About running
February 1st 2012 19:50
If you're ever in the position of filming some sort of journey, or chase sequence (by car or foot) -- having lots of shots of people moving gets old fast. Now, they're running down the stairs, now they're running round the corner, now they're running along the boardwalk, now they're running down the street...
Now, you might vary the location, you might vary the camera movement or composition or angle, you might vary the shot size. Music (especially if it has a number of surprises in it or different moments) does do a lot to sell such sequences. But in the end, to put it bluntly, imagewise it's the same old shit. The audience loses focus because there's no work for the brain to do; there's no new information. It drags.
Well, there's at least two things you can do to make such sequences more interesting and to stretch them out:
1. Emotion. If you show what chaser and chasee are feeling, that creates story, and is intriguing in itself.
2. Features. Stuff has to happen along the way. They don't just journey, or don't just run. At this corner, an old lady gives them a dirty look, on the next road, a group of kids nearly hits them with a basketball. You know -- put something in of interest, of life.
If you rely on scenery changes and camera movement, at the very least the exterior should reflect the interior. The character might be walking through progressively darker or narrower places to reflect the turmoil of their thoughts. Or into increasingly exotic wilderness locations to reflect change in world. Or shot sizes should increase to reflect how overwhelmed they are, or what a challenge they face, etc.
Now, you might vary the location, you might vary the camera movement or composition or angle, you might vary the shot size. Music (especially if it has a number of surprises in it or different moments) does do a lot to sell such sequences. But in the end, to put it bluntly, imagewise it's the same old shit. The audience loses focus because there's no work for the brain to do; there's no new information. It drags.
Well, there's at least two things you can do to make such sequences more interesting and to stretch them out:
1. Emotion. If you show what chaser and chasee are feeling, that creates story, and is intriguing in itself.
2. Features. Stuff has to happen along the way. They don't just journey, or don't just run. At this corner, an old lady gives them a dirty look, on the next road, a group of kids nearly hits them with a basketball. You know -- put something in of interest, of life.
If you rely on scenery changes and camera movement, at the very least the exterior should reflect the interior. The character might be walking through progressively darker or narrower places to reflect the turmoil of their thoughts. Or into increasingly exotic wilderness locations to reflect change in world. Or shot sizes should increase to reflect how overwhelmed they are, or what a challenge they face, etc.
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