How do directors film a conversation?

Clip 1. Breaking Bad

The directors of this clip use many traditional rules to film this conversation. Throughout the clip the 180 degree rule is used kept to. This means that the camera shots are always on just one side of the two people having a conversation, meaning who ever is on the right stays on the right and vice versa. This clip abides by this throughout; Gus is always on the left and Walter always on the right. This rule is used to add continuity to the clip. For example, if the rule was not kept to, the characters having a conversation would appear to switch places and be in different locations in each shot causing confusion and discontinuity. In this scene, the tone and atmosphere of the conversation is a calm, controlled one and the 180 degree rule helps to convey this as the characters are always n the same location. The only difference is the level of zoom applied; the more zoomed in the more intense the conversation becomes.

As well as this rule, the directors of this clip used head room and nose room to signify the power balance and intensity between the two characters. At the beginning of the clip both character have an equal amount of nose room and headroom and are positioned similarly, opposite from one another. This shows that the characters have an equal level of power as well as showing the intensity of the conversation at this point is relatively low. As the scene progresses the amount of headroom the characters has decreases significantly. This gives a more claustrophobic view of the conversation creating amore intense atmosphere. Throughout the rest of the scene, the first shot (with lots of head/nose room) and the second (a smaller amount of headroom) are used to signify the small shifts in power between Walter and Gus. This use of alternating shots represents the power struggle and ultimate equality between them.

Clip 2. Reservoir Dogs Opening Scene

In this shot, the characters are sat around a round table therefore the 180 degree rule is not applicable. Instead Tarantino, uses multiple shots, showing many different sides and angles of every character. By doing this the characters are immediately portrayed to the audience as being both equal as all of the shots are filmed at eye level and as being characters with some sense of depth to them as all of the characters speak and all are filmed at different angles. The lack of the 180 degree rule is replaced instead with an ongoing conversation. By using this as well as shots of people looking in the direction of the character who is talking, the audience understand roughly where all the characters are seated and so do not feel confused.

Why is the 180 degree rule important and why might a director break it?

By using the 180 degree rule, continuity is upheld and the audience understands the location of the characters during the conversation. Furthermore this creates a controlled and professional shot, allowing the scene to focus more on the context of the conversation than the position of the characters and the layout of the scene. However sometimes this rule can be broken for effect. For sentence in The Shining, the main character meets a ghost and the rule is broken. This will enhance the scene as it emphasises the disorientation and instability of the characters metal health. Another example is the scene from The Lord of the Rings where Golem is having a conversation with himself. In this instance an imaginary 180 degree line is used to show the two sides of his character, again strengthening the internal struggle, the character is experiencing. In instances such as these the disoriented created by breaking the 180 degree rule fits and improves the scene as it relates to the context however in the majority of conversational scenes where the subject of the conversation is the focus, the upholding of the rule allows the audience to concentrate on this focus.

EDITED 08/10/15: How do the directors of Peaky Blinders use camera angles and miss en scene to establish expectation and character?

 In this shot many techniques are used to show the power of the group. The very fact that they are walking through the puddle instead of around signifies that they don't have any respect for their surroundings and that they are focused on what they are going to do and where they are walking to. Every character in the group are wearing work boots. This strengthens their representation of being powerful. The heavy boots signify aggressiveness and violence and the fact that they are all wearing similar boots gives the audience an expectation that the group of people walking through the boots are related in some way. Finally the dark water is symbolic of something pure being dirtied. Traditionally water is representative of purity and something that washes away sins. However in this shot the water is dirty and murky giving the audience an expectation of the kind of action that will take place later on in the scene

This shot uses an usual camera angle to portray the group as upside down. This immediately signifies that the members of the group are not just ordinary men going to work- there is something different or special about them. In the middle of the shot there is a strip of clear blue sky that eventually the group block. This is symbolic of the peace and neutral atmosphere being disrupted stopped because of the men. After this shot, the lighting in all the scenes is dark and therefore the fact that the only light in this scene is blocked by the men strengthens this point. The organisation of the group of men is significant as instead of being structured and ordered there seems to be no formation the men are walking in. This relates to the point that the men are bringing some kind of disorder to a neutral environment but also implies a gang like culture upon the men and therefore gives the audience the expectation that they are a violent and powerful group.

Finally, in this shot lighting, costumes and set design are all used to create an allusion to the style of western films. In the background there is a building that has the style of a saloon, a kind of house common in westerns. the shapes in the windows and the large doors create this impression. The hats worn by two members of the groups (the man in the centre and the man at the back left) also create an allusion to the western style of films. The flared sides of the hats link to the flared rims of the cowboy hats which are a stereotypical western image. Finally the low lighting and the smoke in the air of the scene link to the dust often associated with the western films. The whole allusion strengthens the portrayal of these men as dangerous, powerful and ruthless. The disorganisation of the group as well as the dark, uniform like clothing they are wearing again signifies there is a gang like culture to the group. Finally, this shot allows the audience to see where the group are walking to and this allows them to understand where their anger and violence is directed. This therefore confirms that the group are all walking somewhere to do something together and strengthens their gang like image further.

What can we learn about how to film characters walking from this clip?

There are many techniques being used in this clip to create a powerful and effective scene that portrays the power and authority the Peaky Blinders have. By observing and studying the techniques used, we can learn about how to film people walking effectively. To begin with, slow motion is used subtly in this clip to emphasise the calm yet powerful nature the gang has. By slowing the ordinary, common motion of someone walking, the audience focuses more on it and therefore interprets a persons characteristic/levels of power from it more effectively. However, the level of slow-motion used in this clip is not extreme and so still portrays the focus and determination the gang has. From this learn that slow motion can be used subtly to portray power and authority as well as to emphasise the focus of the shot.
 Secondly an array of different angled shots are used to both represent the power the group has as well as to introduce the number and depth of characters within it. For example low angled shots in the exposition of the scene immediately gives the audience an idea of the Peaky Blinder's power. Eye level shots are then used further in to the scene to focus on the individual characters in the group. This suggests to the reader that within the group they all have an equal level of power. From this use of low angled and eye level shots, we can learn that by using a combination of different angled hosts, the characters level of power can be portrayed further.
Finally the smooth, moving camera work throughout the shot adds to the collected tone of the gang as well as linking to the physical walking of the characters. Where as a hand held, shaky camera may be used in a scene to reflect panic in a character, the use of the tripod and railing in this scene portrays the calmness and power the group has.
In conclusion the shots used in this clip teach us that camera techniques such as angled shots and smooth motion as well as editing techniques such as slow motion can portray power, authority and the mental state of a group.

EDITED 20/09/15: Media Studies Summer Task

Introduction

I'm Ben Rodwell and this is my media blog.