Martin Lucas Reid
History and Theory of Documentary Film
Prof. Richard Simpson
9.1.2020
Vsevolod Pudovkin from Film Technique (On Editing)
From movies to television shows, all of these films are collections of sequences, scenarios brought and sewed together as a whole. Behind the curtains of film making, the power of editing plays a crucial part in entailing the stories. Not only it has the ability to see each scene from various different angles, but it also has the ability to vividly show the character's external emotions, internal emotions, and organize everything to its place from beginning to end.
Close-up and Long-shots, these two shots go hand in hand whenever the camera is rolling. With that in mind, Pudovkin mentions the importance of these shots. He says that not only they show the picture in a larger or longer perspective, but they also have a deeper meaning behind them. For example, close shots are meant to navigate the audience and zoom their lenses into an important action, object, motion, and etc. With close shots, this allows the director to say "here's an important piece of this scene. This plays a role in what's currently happening, and what's about to happen." Now with the long shot, this point of view allows the audience to see the characters, object, or whatever, from a much broader full perspective. Because of this, long shots have the ability to show the relationship between the characters in a scene, and also separates the object and the character in itself.
Looking at movies with the understanding of different shots angles, I never really realize how much effort they put in one shot. In my head it made me realize, that close shots like Thor's hammer elevating off ground could affect the way the audience feel, and see the story. Imagine if that shot was taken in a long shot, the effects wouldn't be the same as if it was a close shot. Close shots really emphasizes the importance of an object, or character in films.
One of the lines in this article that really peaked my understanding of film making is that editing is not just a way to stitch scenes sequentially right after another, but "editing is a method that controls the psychological guidance of the spectator." Which means that they use editing to control what the audience feels during the viewing. Because of this, I now understand that although doing a 360 backflip captured on film looks cool, it's the shot that really makes it much more epic.
Hey Martin,
ReplyDeleteGood point about the relativety of close vs long shots and how those different camara angles provide the viewer a different perspective. I think we all understand this from an artistic expression point but putting it into action might not be as easy in the beginning. Certainly it's a learned technique and artform and when using this craft or attempting to mimick these shots and angles in my own attemps I now realize how hard it is to master and have a greater appreciation for those that know and have honed in on their craft.
~jeff
Hey Martin,
ReplyDeleteI truly appreciated the depth in which you explored the close and long shot, these are shots that I have been familiar with for a while, but when watching movies, I never consciously consider when analyzing scenes. To me, the editors decision to alter between close and long shots, is almost a natural decision. Although if the shot were chosen incorrectly the attention of the viewer may not observe the important information presented in the scene, I think that when choosing a shot it is almost a second nature for the editor to guide the viewers attention. Your example with Thor's hammer is great one because it shows how important this guidance is, it adds emphasis, shows relationships, and so much more.
~Shaelene Moler
Nice reflection here Martin on the important contribution of film form to the meaning of a sequence and a film. It is an entire language in itself. Begin to think about why certain languages get spoken in certain times and places and how different genres also make their own film form languages.
ReplyDeleteThat quote from Pudovkin is a crucial one for us. Recall that documentary film traditionally aims "to teach" and to warn. These are other ways of thinking about "psychological guidance" and the particular practice of documentary is always in discussion with this line from Pudovkin.