Coverage, Blocking, Cuts and JAWS
- Thread starter J.R. Hudson
- Start date
These breakdowns are great!
The jpg of the breakdown wasn't showing up for me, but by comparing to John's post containing the Psycho shower scene breakdown, I tracked it down to here:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/923/jaws0ur.jpg
(In the original post in this thread the bad link is http://img213.exs.cx/img213/923/jaws0ur.jpg.)
The jpg of the breakdown wasn't showing up for me, but by comparing to John's post containing the Psycho shower scene breakdown, I tracked it down to here:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/923/jaws0ur.jpg
(In the original post in this thread the bad link is http://img213.exs.cx/img213/923/jaws0ur.jpg.)
jordan Bergren
Member
those arent sposd to be puns are they california guys, haha. sorry any ways please post more this is exactly what i need to understand more of. Great stuff my friend!
PopcornFlix
Well-known member
I hope to revive this thread. I found something I think John missed. Between the master shot and shot #2, there's a clever transition to change the line of action. Otherwise, shot #2 would cross the line.
Take a look how Spielberg did it:
It's pretty clever. At the moment of the cut from the master, the doctor hasn't crossed behind Hooper yet, so he's still Camera Right. Cutting to setup #2, Hooper is still Camera Left of the doctor. While the doctor crosses behind him, the camera pans to follow the doctor, much like an observer would glance at someone crossing the room. The pan moves Hooper to the Right side of the screen, and we have a new line.
This is a carefully considered transition, and it's the only place where the master cuts into setup #2 without crossing the line.
(BTW, Spielberg's real goal here is to move to the setup that puts Hooper opposite the lamp which is over Chrissie's remains. The pan brings the lamp into frame like another character sharing the scene. He didn't have to frame it that way. He wanted that two-shot with the remains, but it crossed the line, so he built this bit of business to transition the line and get the shot he wanted.)
I hope this gets the Spielberg discussion going again...
Take a look how Spielberg did it:
It's pretty clever. At the moment of the cut from the master, the doctor hasn't crossed behind Hooper yet, so he's still Camera Right. Cutting to setup #2, Hooper is still Camera Left of the doctor. While the doctor crosses behind him, the camera pans to follow the doctor, much like an observer would glance at someone crossing the room. The pan moves Hooper to the Right side of the screen, and we have a new line.
This is a carefully considered transition, and it's the only place where the master cuts into setup #2 without crossing the line.
(BTW, Spielberg's real goal here is to move to the setup that puts Hooper opposite the lamp which is over Chrissie's remains. The pan brings the lamp into frame like another character sharing the scene. He didn't have to frame it that way. He wanted that two-shot with the remains, but it crossed the line, so he built this bit of business to transition the line and get the shot he wanted.)
I hope this gets the Spielberg discussion going again...
i did not read all the posts(just first and last page), but no. b footage/reaction between shots does not count as 3 setups, or medium to reaction or close up back to medium does not count as multiple setups. that's over over analyzing. setups would mean they stopped shooting for more than 15 minutes to change the camera position or at least drastically change lighting for the close ups. adjusting the focal length or focusing would not count. they did not shoot as edited, they just did a couple of continuous takes and some b footage. and Spielberg was not the cinematographer or the entire crew.
PopcornFlix
Well-known member
Spielberg likes long masters. Here's the breakdown for this scene:
He starts with a long master that covers the whole scene, with a little pan and a lot of character blocking to change the compositions.
He has two other long setups to cover the scene from the reverse of the master, and a two-shot of Hooper and Brody at the climax of the scene:
He also has four reactions shots (two of the coroner, and two of Brody) that he uses as cutaways:
And finally, two "money shots" that are staged as dramatic punctuation for the scene. A dolly shot revealing the severed arm in the tub, and a close-up of Hooper for the "big finish" when he says
"It's a shark."
He starts with a long master that covers the whole scene, with a little pan and a lot of character blocking to change the compositions.
He has two other long setups to cover the scene from the reverse of the master, and a two-shot of Hooper and Brody at the climax of the scene:
He also has four reactions shots (two of the coroner, and two of Brody) that he uses as cutaways:
And finally, two "money shots" that are staged as dramatic punctuation for the scene. A dolly shot revealing the severed arm in the tub, and a close-up of Hooper for the "big finish" when he says
"It's a shark."