Image Factory - Analysing and Comparing Film Language

Image Factory – Looking at the ways film directors and cinematographers have used camera angles, camera movement and shot framing to create their own ‘film language’.

Film 1: Fallen Angels – Wong Kar-wei
The first thing I distinctively notice is how a wide angled lens must have been used during filming because every shot is a wide angle. Even close ups are using a wide angled lens because there is still a lot of surrounding space. For example:

 Wide angled Long shot

 

Wide angled close up

 

I think this type of lens is really effective because the space makes you feel distanced from the characters and considering that these characters are not meant to be very nice people I feel like we aren’t meant to get attached to them emotionally. What it also does is add a slight abstract element as well which is again good for distancing you and also keeping you aware that it’s not a true story. I don’t know If this was their intention however I think that because a lot of horrible things take place in this story having it too realistic would be too distressing on the audience.



 

In keeping with its abstract elements they have also used a massive amount of tilted angles:

 

Tilted camera angle

 

The camera never really sits straight which again keeps you distanced and aware but also it makes the footage seems unpolished and unperfected, almost like it is done on a hand held camera. This may have been to show how this story isn’t meant to be perfect and instead it is simply trying to show you a story and let you interpret it in your own way.

 

I have also found that there aren’t many facial close ups of the main characters. Usually in your typical Hollywood blockbuster you see endless facial close ups because every time some interacts or talks the camera focuses on this. However because this film is all about the distance between the main characters there is such little interaction that you rarely see a close up shot of their face. I think this is to enhance the meaning of distance between them in the story but this is also to stop us as viewers becoming emotionally attached to the characters. I think because of the shocking nature of the story they don’t want you to bond with the characters but instead they want you to observe and pay attention to the story. There is however one facial close up which is particularly noticeable because it stays on the screen for over 20 seconds:

 

20 second facial close up

 

I think this is shown for such a long time because it’s a key point in the story where she starts to feel some doubt for what she is doing and who she is. Because we haven’t had a close up like this previously it makes this close up have even more impact on us as an audience and we really get time to start observing her emotions and reflecting on who she is.

 

I find another effect that also seems to keep reoccurring is the use of slow motion. They seem to have a lot of quick cuts then all of a sudden they will contrast this with a very long lingering shot which will be slowed down. I think this again adds to the abstract style of the piece but is also done to make you really observe what’s happening and cause more of a lasting impact on us as viewers. Here is a shot from a scene in the film which was captured using slow motion:

 

Fight scene captured in slow motion

 

I think this scene is defiantly enhanced by the use of slow motion. If it were your same scene captured in normal speed then you wouldn’t see any of the details such as expressions of pain on people’s faces. It is these details which are only visible because of the slow motion and therefore make the scene much more effective.

 

Another element to this film which makes it more effective is the pace in which it is cut. You have two major contrasting speeds in which the film runs at. Firstly you have the really fast paced cuts which mean that a shot isn’t on our screen for any more than 3 seconds and then you have the long lingering shots some of which last over 20 seconds before changing. I think they are both used for a purpose. The fast montage scenes which are fast paces are simply used as a transitional stage to get you to the next major event in the story.  So for example they give us a small amount of information however the information is still necessary hence why we get to see it but only for a second. Then the is the shots which stay on our screens for a long time which suddenly make the viewer engage a lot more in what is happening because it is usually a pivotal moment.

 

Overall I think the film language used in ‘fallen angels’ is very unique keeping the film abstract but also telling the story in a very simplistic and easy to understand way. Your interest is heightened by the use of contrasting paces and shot types. I feel like this is how they are keeping the audience interested.

 

Research on Wong Kar-wei and Fallen Angels:

Wong has managed to make himself his own distinctive style of film language which is seen in most of his pieces although they don’t always feature such dark subjects. He has focused on a number of different topics but has always been renowned for his unique highly stylised but emotionally resonant pieces. Wong has won many awards at film festivals and awards for his pieces and for Fallen Angels he was nominated in Hong Kong for ‘Best film’ and ‘Best Director’ that year. Fallen Angels was typical of his fragmented style of working however it was a particularly dark subject compare to some of his topics. Wong has commented since on Fallen Angels saying that it should have been part of another film of his called ‘Chungking Express’. Both films are a study of people however ‘Chungking Express’ shows a really sweet love story of people whereas ‘Fallen angels’ was meant to show the dark side of people in Hong Kong. Wong thought it was only fair to show both sides of the coin which is why he intended for them to be the same film that would last for 3 hours but have the two sides represented in it. This is quite possible why people were shocked at the dark themes investigated in ‘Fallen Angels’ however when you haven’t seen any of his previous work it does still work as a story in its own right. Apart from this information it is very hard to find any other insight into his style and why he does it.

 

 

Film 2: Sean of the Dead – Edgar Wright

The first thing that is very distinctive not only in this film but in other films by Edgar Wright is the use of really quick shots and cuts which keep it moving at a really fast pace. Each object is only shown on the screen for a split second almost like it’s a montage. It is used as a transitional piece from one point of interest to another. I think it is to keep us as the viewer’s enticed and excited by having these quick cuts and it also means you can give information quickly without holding up the main narrative of the film. The shots used in these montage scenes are usually close up shots of objects significant to what is happening and actions which show you a quick step by step of what’s going on:

 

Close up shots used in montage demonstrating him getting ready for work

 

Therefore they are informative yet concise. I think it has to be close ups used to pull off these montages because if it were mainly long shots you wouldn’t see enough detail to be able to recognize quickly enough what is happening. I think this use of montage is the most distinctive feature of Edgar Wright’s film language and it’s probably the most useful too.

 



I also like the use of slower paces in the film too which create contrast and therefore excite the viewer. There are some tracking shots used which stay focused on the main character without cutting away for around 2 minutes. One scene in particular that is effective is the scene in which the main character wakes up hung-over and walks to and from the shop however he doesn’t noticed that he is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse and carries on oblivious. It keeps are attention on the main character but also shows us the landscape around him making us as viewers aware of the zombies:

 

Long tracking shot lasting 2 minuets

 

I think this long take is really effective because it adds a reality to the scene because you are completely focused on it with no cutting away. This is good because it then tells the viewer the reality and also severity of the zombie apocalypse. This then adds comical value because the main character hasn’t actually realized this at all. Another thing the long take does it actually causes a sense of anxiety because as a viewer we are sat there focusing on him waiting for something to happen. It builds up tension as we wait for a cut away and something major to happen. However this doesn’t happen and at the end of this shot he arrives back to his house unharmed again adding comical value.

 

Looking at the interesting camera angles used I like the way the film slowly reveals information to you in a shot by panning up or zooming out to reveal what’s going on. This again keeps us interested as viewers because we start off not sure what we’re looking at so we wait to see it being revealed. For example at the beginning of the film Shaun the main character walks out his room in the morning and all we initially see is his feet dragging along the floor. This shot in itself is symbolism of what is yet to come because he’s acting like a zombie as he’s half asleep but as we soon discover there will be real zombies introduced:

 

Beginning of Pan- Feet dragging along floor

 

End of Pan – Face has been revealed

 

I like how we are left wondering what is going on and then it is effectively and slowly revealed as the camera pans up. This is a good technique as it would be less engaging if we simply cut from his feet to his face. It keeps a nice steady flow to the scene which almost mimics the feelings of the characters as it is first thing in the morning.

 

Another way that camera angles are used is the way it can convey power. They can point down on someone to make them look vulnerable or up on someone to make them seem powerful. In this film they have been used noticeably at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. The camera looks up at the zombies to make them more intimidating to us as the viewer and therefore scarier:

 

Camera angled up at Zombie

 

This gives the zombie the power in this fight scene and therefore makes the fight more intense. It is used to give the power to the zombies at the beginning of the film but as we move forward in the narrative and the protagonist start winning the battle we find that the camera is angled up at the protagonist to symbolize that they are now gaining the power:

 

Camera angled up at protagonists

 

I also really like the way a lot of the fight scenes have been filmed in a very off centered shaky way to almost make it look handheld. I think this works really well because it adds more chaos to the scene. It also makes you as a viewer feel more involved away because the camera is dodging and ducking the same way you would if you were actually there and involved. I think this is again is really effective getting the audience involved and therefore captivating there attention which is very important.

 

Research on Edgar Wright and Shaun of the Dead

Edgar Wright is an English director who is best known currently for his Cornetto Trilogy which consists of the three films- Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The Worlds End. These three films are not linked as you may expect by narrative but instead it is the shared traits used in them along with the same film language which make these three work well together. Before this trilogy Wright had worked on many other projects such as the sitcom Spaced which is what allowed him to make his way into feature films. This is also where he met a lot of key members he needed such as Simon Pegg who plays the main character in all three films and also in Spaced. Shaun of the Dead was nominated for many awards however it did win two, one of which was Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards. After watching a video interview with Edgar Wright I learnt a lot more about why he makes these films in the way he does. He explained that his close up montage scenes are inspired by the idea of ‘entering a scene late and leaving it early.’ This means he tries to make it very fast paced and he always wants to keep the story moving. He says that by starting with a close up in a scene you then have instant action and therefore you instantly give yourself a faster pace. I also discovered that these montage scenes are made to mimic the typical tooling up scenes that you see in a lot of older action movies. They also make fun of these scenes because the actions in these montages at the beginning of Shaun of the Dead are every actions such as brushing his teeth etc. However this then creates a build up to the final montage scene in which they are actually tooling themselves with guns in the same way they do in the action films. I think all his techniques are amazing executed with in his films and they also build such a strong film language that it makes his pieces really distinctive.

 

Comparing the film language of Fallen Angles to Shaun of the Dead

These two films are from very different backgrounds and are also very different genres but therefore there are not many similarities between the two. The most distinctive feature in Shaun of the Dead is frequent use of the close ups especially close up montages which are used really well to speed up the action and also to set the scene off at a fast pace but also keep it at a fast pace. It basically is constantly moving at a fast pace. This is very different to Fallen Angels. The most distinctive feature of Fallen Angels is the constant use of the wide angled shots. This makes you feel very distanced from the action and the characters.
 

The Pace of each film is also very different. All the close ups like I said in Shaun of the Dead keep it really fast and therefore really intense whereas the pace of Fallen Angels is a lot slower and therefore makes the audience more anxious. You are really involved in the action of Shaun of the Dead but you have a lot less time to reflect and think because there is always something happening. However I think Fallen Angels takes a very different approach and instead is made to be very slow to allow the viewer time to think and contemplate on the actions which have taken place.
 

There are a few similarities with in their film language such as the use of tilted angles especially in fight scenes. Shaun of the Dead only uses them in fight scenes to make the camera feel hand held which causes you as the viewer to feel more involved but also it creates a much heavier feeling of chaos. These tilted angles only happen for a split second though and can almost go unnoticed. In Fallen Angels it is much more noticeable and deliberate that the camera is tilted because it is used continuously throughout the film in many different scenes and is held like that for a long time. This is to make the film more abstract which has the opposite affect and actually distances an audience away from the situation and makes them simply view it rather than getting involved in it.
 

They also both have some really long takes in them. Shaun only has one very noticeable long take which a scene consisting of him being followed by the camera for two minutes as he walks to and from the shop. This scene builds up a lot of anxiety for the audience because we can see all the zombies around him yet he himself hasn’t even noticed. We are waiting for something to happen since we are use to a lot of quick cuts in this film but now we are anxious because suddenly this is a long take which is a massive contrast. Fallen Angels takes a very different approach with long takes and actually uses them very frequently throughout the film. They therefore don’t cause anxiety because it is the pace that we are already use to. Instead it simply gives us time to study the surroundings and take in everything that is going on without being interrupted and told what to look at and when to look at it.
 

Both films are stylized using their own unique sets of film languages. Some of their techniques are very similar but they have been executed in very different ways giving us two very different films.