In Week 6, during our online tutorials we had a look at a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Stangers on a train”. This is an incredibly complex dialogue scene and an excellent example of Hitchcock’s ability to cover a scene. After watching this scene in our tutorial, I had to go back and re watch the scene half a dozen times. I initially tried to draw a floor plan of the scene, but I couldn’t figure it out. I counted at least 13 different camera set ups within this scene which is enormous and would have taken a lot of production time. Although I did notice that they used some sort of dolly track in the scene, and this got me thinking about the potential to quickly move around the location. The ability to quickly move the camera into required positions could have saved a lot of time. Having said this, I do believe this is a great example of Hitchcock’s finest coverage and is a reflection of his ability to cut up the scene. The blocking should not go unnoticed either, as this is also excellent.

In Exercise 8, We were tasked to draw a floor plan of the camera setups in a scene from Ermanno Olmi’s “The Fiances” (1962). I believe Olmi only had two setups in this scene while using 2 different focal lengths from each set up (see Floor Plan below). My assessment of Olmi’s approach is; that it is a simple but effective set up to cover the scene. This set up was most likely extremely time efficient however I don’t feel as though it was given extensive consideration. I feel the closeup’s looked unappreciated. It looks as though they zoomed in from the existing camera setups needed for the wide’s without repositioning the camera. I do believe a little more effort could have been given to the camera placement of the CU’s yet I am aware of time constraints on set and the impact these can have on production. Having said this, I do still feel the coverage provided by Olmi is overall successful and effective.