Reflection 3
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, RMIT cancel the class this week. I read what I received three parts series of cinematography notes from canvas.
So, goes back to the question that we have talked about is “what director does”, from the notes, I found out the one very important thing is director decide about the camera coverage of a scene.
In the notes, I watched “A Clockwork Orange” and Anderson’s “O Lucky Man”. In “A Clockwork Orange”, director Stanley Kubrick use a wide shot to shows the scale of the prison with wide-angle lens. It takes quite a long time to follow the officials walks to cell 23. And it ends at the position that they are closest to the camera. The director of “O Lucky Man” Anderson uses more close-up of the objects and long takes to get the audience focus on what he tries to bring to us.
The scene in Gossip Girl and A Flame Within makes me think about the shooting of people’s conversation. So what I have learnt is 180 degree rules. The 180 degree rules is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle.
So the scene of Gossip Girl followed this rules but A Flame Within did not. But in fact, I prefer A Flame Within which more shows the conflict between characters. It was complex but I like it.
To sum up, the scenes about conversation happens between the characters could be more consider about the frame and angle. For me, I would like to try continuing shots like zoom in when they are having a conversation for example the scene in The Man Standing Next. and cut between them while they talk to each other. I probably do some practice at home with my roommates.