cinematography – Page 4 – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Tag: cinematography (Page 4 of 4)

I had to switch from reviewing Killjoys to reviewing Sense8 due to difficulties streaming Killjoys.

Sense8 starts off at the end of a dramatic and violent story which, if it had been told, would explain the situation the main characters find themselves abruptly dropped into. As it is, the audience has only slightly more information than the 8 strangers who suddenly begin having vivid and fragmented perceptions of a violent suicide and each others’ lives.

This sense of simultaneous information overload and of lacking key information is reflected in the cinematography and direction of the show.

The main characters are often placed in the middle-ground of a set with obstacles in the foreground partially obstructing view of them. This reflects the limited perspectives the audience and the other seven glimpse of the lives of each of the 8.

Omi, one of the 8, is shown in the middle-ground of the shot. The camera pans left such that the man to whom she is speaking passes in front of her in the foreground.

The 8 are experiencing sensual overload. To reflect that, many of the settings in the show are visually crowded; featuring many vibrant colors.

Will, another of the 8, is in a drugstore. The background is completely full of vibrantly colored products.

Until the beginning of the show, each of the 8 had been living separate lives, each full of unique family and friends. To portray this, many scenes feature a large number of side characters or extras, including at one point an entire pride parade.

This entire pre-wedding celebration, which features at least 6 unique side characters and a backup dancer crew, is all backstory for a single main character.

True to its focus on vivid sensations, the show features multiple explicit sex scenes (which I will not include an example screenshot of). These contribute to the sense that each of the 8 had separate lives before they became inexplicably connected (and also necessarily involve additional side characters).

Despite having many vibrant colors, the show has a very dark lighting and color scheme. All three scenes above are shot at night, the rave lights at the celebration shown are kept to a minimum to maintain low lighting, and scenes are often so dark at first that it is difficult to make out details until more light is (for various reasons) shed on the subject of the scene. This contributes to the theme of incomplete information, as well as giving a somber mood to the show.

The show is comprised of a series of short cuts strung together, rather than longer continuous scenes. This is partly necessitated by the fact that there are 8 main characters who are experiencing things simultaneously in completely different countries. However, even when a scene lasts for a significant length of time and takes place in a single location, that scene is broken up into multiple short cuts from different angles. This gives the story a fragmented and disjointed feeling, as if it is being pieced together rather than unfolding linearly.

New Girl: Lights, Camera, and Dialogue!

By James Fan

On September 10, 2018

In Review Topic 3

The visual composition of a shot in a TV show or film acts as both the frame for the elements within the literal camera shot as well as the ideas, themes, and concepts of the piece’s director; cinematography hence becomes vital in facilitating the audience’s understanding and interaction with the meaning of the show or film. In Elizabeth Meriwether’s show New Girl, the general cinematography of each scene — namely the duration of each shot, the lighting of the scene, and visual consistency between episodes — emphasizes the dialogue and interactions between the characters and grounds these characters in a believable and relatable setting.

While cuts often mark a change or transition temporally or spatially, the quick cuts in the bulk of New Girl instead mark shifts in focus between the dialogue, emotions, and actions of certain characters to the reactions of the others in the scene. For instance, in “Wedding” (S1E3), 7 cuts between Jess, Nick, and Schmidt are made in the first 17 seconds, averaging out to be one cut every 2.4 seconds. These quick cuts, combined with the consistent setting of Nick’s room, exemplifies the purpose of the quick cuts to highlight the exchange between the three roommates, thus demonstrating the priority placed on supporting the characters’ dialogue over progressing the plot through visual storytelling.

Similarly, the bright, even lighting of the set throughout each episode also serves to focus audience attention on the characters themselves rather than the relationship between the characters and their environments.

Nick and Jess talking, S1E4

Nick and Jess talking, S1E4

screenshots are from a scene taking place at night in Nick’s room from “Naked” (S1E4) where Jess attempts to resolve the awkwardness between she and Nick after seeing him naked, the bright. The saturated lighting in these shots establishes the focus of the scene onto Jess and Nick’s interactions. Beside just creating a clear shot for the camera, the uniformity of the lighting on the two characters also creates a sense that Jess and Nick are physically close in proximity, thus helping to resolve the crisis between the friends.

In order to increase the relatability of the characters to a viewership as vast and diverse as the watchers of cable TV and Netflix, the cinematography and visual composition from episode to episode stays consistent in order to create a sense that the show’s characters live in the audience’s reality regardless of how crazy their actions and motives may be. For instance, the similar angles, lighting, and setting between the shots from episode 3 above and the shots from “Cece crashes” (S1E5) establishes a basis of normality and consistency in the characters’ lives, thus eliminating the need to suspend one’s disbelief when assessing their motivations and emotions.

Jess and Cece argue, S1E5

Jess and Cece argue, S1E5

The quick cuts, bright lighting regardless of time of day or space, and consistency of shots between episodes contribute to the focus of the show on how its characters interact with one another in a humorous way while also drawing attention towards the same feelings of joy and pain of living an ordinary life.

Netflix. “New Girl S1:E4 ‘Naked’.” Online Video Clip. Netflix. Netflix, 2018. Web. 10 September 2018.

Netflix. “New Girl S1:E5 ‘Cece Crashes’.” Online Video Clip. Netflix. Netflix, 2018. Web. 10 September 2018.

simpathy22. “Best of Jess | Season 1 | New Girl.” Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 2 March 2016. Web. 10 September 2018.

Visual Design that Fits the Protagonist: Cinematography in Jessica Jones

By Aniket Venkatesh

On September 9, 2018

In Review Topic 3

Jessica Jones, the character, is rather bitter, sarcastic and owns a dark personality, as revealed by the first episode of the show Jessica Jones. She often displays rudeness, foul temper, and lives alone in an apartment without a lock in the vast New York City. The cinematography of the show therefore exemplifies many dark elements, from certain dialogues to settings to color schemes, to mirror closely to her dark personality.

Jessica Jones’s Apartment

The first episode begins with a backdrop of New York City during night time, followed by Jessica Jones’s narration: “New York City may be the city that never sleeps, but it sure does get sleepy around here” while overlooking a shady part of the city. In addition to laying the foundation of her current job as an investigator, this opening scene gives a glance towards her sarcastic personality and her self-confidence due to her preference of being a night owl in such a vast and potentially dangerous city. This self-confidence begins to mold into more of self-centeredness as the viewers begin to find out that despite being an investigator and wielding superhuman powers, Jessica Jones’s main motive is to simply be able to thrive each day and keep her powers under cover over excelling in her job, even though she has managed in completing each investigation assigned.

During one of her sleepless nights, Jessica Jones leaves her apartment to pretty much stalk on other people through a balcony of a run-down building like her own apartment, appearing to be one of the side effects of being an investigator. Then, all of a sudden, a man-like figure approaches to her face then disappears instantly, sending her into what appeared as a PTSD panic. This same PTSD panic, which initially seemed very uncharacteristic of the otherwise emotionless Jessica Jones, repeats again two days later in the morning, one of the few scenes during daytime in the first episode. The imaginary man therefore appears to the viewers as some sort of villain who may not only know about her secret powers and be stronger than her but may very well have encountered her before and tortured her, as the echoing audio following each time she encounters him in her mind suggests.

Jessica Jones’s Only Weakness: Her PTSD

Finally, the first episode successfully lays the cinematographic foundation of, for the most part, all other episodes of the show, starting with the title pattern of “AKA” before its name to display Jessica Jones’s sarcasm regarding most everything. A few of the following episodes also run for nearly an hour, with several long takes to not only make each episode function like a small version of a movie, but also to center most of it around Jessica Jones, the self-centered protagonist. Overall, although the episode was rather dark for my taste, it is rather intriguing to see a female encompass a role such as Jessica Jones in television and I am certainly excited to see more of it!

New Girl: Simple Cinematography Unlike the Normal Sitcom

By Navya Katragadda

On September 9, 2018

In Review Topic 3

While watching New Girl, the show takes on the generic format of a T.V. sitcom with quick shots where the camera will shift to the character speaking. Throughout the episode, specifically during the most recent episode, “Kryptonite”, the shots would consist of the characters talking to one another, and the camera would quickly shift to the face of another to highlight their reaction to the others. The reactions of characters to each other is the main basis of comedy for this show. The quick shots are important to the show because they keep the audience engaged. In fast-moving shows like New Girl, quick and dynamic shots are important because if the camera work is not crisp, the audience is likely to get bored.

In terms of lighting, the show is very well lit. The episodes are generally colorful as Jess has a very colorful personality and it’s enhanced by the background of the shots. Specifically, in this episode, about half of the episode is shot outside which is different from the previous episode, where most of the episode took place within the apartment where all the main characters live. The color scheme of this episode was still colorful but even when the characters were outside, the colors were still a bit subdued. I believe that the colors were subdued at times to fit the theme of the episode. The episode was about Jess getting over a breakup and finding herself again and it could represent Jess losing the happy part of herself for a guy for a period of time.

The directors of cinematography and visuals of New Girl do a great job of keeping the audience engaged without being overwhelming. This means that the cinematography is very simple

This shows how the camera shifts from one character to another

Usually, sitcoms have fake audience laughter in the background and more sound effects to enhance the show. This allows New Girl to be more simple and for the comedy to be more natural through the show. Watching New Girl has been great because it’s a simple, funny and unique T.V. show that always finds new ways to make me laugh!

English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: cinematography (Page 4 of 4)

I’m as Confused as the Main Characters — Which is to Say, Very

New Girl: Lights, Camera, and Dialogue!

Visual Design that Fits the Protagonist: Cinematography in Jessica Jones

New Girl: Simple Cinematography Unlike the Normal Sitcom

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