How Do Directors Film A Conversation?

Directors film a conversation by using rules such as the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule is where you only film one side of the characters. This is used to film a conversation because it simply makes it easy to establish the scene, such as who is sitting where. This allows the audience to connect with the characters on a personal level. In the technique you only need to use 3 camera angles; an over the shoulder of one character, and over the shoulder of the other character, and a "master shot" which establishes the scene and where the characters are sitting, these three camera angles are the only used because it gives the audience a sense of familiarity with the characters. However it may include a 4th camera which could have a "quirky" shot (e.g from above) to give a new perspective on the conversation. The rule also works with other common tips to shoot a conversation such as continuity editing, because it makes it easier to use continuity editing as you can fit the clips together smoothly from the same side every time.

Directors also use continuity editing when filming a conversation because it makes the scene seem smooth without any jumps. Simply because if the conversation had jumps in it, it wouldn't look very professional. This also makes it clear for the audience to see what is going on when people are moving objects, such as a cup of tea. This tends to be used with a shot-reverse-shot technique because it can cut between the person, and what they are moving, whilst keeping it realistic/smooth. For example in the Coffee and Cigarettes clip when Iggy Pop chinks cups with Tom Waits the continuity editing is smooth and makes it easy for the audience to keep track with whats happening when the camera angles change, making them seem like they haven't missed anything and therefore don't get confused.

 Finally directors use head room and nose room/lead room as another technique when filming a conversation. This is where the character has space to look into (nose room) and space above there heads, so it isn't cut off and is fully viewable. This technique can show how much power a character has: for example if a person has lots of nose room in a close up they seem powerful and controlling, because they have a lot of room to look into. However if they have little nose room, then they seem confined into a smaller space and seem claustrophobic, thus making them seem weaker. This can be seen in the Breaking Bad clip, where Walter has a lot of nose room throughout the whole the scene, whereas at certain point in the scene, Gus has little nose room, thus showing his weakness and Walters dominance.

Peaky Blinders Media Homework:

In this shot, the director uses a puddle to create metaphor for calmness, which is then interrupted by the Peaky Blinders and ripples start to come from the footsteps that they make. This is a way of showing there power and there significance in the shot, because they change the mood/feeling of the setting. The shot also uses the lighting to make the Peaky Blinders seem like they control everything. For example, in this shot, they are covering up/blocking out the only light that is in the shot, and the fact that they are blocking this light makes it seem as if they have power over the area and how they are possibly "evil" as darkness can have such connotations.
Also, light has connotations of hope, so the fact that the Peaky Blinders are covering up the light could suggest that they are getting rid of all hope that may have been. Finally, the use of the dynamic shot that reflects the Peaky Blinders off of the puddle makes it difficult for the audience to see who the characters are (making the characters seem mysterious and confusing), which in turn could create suspense for the audience because they can't make out who the characters are just from reflected, dark outlined figures. They low angle shot also shows there dominance as characters because the audience are looking up at the characters.

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The director also uses lighting and effects to emphasise the groups power, for example: the flames/fiery colours that shine off the Peaky Blinders faces shows how they aren't fazed by the dangers of fires and other industrial dangers. In terms of mise en scene, all of the Peaky Blinders are wearing very similar, smart clothing, they all wear hats and the same shoes (previous shot). This could be to represent the "gang culture", because they all have something that links them together as part of a gang. The fact that the shot used is a mid shot shows us the emotions of the characters, and as it is so close up, it may not show claustrophobia, but instead to show how tightly nit of a group they are.

In the final shot, the shot looks almost as if it is from a western film, with the group walking towards what looks like a western type saloon. Some of the hats that they wear also look like "western hats", this link could make them seem as if they "mean business" which is another way of making them looks powerful, as they are about to walk into this western like saloon as a group and possibly cause trouble. You can also she the flames in the reflection of the window, which again shows how close the danger is and how unaffected they are by it. The fact that the flames only appear when the Peaky Blinders turn up could also show how powerful and dangerous they are because the danger starts to appear when they appear.

What can we learn about how to shoot characters walking from this scene in Peaky Blinders?
From this scene in Peaky Blinders we learn that to shoot characters walking, lots of techniques can be used to add dramatic effects to the scene and make it interesting and dynamic to keep the audience watching, rather than just having one or two shots of people walking. For example, the first shot used is a dynamic shot that makes the characters mysterious, therefore intriguing the audience as they want to know who they are.

Media Summer Bridging Task

- The Casino Royale Clip: - The LA Confidential Clip:

Introduction

Hi, I'm Chris Boyer and this is my AS Media blog.