Better Call Saul
37:43 – 38:32

this is the 5th episode to a 10 episode 1st series, ‘Better Call Saul’ a spinoff series made by Bob odenkirk and the creator of AMC’s Breaking Bad Vince Gilligan.

TO put it more into context, in the spinoff, we learn about the fall of James Mc Gill and the rise of Saul Goodman; Criminal Lawyer. ‘someone who will fight for ya through teeth and nail’ was a recurring theme for our protagonist played by Odenkirk. This episode is where Jimmy Mc Gill (bob odenkirk) tries to change his profession. he goes into elder law. so in this scene here is him trying to sell his name to parking security, whom we all know as mike from breaking bad. so this is prior to Saul’s empire, and what we see is the first awkward steps of a very lucrative business.

Saul is used to working late nights and Mike is a retired cop who lost a son because he was told to take a bribe. so that puts into context why the colour of the shots are orchestrated in such a way. Fig 1.

Fig.1, Yellow is known to represent fear, in this context old and outdated, bare in mind that this was set in the 90’s . yellow is also the colour scheme of the show and logo’s. the angle of the camera is low and it captures mikes booth int eh centre without making it seem ‘perfect’ yet symmetrical. this is what i tried to do in the editing suites. Have space.

Fig.2

Fig.2 is when Jimmy enters the frame in a car and the sound is dragged forward making it a j cut to enhance the flow of the dialogue, again its dimly lit making them talk in the shadows.

Fig.3

This is fig.3, the following shot and its the camera framing both of them from the right, so we get some motion in the scene. its a very still scene. the only thing that can have a real effect is the camera movement, because I remember Paul saying that when actors sit down its when the acting dies. So thats probably why there are quite a few camera changes within a small dialogue scene.

Fig.4

Fig.4 is a close up of mikes reaction to when Jimmy proceeds to blabber on as he does and it follows up to Fig.5 where Mike is offered a name card for ‘elder clients’

Fig.5

Fig.6

Fig.6 is the last shot before the car drives away and exits frame, and the dialogue is continued even as he leaves. again, its like fig.3 it works as a filler but also an ending shot, so that means they did a whole 180 degree look at the both of them. and it ties int he conversation nicely too.

Link to video: Google docs