When working out how to cover a scene, we are often much too concerned with the types of shots and coverage we are after. As visual people, it is easy to forget what makes us hold our breath as an audience, and keeps us engaged; pacing. To me, pacing dictates the rhythm of a scene, which in turn communicates the entire feel of it.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) directed by Woody Allen has a dinner scene that does this very well. In this scene (I’ll be referring to 0 to 2:22), two girlfriends, Vicky and Cristina notice a man sitting at a back table who they recognize to be a painter from a gallery they just visited. He approaches them and introduces himself.

The tracking shot glides left into a mid-shot of the two women talking at the table and eases us into the dinner setting. As we hear her speak, she enters the left of the frame Her well timed appearance into the shot gives us the sense that they have been talking for a short while already.  As Vicky responds, the camera hovers subtlety instead of just coming to a complete halt, still lulling us into the low-key ambiance of the restaurant.

“Who are you looking at?”

“Isn’t that the painter we just saw at the gallery?”

These two lines of dialogue come together in a slow pan from one woman to the other. The slow movement onto Cristina mimics the slyness she has in peering over at Doug.

The real kicker with this scene is the way that Doug takes his sweet time strolling over to their table. The red of her wine, which she sips after saying this, visually links to the burgundy of Doug’s shirt. This makes him pop out from among the others at the distant table. This long-shot of Doug also sets up the next shot by establishing the distance between his table and theirs.

Another notable thing that is done so beautifully, is the attention to eye lines, which is particularly important to this scene as it involves sneaky glances.

When Doug gets up to talk to Vicky and Cristina he strolls over, taking his sweet time. The shot captures his entire journey over, each of his steps seem more dramatic than the last. The sounds of his steps are like a metronome for the scene, drowning out the background and slowing the pace down even more. Each step is literally longer than the last. When he finally reaches the table its as if the whole restaurant is silent and waiting to hear what he is about to say.