, because the brightly lit frame may have overwhelmed the shot. Although the change in lighting is not realistic either, it is not noticeable when watching the film. You can get away with such continuity problems if the storytelling of your camera moves is strong enough.

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