Class Experience
I’m almost embarrassed at the revelation that came for me in class last week, as the phrase that got me thinking is something that’s so obvious and honestly something that I already understood, but I suppose I had just never intellectualised it until now. The phrase was such a simple one, but it really did get me thinking.
How a scene is covered changes what it means.
It’s so obvious really, of course how a scene is covered changes its meaning, but somehow despite my intense interest in all things camera I had just never considered it in any way nearly this succinct. I suppose it’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking of camera coverage as a utilitarian measure – simply a means to the end of constructing a scene that is comprehensible to an audience. But this phrase for some reason just got my head ticking over, and in the week since that class I’ve found myself really thinking more about why filmmakers choose to frame shots and construct scenes the way they do – what meaning is it they’re trying to convey. It has made me appreciate all the more, films which really use shot selection to push forward the narrative – all the while increasing my frustration with films and television that fall into the trap of utilitarianism.
In particular since giving this concept more and more thought, I’ve almost begun to retroactively appreciate the things I’ve seen which got really experimental with their coverage. In particular I’ve been looking back at one of my favourite shows Mr Robot, which in terms of being experimental with camera coverage and framing is really the king in my mind. This certainly isn’t the first time I’ve taken inspiration from the shows creator Sam Esmail and Cinematographer Tod Campbell, and I was definitely aware of their strange approach to coverage already. But since giving more consideration to this idea of coverage creating meaning, I’ve gained an ever increased appreciation of the boldness of their approach. Mr Robot is a show which in a lot of cases creates its own visual language, where the vast majority of other media tends to rely upon established norms of scene coverage and framing on thirds. This simple phrase has really made me look at films differently, and much like how I’ve been looking more deeply into a show like Mr Robot, I’m looking forward to continuing to apply this new perspective throughout the rest of the semester (and beyond).