Coverage, Blocking, Cuts and JAWS

Dreyfuss doesn't cross the line...... It is a neutral shot. I like the fact that you are "junkying" and it is very educational. But whenever you want to change screen direction you go "neutral".
 
I have never heard it put that way (which doesnt mean anything of course); Thanks for the terminology!

I do like how it would allow an entire new reverse shot of Dreyfuss; check ROW 4 when he is pointing at BRODY "Dont smoke in here!"

Thanks for the termininology.

If the camera moves (as oppossed to the actor, over the line) is that called nuetral as well?
 
We do this in car chases or foot chases all the time. If you want to change direction from right to left to left to right you must go "neutral". That means that either the camera must move, or the objects
(bodies, cars, etc) must come to the camera or go away from the camera on a true 90 or perpendicular. The next cut can be anything, but most likely is a "neutral" that changes the screen direction, by moving the camera on a pan, or the object leaves or changes direction in the middle of the shot.
 
Good stuff Maverickprods. Also you can "cut to the stove" as the old time cutters "editors" would jokingly use this term for that neutral coverage they needed to get them out of a mess. I guess they thought since most all of us are hungry, it's alright to grab a shot of the of the stove to see what's cooking. Even the audience wants to know whats cooking....Talk about a motivated shot!

For those of you not familiar, there are a bunch of interesting articles on the Motion Picture Editors Guild WEB site. It's a real treat to read some of these articles. I'm a firm believer that much of learning to make a movie is learned in the edit bay. This is where we learn what worked and what didn't. Seems like most of the really good directors have a firm hand in editing.

Speilberg's smoke period....wasn't everyone doing it in the 80s? It must have been a left over from disco and flashdance....or they were taking some awfully strong stuff back then.

A few years from now everyone will look at our television shows like Law & Order and wonder why they didn't turn the lights on in any of the rooms:laugh: it looks pretty strange to see all these scenes in noir type dark shadows....how can these poor legal people read & work?....oh well another adventure in "THE LOOK".
 
Thanks for that tip to the website 10s. I found and bookmarked it.

I agree. In this early stage of my filmmaking endeavors, it is in post where I see what worked, what did not, what I missed and what I should have done. This is where I find myself really enjoying the process; where it all starts coming together; scenes that work exactly as you hoped (hasn't happened yet for me) and scenes you feel you are literally saving or atleast applying a bandaid to stop the bleeding.

I love the many layers of post; the slicing, pacing, continuity and especially layering of audio tracks; wow! Sound Design is fun, a real treat. I got such a kick out of my LUPER short when the dog and wind and the crow were in action in the opening shot; couple that wiht some spooky music and suddenly you have this world. Speilbergs smoke period is interesting to think about in retrospect (and Im sure it will come back);

speaking of spileberg; you know I was really let down by THE TERMNINAL but can still appreciate the master doing his thing; I thought the movie failed in the end and the ZETA JONES sublot was horrible as was her acting in it, but visually and through pacing, I enjoyed the spielberg stamp.

Back on topic; yeah, we need to turn this site back into the direction of the art of filmmaking.

Love the sig BTW!
 
John you'll appreciate this also if you don't already have it.

http://www.dga.org/news/mag_inter.php3

Terminal, at first i thought Oh, a dud!... it's not flashy...but then I bought the DVD and watched it about 4 times. I now love it because it has Soul, and really that's Our Job, to help our Audience, experience an emotional journey, and for a moment live in another pair of shoes. It's really interesting to try and grasp the job of a story teller and think about what we're volunteering to do.

What are we really trying to do? And why do humans love stories so much? for me, it has to do with an inner need for us to really experience life, to connect with Life. People flocked to the theatre in ancient Greece as much as we do today because they too enjoyed the comedies, tragedies and dramas of the day.

I believe Story Tellers bring to life special moments where the audience can experince the thrill of a killer shark, the low life gun battles of "da whores and the cops "in Old Town or hiding on an Asteroid from the Empire.

We inherit a great wealth of proven ways to take people on a 2 hour journey where at some point they loose themsleves in our tale and walk away with a sense of renewal or some inner change that profoundly alters their beliefs and behavior in some small way. What an honor to study and master such a craft.

Sorry for sounding like I'm teaching...can't help it, but I love the craft. We are fortunate.
 
Well guys, I'm glad I looked at this thread, rather than all the techy ones I usually go to. I think I'm getting to that point where I really want to focus on improving myself, moreso than just "going out and having some fun". I've made a couple of shorts (one shot in 5 hours just this last Saturday for a small, informal competition) and now I'm in editing, I really see where my failings are - OK, there are lots of them but the biggests is blocking and staging - often my scenes are very boring to watch.

I find blocking and staging a damned nightmare! It's really hard work, probably due to my lack of experience, but I know I need to upskill in this area considerably. In the last couple of days I've said to myself that I have to go on a mission - to learn how this is done, and shoot, shoot and shoot some more so It starts to make sense so thanks for starting this thread. I want to see more!

Aaron
 
dude, nice thread john! like the break down alot.

now imagine how that scene would be shot by different directors.

imagine the same scene shot by..

michael bay:
every shot would be a big dramatic pushin. a few cameras actualy spining around the actors as they talked. but because this scene isnt a big effects scene he would skip over as quickly as possible so that he could shoot the stuff when the 60' shark tears apart the giant oil rig.

it would be kinda cool to take a a piece of a script as you have done, and actualy shot it the best way you thought. then once you shoot it go backand see how they did it for real.

anyway, cool stuff john.
 
Wow John, that's a great way to analyze the directing. I've been printing the scripts and then watching the DVDs. Capturing clips, like you have done, and laying out the images helps to nail them down.

Thanks!
 
One subtlety i had noticed that does add the drama, is the slightly wider shot on the coroner between the 5th and 7th setup. Instead of a typically adding drama/emotion/whatere-you-want-to-call-it by going tighter on a characters face, he has pulled the camera out just a bit. This shows the enormous level of "un-comfort" the coroner is in, his fidgeting and not making any sort of eye contact is what adds to the tension.

Just a little something that i had never thought of when trying to enforce the drama in a scene: pulling out instead of pushing in (don't take sexually). Very interesting Spielberg.
 
Thanks everyone; I'm thinking of doing another one tonight. It is interesting to breakdown the shots and see what we read into it.

Rich

I totally would love to shoot this scene. Shot for Shot Gus Van Zant style.

desperatecomfort

I loved your RAIDERS breakdown!

joshtownsend

Me too. From my perception; the line is established when the actors hit their final marks and the camera stays on one side; sans the nuetrality of Hooper crossing back and forth.

joshtownsend

Totally how I saw this. Total isolation; he know's he botched the exam as overland stated.
 
John_Hudson said:
Back on topic; yeah, we need to turn this site back into the direction of the art of filmmaking.
Click to expand...
****in eh! I am totally into all the new **** going on, but for the life of me most of it is greek, then you add everyone asking greek questions and explaining greek answers, and i'm freakin lost. So much info injected into my brain Lebroz is starting to make sense.

This is a breath of fresh air, and I hope everyone checks this out, maybe we'll all go shoot something instead of debate.

Thanks, and well done.

One thing to add, just incase for newbies... the set up order shown is to clearly identify shot by shot how many setups were involved and how it was cut, not necessarily the set up order. Most probably they shot the one direction first, re lit then shot the reverses. I know that goes without being said, but ya never know how literally something may be taken.

I look forward to more of these!
 
great thread!

great thread!

this is great - the kind of thing i've talked about doing for a long time, but never have. I would love to see a 'filmmaker series' of dvd's that go into plotting lights, shot selection, etc.

i agree, most of the filmmaking sites out there are so focused on the technology, which is important for us to know, but I would love to improve my craft, the artistic and technical side of making a movie work.

how did you pull the frame grabs? Did you import analog from an external dvd player?
 
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