For this film analysis, I decided to take a study on the film Inception (2010) by Christopher Nolan. The scene I decided to analyse is the dream hallway fight sequence.

This scene serves as a very part to the film as it shows the importance of planning before shooting of scene. In research, the team took about 6 months in planning and preparation to shoot this scene. Reason being that they had to take care of safety precautions, the way the shot will be framed and the time it took for Nolan’s team to create the whole rotating structure. What’s more important to take note was this film was 8 years in planning, and was an original concept developed by Christopher Nolan without any pre-existing intellectual property.

What I found very interesting about this film was Nolan’s stance against using digital filming, instead he preferred shooting on film and depending on practical effects to achieve the fight sequence. It was mind blowing to discover that Nolan had to build 100 foot rotating structure from scratch, with the help of a crew that consist of 500 people in order to achieve the very popular dream fight sequence, which doesn’t even star the main character of the film. The entire rotating structure had to rotate in sync and with precision or it may cause the structure to vibrate, or even worst result in a structural collapse.

To complete this project, Nolan turned to his frequent production crew and director of photography. Wally Pfister was Nolan’s choice as a cinematographer for this film, and honestly I think he did an amazing job covering this amazing fight scene. The fight scene was shot on wide angle lens with no shaky cam was used for this fight scene. In the hallway, they made the decision to attach the camera to the floor, following the rotations of the whole structure. Another camera had to be placed on a crane which, which was attached to a telescoping arm in order to follow the actors and track the movement of the scene.

The lighting in the hall was another amazing factor that contributed to this scene as well. This is because they couldn’t use the typical approach to light the scene due to the rotation of the structure, the lights had to be build in to the hallway itself. Every light that was placed in the hallway was meant for essential illumination of the actors and the hallway.

Towards the second room, the fighting scene was not shot as easily. Due to the difference in height and length of the room, the rotation of the entire room had to be changed in momentum, slowed down when the actors are on the long side and increased in speed when the actors were on the shorter side of the hotel room. Reason is because if the actors failed to get across the room in time, it may cause serious injuries due to the height of the fall. Besides that, the actors had to be invested in the scene as well, Joseph Gordon-Levitt mentioned in an interview that he had to constantly focus on set and try not to look out because it might cause motion sickness, the directors experienced the motion sickness when they tried it out themselves. Besides that, Joseph Gordon-Levitt spent 2 week training for the scene before the shoot, this includes physical training as well to help prepare them for the scene.

Lee Smith, the editor of the film was so stunned by the footages that he received that he made a decision to let the whole footage of the hall room fight be played out as a one take. He said that the footage looked so amazing and clever that there is no way possible that anyone can pull it off. But After the hallway fight was over and the editing in the room fight was a little different, the cutting were a lot faster, there were a lot more close up shots in the final product. This was because the scene was so dangerous to pull of, that sometimes they had to call in a stuntman to do the scene, and the editing was their way to hide the stuntman.

This whole scene only lasted several short minutes, but it proved to be one of the most memorable fighting scene of the decade. This scene proved that practical effects when done correctly can create an amazing outcome. Besides that, it emphasizes the importance of planning in a film production. What I feel was most important was that everyone was invested and wanted to make something out of the ordinary, and Inception was definitely one of those films where you can feel that a lot of thought and hard work was put in to creating this film.

Hallroom Fight Scene – Timecode 01:06 – 02:30

Q:Reflect upon your experience in class.  Did anything come as a revelation to you?  Did you learn something new technically, about the camera or film craft in general?

This week in class, we were told to shoot and edit the the videos that we took. My experience as a sound guy for the crew did not come as a revelation because I have done it plenty of times before I was given an opportunity to operate a camera back when I was in production. Although, it was fun to work as a sound guy again on a new camera as it did provide a different kind of experience when working with a new crew.

Working with a new crew is like familiarising with a new camera again, you got to get them to work together in order to achieve optimal results. After a good 10-15 minutes of discussion and location scouting, we settled to shoot in a nearby classroom. I liked the director’s instruction to shoot beside the window, which allowed light to reflect off the wall and bounce on to the actor’s face. It gave a very nice and subtle look to the actor, bringing out the actor’s eye color.

Besides that, the crew worked together really well. We all had a say in what we want to shoot and how we want to shoot the film. The director of photography although it was his first time handling the camera, did an great job in framing the shot, and with the help of the director the story was filmed beautifully.

I’ve also learnt the importance of the continuity guy as I used his notes while arranging the videos in post production. The notes that he took during set played a large importance in keeping the phase of the film consistent.

Overall, I really liked filming with the class, it was a fun experience which i believe will help me in the future of my filmmaking career.

For this week’s class exercise, we were given a script and grouped up to shoot a short sequence. For this task I took up the role of being the audio person reason being to give others an opportunity to handle the camera. The video was shot in a overexposed environment, with one key light which I thought to myself that this could be used to an advantage later on in post production, and sure enough it did.

Based on the sequence that was shot, my idea was to show the intimacy and build a relationship for both characters just by the colors and the framing of the film. When I first brought the sequences in to Adobe Premiere, I identified the shadows, highlights and the overexposed areas. I then proceed to arrange the sequence, giving it a very “dreamlike” story to the film. The beginning of the film was when I decided to punch up the contrast and increase the depth of the shadows to give it a harsher look to the characters. Based on the sequence that was shot, my idea was to increase the intimacy and build a relationship for both characters just by the colors and framing of the film. I received inspiration to grade the sequence from the film “Secrets” by Jay Chou.

I then changed the aspect ratio of the film from 16:9 to 2.35: 1, giving it a more filmic and intimate look for both of the characters. By removing head room from the frame and altering the dimension of the film, I realize that the 2 characters felt closer to each other, making the scene look much more intimate than it already was. The placement of the actress was perfect as the film ended, the light falled perfectly on her face, revealing her character.

The Film I decided to do my analysis on is the beginning scene to Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Steven Spielberg, the storming of Omaha beach.

The reason for picking this film is because I find that there was a lot of elements to the scene that was being played. Elements such as lighting, camera movement, camera settings,music, acting and the use of silence to form one of the most accurate depiction of war in film.

The scene starts off with an establishing shot of the battlefield, then cuts to the boats and in this scene we get to see the camera moving vertically in an aggressive way. This shows the strengths of the tides and how intense the war is going to become. The scene then starts off as doors of the ships opens up and people getting killed, illustrating that the fight has begun.

Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński was Spielberg’s pick as a cinematographer for this film. Spielberg’s intentions for shooting this scene was not to glamorise war, but it was meant to let audience understand the tragedy of war. The execution of the hand held camera shot really magnifies the intensity of the film. Movement such as the camera walking and and falling into the water shows the reality of war. Besides that, Janusz Kamiński also took off the coating from his camera lens to give a softer and a blur look to it, resulting in what looks like vertical lens flare.

After doing some research, I found out that this scene was shot with 45 degree and 90 degree shutter angle and not the usual 180 degree shutter angle. This meant that there are less motion blur, and objects such as dust and smoke particles becomes more vivid and in detailed. The decision to shoot at this settings is to give the film a much more realistic look to the film. Besides that, Spielberg wanted to make the film as real as possible, desaturating the color of the scene and also putting the camera up close to their faces, showing the reality of war. Little details such as vomiting due to seasickness,praying, hands shaking due to the thought of not coming back alive let’s the audience relate that the soldier are too, humans as well.

In hopes of making the film more realistic, Saving Private Ryan was not storyboarded. Reason for that was because he wanted to be spontaneous and inspired on what to shoot during set, which will allow a better capture of moments. The result of this decision is what we can see in the film, an amazing capture of soldiers drowning, being shot, body parts flying around and soldiers taking their last breathe. This puts audience right into the battlefield with the soldiers, allowing them to experience the horrifying battle of the war.

The score on this scene was absolutely amazing as well, the gunshots and explosion were realistic but the use of silence for the introduction of Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) lets us understand the intensity of the war. Some would debate it’s because he was accepting his fate during the battle, but the use of silence reminds us how loud the guns and explosions are. The sound that was used for making the silence as Captain Miller snaps back into reality to the battlefield was recorded from the internals of a seashell and a sound of a kettle boiling.

When all of these elements and execution played out well, we get to see one of the most gory and brutal war scenes in film.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZltasvB7CKw

Q:Reflect upon your experience in class.  Did anything come as a revelation to you?  Did you learn something new technically; about the camera, or film craft in general?

Coming to university after gaining some experience in a production house has really lead me to look at the class differently. I was not as intrigued as I was when I first held the camera back then, but at the same time the class taught me to be a student again.

I almost forgotten all the basics of filmmaking having to constantly shoot on multiple occasion. It was refreshing to learn the basics of the camera all over again. Simple things like composition, rule of thirds, lighting and other stuff that I took for granted because of a great team back home. The class has brought me to have a second look at the basics, and understand the fundamentals of what creates a great shot.

By understanding the fundamentals of the films, I get to learn to ways to composite a shot different from my usual way of filming as well. What i found most interesting so far was the class exercise when filming light on the subject, learning what is a key light all over again. One practice that I didn’t realize was important was the direction of light touching hitting the face. A common practice that is usually done by filmmakers is identifying the source of light from the room, then build your lighting up from there. It was interesting to learn how different angles of the face project different levels of contrast, especially in the shadow area. It’s incredible to understand how a simple adjustment in lighting can impact the film and its appearance.

Although this did not come as a revelation to me, it was definitely a good reminder that the basics are disciplines that should be carried in every filmmakers toolkit. I am excited to learn more in the coming weeks.

What if a director sets rules for himself to follow? Example: only use a single prime lens, the tripod can’t be moved from where is positioned and many others, what do you do?

The answer is fairly simple, ensemble staging. Instead playing with camera movements, get the actors to perform the scene in a more attractive manner. These days films are shot with multiple cuts, especially when focusing on a conversation. It’s always over the shoulder shot, cut reverse shot, cut, another over the shoulder shot while the actors perform their lines. It’s a quick and easy way to establish information but it’s not very cinematic. Yes when it’s done correctly it can be a pretty powerful tool, but most Hollywood movies these days are so used to this method that it becomes boring.

“What a film director really directs is the audience’s attention” – Alexander Mackendrick

Kurosawa films are known for being cinematic because of the elements that are in play in his films. He uses wide angle lenses to show the dynamic of his shot and place actors in a way where they could be seen in different ways. He also gave actors a certain way of acting so during the scene they could be identified easily. Besides that, the way his character expresses emotions in his film is also over dramatic. An example would be when a character is angry, he will stand up, stomp his food and expresses his anger. When a character is in shame, they would cover their face to hide their embarrassment. This simple yet effective technique gives Kurosawa’s film a certain unique and filmic look.

Besides body expression, the movement and placement of characters in a scene plays a big role as well. Audiences usually pays attention to objects that are in the centre of the frames, so in order to divert the attention of the audience, place the character at the centre and make him stand out.