Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 6.38. (top) The openingframe of a very long, slow, deliberatezoom out from Barry Lyndon.Figure 6.39. (bottom) The last framefrom that same zoom. Kubrick usesthis type of slow disclosure thematicallythroughout the film, alwaysending in a perfectly balancedformal composition, often based ona painting of the period. The slowzoom out works on many levels,both visually and storywise.OTS and InsertsInserts generally are not critical in terms of screen direction exceptin a general way. One instance where they are important is readinginserts. This type of insert is quite common as the master scene, oreven an over-the-shoulder is usually not tight enough to allow theaudience to actually read what the character is looking at. In thesecases, it is important to conform to the eyeline and screen directionof the character reading the material, even if they are not holding it.Moving ActionOnce you thoroughly understand the underlying principles and thecognitive reasons for the these rules, it is easier to see when there areexceptions and flexibility. It is important to remember that “the line”is not some physical thing that has an independent existence on theset. The line is only in relation to where you have first establishedthe scene by the camera placement of the first shot that appears onscreen. Also, the line moves, as we saw in the example of the coupleand the gangster in the restaurant (Figures 6.35 through 6.37).Most importantly, in a scene with moving action, such as a fightscene, the line will be shifting constantly. In highly frenetic fightscenes photographed with lots of angles and cuts to be edited in arapid fire sequence, the director and editor might want to ignorethe line altogether to add a sense of action and disorientation to thescene. In general, however, it is good to observe screen directionrules — especially if the two people fighting are not physically distinctin look or wardrobe. Otherwise the audience might end uprooting for the wrong guy.cinematography94