Camera Coverage from Wong Kar-wai —— Yujie He

Wong Kar-wai’s use of camera coverage is very stylized. In the film, the decoupage realizes the storytelling of the film by means of pushing in, pulling out, shifting across, and following. The use of the lens directly determines the presentation of the film’s picture style: panoramic shots, expressing the overall film space; close-up shots play an emphasis; long shots reproduce the plot of the movie; empty shots render the atmosphere of the story, etc. The camera coverage of Wong Kar-wai’s films presents distinctive features that are quite different from other directors. In his films, the proper decoupage certainly exists, but what makes Wong Kar-wai’s distinctive style is mainly the use of some unexpected shooting techniques in his films. Short focal length, large field of view, high-speed photography, overexposure… Wang Kar-wai uses ingenious camera coverage to subvert the conventional narrative methods in movies, which is unforgettable.