Too Fast by WongFuProductions
The film that I analyzed was "Too Fast" by WongFuProductions. It is about a man named Brandon who likes to do everything in his life fast. Ever since he was little he has gone fast and there are positives and negatives to his speed. The short film plays around with time and physics, because Brandon is able to do outrageous things. An example is when he is able to go from home to drop off his friend in a second, and then in another second he is able to get a tapioca drink.
The lighting in the short film was good, except for the restaurant scene. A high key light was used to light this scene, when a medium to low key light may have been a better choice. A high key light that is white contrasts to heavily with the low yellow lighting of the romantic restaurant shown in the first picture. I believe the high key light is too intesne because it creates an odd white light on Brandon as seen in the seocnd picture. A yellow or softer filter on the light may have made the scene better by preserving the continuity of the low lit romantic setting.
The final scene is my favorite scenes. The scene opens by using a pan movement while using lead room as Kelly walks to Brandon's car. The shot is out of focus as the pan begins, but the shot is in focus when Kelly gets into the car. This was probably caused by the presetting of the focus on Kelly as she was in the car before the shot started. The next portion of the scene is dialogue between Brandon and Kelly where medium close ups and selective focus are used as the two actors talk to each other. This seems to be a popular style throughout the movie. The cinematographer tends to use a narrow zoom position and create a blurry foreground and background, while leaving the midground clear. I enjoy this technique, because the shot is able to include all 3 aspects (foreground, midground, and background) by keeping the shot static without having to rackfocus or move the camera.
The next quick shots are of when Kelly realizes that they now have 2 kids only after a few seconds of talking to Brandon. A quick pan is used from Kelly to her new kid saying mommy. This is then followed by a quick cut to her face. The quick pan and cutting display the rush of suprise and horror that Kelly feels from having no kids to two kids in a second. Overall I felt that the cinematography was strong and the shot variation reflected the pace of the plot.
I noticed that you focus a lot of your commentary on camera motions and the types of shots involved. This is good but you don't thoroughly explain how these motions adds meaning to the film. Try looking at how one camera motion may be favored over another.
ReplyDeleteYou should consider how shots are composed because camera motions and the types of shots involved is only an aspect of cinematography, and doesn't provide a wholistic look on cinematography.
Keep in mind shot variation is not the most important thing. Strong shot composure can easily replace a lack of shot variation.
Your film was very entertaining and funny as well. One thing i didnt like abou this film is that it didnt utilize many cinematographic methods, yet perhaps this was appropriate for this comedic film. Their methods were very basic, but well constructed at the same time. although this is not directly related to cinematogrphy, you can talk about the relation between the plot, cinematography, and the different gradients used in particular shots, such as in the begining of the film when the father sits with his son. but other than that, i thought you had a solid analysis of the cinematography and the film itself.
ReplyDeleteThis film was very hilarious and I think the author of this film creates well thought short stories filled with a variety of camera techniques in it. I agree with you that the funniest and my favorite part as well as yours is at the ending the shots composed here were quick and varied. I like how some still shots are presented to enhance the importance of the shot or to highlight an emotion given by the character. I thought your analysis and breakdown of the shots were well thought within the film and saw a pattern to the cinematographers usage of particular shots like you said including foreground mid ground and background. I thought this should have been more focused on since it was a stylistic element that was used throughout the couple of minutes.
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