EDITED: HOW DO DIRECTORS FILM A CONVERSATION?

HOW DO DIRECTORS FILM A CONVERSATION?

When a director films a conversation they use a variety of shots, angles, rules and techniques.

RULES

-180 degree rule. You have to shoot on the same side of the line of the 180 line. You have to keep the camera on either side of the imaginary line between the characters.

-Short reverse shot. A shot of the character looking at something, then a shot of what they're looking at, then a shot that goes back to the character.

-Continuity editing. This is editing that is smooth and 'continuous.' It is supposedly smooth and seamless.

-Rule of thirds. This is where the screen is divided into 9 sections that are equal. Where the lines cross in the thirds, these are the focus section. For example if a person's face is in the crosses of the lines in the rule of thirds, this is where the focal point.

-Lead room/Nose room/Head room. These are types of shots that refer to the way the persons face is filmed. Head room is the amount of room above the character head and nose room/lead room is the amount of room that can be seen around the characters face.

TIPS

-Shots variety. This insinuates a variety of shots that can make a scene more interesting, tense or exciting.

-Pick up's- this is where the camera is picked up and films the scene from above.

Many of these tips and rules are used to intensify scenes and keep the viewer interested. Using a variety of these in the same film or section of film it can make it look of a higher standard and make it more intense or exciting or just emphasis the point of the scene.

BREAKING BAD- A CATIOUS MAN  

In this clip, the director uses the 180 degree rule effectively and the clip has also been edited seamlessly. It includes the rule of thirds which highlights power and authority in the scene.

The director hasn’t broken the 180 degree rule which allows for a more effective scene. This means that the camera is always on one side of both characters whilst they’re having a conversation. This is a simple yet hugely effective ‘rule’ that is used in almost every conversation clip filmed that is filmed correctly. Using the 180 degree rule keeps Gus to the left of the camera and Walter to the right. This allows for less confusion with the scene as the shots will always be on one side of the men and there will be no disorientating shots that can cause confusion or a lack of continuity.

This clip also effectively uses lead room/nose room. This is where the cameraman basically films a clip and leaves enough room for the characters head and nose without making the scene claustrophobic. It can also highlight a sense of power or weakness. If a camera is shot closely to a characters face, abolishing the idea of head room, this can create a sense of power, in that everything is focused on them, but also a sense of weakness and powerlessness in that the camera has to be solely focused on them to get the character any attention in the situation they’re in as they have very little significance.

COFFEE AND CIGARETTES

Again it is hugely important for the director to have done so as this highlights the sense of legitimacy in the conversation, makes it look realistic and allows for continuity editing to take place to again make the conversation more realistic. For example, when Iggy is pouring coffee into the cup the camera is lifted, at the same time as the camera is lifted, the clip is edited so smoothly that the pouring of the coffee is perfectly in time with the camera being lifed, again showing continuity in the editing. Using a variety of shots like this makes the clip much more interesting for the viewer, for example, the 180 degree rule, if used correctly, can make a conversation easier to understand but also more interesting if the person filming uses a variety of shots, for example, if over the shoulder shots are used there is an opportunity for the other character’s emotions and facial expressions to be seen which can intensify the conversation and help the person watching to understand what’s actually going on.

In this clip the director uses a wide variety of shots, including starting with a walking scene, when Iggy Pop walks to the duke box, a shot over the table of Iggy pouring coffee, and many shots during the conversation but the director keeps to the 180 degree rule.

 

EDITED: PEAKY BLINDERS

'How does the director of Peaky Blinders use camera angles and mise en scene to establish expectation and character'

The use of a low angle shot in this instance highlights the ideas of authority and power which allows the characters to look as though they're in control. This links with there being a large group of people in the shot. This shot is also filled with their faces and not much else surrounding them in terms of the background and the features or buildings surrounding them. This again highlights power, authority and an overwhelming sense of control. The costumes of the characters are all of the same colour and style. They are all wearing darkly coloured suits which connotates darkness and the idea of danger. The fact that they're all wearing similar clothing signifies gang culture in the idea that they have all come together and are wearing the clothes that make them look more powerful and make them look as though they are of one body.

In this image, there is a wide shot where many of the men seen in the first still are walking through a once calm puddle. The idea of them walking through this, once seeminly calm, puddle gives the idea that they are disturbing what was once calm. This gives the idea that these men are essentially disturbing what was once calm which connotates danger and almost agressive behaviour. The boots the men are wearing are also very uniform. They are seemingly smart and hard wearing boots which imply that these men are wearing these boots for something that they would not wear everyday shoes to connotating a sense of mystery and danger. The style of the boot has an overall agressive look which again links to the idea of danger and mystery linking back to their costumes on a whole and gives the idea of power and unison.
 
In this image, only the reflection of the men can be seen. This gives the scene a more illusive feel and connotate ideas of darkness and mystery in that all that can be seen is dark silhouettes and part of their surroundings. Again, the dark costumes, which make this scene more mysterious and illusive, are a huge part of the conotations that come with thesepictures, which again, highlight mystery and danger. This type of shot is creative and helps to make the idea of mystery and power more prominant. The dark clothes with the dark surroundings entice the reader into finding out more about the characters, their surroundings and why the director has shot these frames in tne way they have been.

What can we learn about how to shoot characters walking from this scene in Peaky Blinders?  
Peaky blinders shows a really good way of filming chracters walking.

It shows that it’s important, when filming a scene like this, to make sure the editing is continuous. Continuity editing is really important in scenes like this as it makes the scene, in a way, more convincing for the viewer. It also makes it much more effective in that if the editing is continuous, the footage looks more realistic and allows for more judgements of the characters to be made and allows the reader to try and get a sense of what’s going on in the situation and again work out what sort of people these characters are all by them walking.

It also shows us that it is hugely important to have enough shots filmed and to use a variety of camera angles. Angles are hugely important when filming a scene like this as they allow the characters to show their authority, through shots like low angle shots, making them look like the bigger character. This is the same with having enough shots. If you don’t film enough shots you editing can forfeit. Not having enough shots allows for a lack in continuity and can make the final cut less believable and it may become jumpy and unlinked.