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More Man From U.N.C.L.E.!
( 1.08 The Double Affair )
( 1.09 The Project Strigas Affair )
( 1.10 The Finny Foot Affair )
( 1.11 The Neptune Affair )
( 1.12 The Dove Affair )
( 1.13 The King of Knaves Affair )
I have to say, the only thing I don't like about this show so far is that it's hard to decide whether I want to focus on Illya or Napoleon more when they're onscreen together, because they're bothso pretty played with such subtlety. Sometimes I have to go back and watch a scene again so I can watch both, and it's awfully inconvenient (but oh so fun). :D
From a film geek POV, it serves as an interesting reminder of how much more often in TV today they use cut-aways from a master shot into close-ups or inserts, rather than cutting between several different angles on the scene in the mid-to-long-shot range. The direction of the viewer's attention is much tighter (and consequently more manipulative); you aren't often allowed to choose what you look at in a scene, because the camera is always moving, and the editing is too fast for individually-driven contemplation of a tableau. While this is sometimes a good thing, I think, there is something to be said for letting the audience sink into a moment, and for the depth a fictional world gains by everyone in a shot acting as if they were the close-up. Granted, most actors aren't good enough or engaged enough to do the background-acting thing, but I love it when they do, and not doing it out of laziness is just sad.
For perhaps a more specific example rather than a lot of film-student blather, think of SPN. They generally shoot Sam and Dean's Dramatic Angsty Conversations (TM) as shot-reverse-shot; you see Sam's face, then Dean's, then Sam's. While this is fine, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to watch one of those convos in a long-take with both in frame, or even several takes from different angles but always with both in frame, rather than fragmenting it. Things like that are more like theater, in that the viewer's attention is intended or desired to follow certain things (like a dramatic arm gesture emphasizing one actor, or a spotlight follow), but the creators control it no further than a certain extent (i.e., maybe you're "supposed" to be focused on the swordfight, but you can watch the reactions of the romantic interest standing on the sidelines instead). In film, when they cut to a close-up of Dean, it doesn't matter that you maybe want to be watching Sam's reaction at that moment instead.
Anyway. I am a film nerd, perhaps I have mentioned recently? :)
( 1.08 The Double Affair )
( 1.09 The Project Strigas Affair )
( 1.10 The Finny Foot Affair )
( 1.11 The Neptune Affair )
( 1.12 The Dove Affair )
( 1.13 The King of Knaves Affair )
I have to say, the only thing I don't like about this show so far is that it's hard to decide whether I want to focus on Illya or Napoleon more when they're onscreen together, because they're both
From a film geek POV, it serves as an interesting reminder of how much more often in TV today they use cut-aways from a master shot into close-ups or inserts, rather than cutting between several different angles on the scene in the mid-to-long-shot range. The direction of the viewer's attention is much tighter (and consequently more manipulative); you aren't often allowed to choose what you look at in a scene, because the camera is always moving, and the editing is too fast for individually-driven contemplation of a tableau. While this is sometimes a good thing, I think, there is something to be said for letting the audience sink into a moment, and for the depth a fictional world gains by everyone in a shot acting as if they were the close-up. Granted, most actors aren't good enough or engaged enough to do the background-acting thing, but I love it when they do, and not doing it out of laziness is just sad.
For perhaps a more specific example rather than a lot of film-student blather, think of SPN. They generally shoot Sam and Dean's Dramatic Angsty Conversations (TM) as shot-reverse-shot; you see Sam's face, then Dean's, then Sam's. While this is fine, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to watch one of those convos in a long-take with both in frame, or even several takes from different angles but always with both in frame, rather than fragmenting it. Things like that are more like theater, in that the viewer's attention is intended or desired to follow certain things (like a dramatic arm gesture emphasizing one actor, or a spotlight follow), but the creators control it no further than a certain extent (i.e., maybe you're "supposed" to be focused on the swordfight, but you can watch the reactions of the romantic interest standing on the sidelines instead). In film, when they cut to a close-up of Dean, it doesn't matter that you maybe want to be watching Sam's reaction at that moment instead.
Anyway. I am a film nerd, perhaps I have mentioned recently? :)