Joel & Ethan Coen - Shot | Reverse Shot

Hi my name is Tony
and this is Every Frame a Painting.

The most basic thing we have
in film grammar is probably this:

Shot

Reverse shot

Nearly everything you watch
is going to be

Nearly everything you watch
is going to be filled with it.

And most filmmakers seem to use it
as a quick way to record dialogue.

Keep the actors still,
use multiple cameras

shoot ten takes,
and then make decisions in post.

But I think shot | reverse shot is still
powerful when it's done precisely

And a good example of that
is the work of Joel & Ethan Coen.

-"We thought you was..."

-"...a toad."

Because the Coens are masters of the dialogue scene
and they’ve done it by keeping their shots simple but precise.

-"Can I share something with you?"

So today, let’s reconsider
shot | reverse shot.

What can we learn from
the way the Coens use it?

-"But let me ask you a question..."

-"Would an imbecile come up with this?"

One of the first things
you notice about the Coens is that

they like to film dialogue from
inside the space of the conversation.

And that means the camera is
usually in between the two characters

so that they each get separate shots.

-"Do I make myself clear?"

In other words,
they shoot a lot of singles.

-"I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening."

Other filmmakers, like Paul Greengrass,
prefer the camera behind the characters

Usually on a very long lens,
so you feel like you’re spying

-"I want to know what happened"
-"What happened?"

-"Jason Bourne happened.
You got the files."

-"Then let’s cut the crap."

The Coens and Roger Deakins
don’t do this.

In fact, they film
almost exclusively on wide lenses

-"Well I’ve got a very strong feeling
about lenses and personally..."

-"...I’m sitting here talking to you and
you’re filming me from over there..."

-"...on a shoulder on probably a single.
Where, I’d rarely do that."

-"Cause I think, you know, the camera
wants to be..."

-"To me,
I would shoot singles inside here."

And if you do this, switch to
a wider lens and bring the camera closer

it feels like…

-"It’s different right? You know,
there’s a sense of presence..."

-"You’re right there with somebody,
as opposed to being…"

-"...I think psychologically,
it’s a totally different effect so…"

But what is the psychological effect?

If a long lens feels like you’re spying,
then how does this lens make you feel?

-"Look, look, something is very wrong!"

-"I don’t want Santana 'Abraxas.'"

-"I’ve just been in
a terrible auto accident!"

I would say it’s two feelings:

kind of uncomfortable…

and kind of funny.

And it fits.

Because the Coens
like to isolate individuals

trapping them in situations that
they really have no control over.

And because the lens is right here...

-"Now we had a deal here.
A deal’s a deal."

-"Is it Jerry? You ask those three poor
souls up in Brainerd if a deal’s a deal"

You’re trapped with them.

The other effect is visual.

The Coens shoot mostly
on a 27mm or 32mm lens

and they often push in to exaggerate
some part of an actor’s face.

-"Frank Raffo, my brother-in-law,
was the principal barber."

-"And man, could he talk."

Using wide lenses doesn’t just
exaggerate the face...

...it also exaggerates forward camera
movement, like dollying into a close-up.

-"Also a sense of action."

-"Like if I bring my hand closer or
further from the camera..."

-"...the wide-angle lens is going
to have much more effect."

-"And even if I’m shifting, like this."

-"Maybes don’t make it so."

-"It’s going to feel more alive,
more edgy."

-"What, are you kidding?
We got us a family here!"

But the third effect of
shooting singles this way...

...is environmental.

Shots like this have a nice balance...

...between the character
and everything around her.

-"I’d be very surprised
if our suspect was from Brainerd."

-"Yah."

And it helps us get a quick read
on very minor characters.

Think about how well you know this woman
just from her clothes and her workspace.

-"We can’t give out no information."

But what really distinguishes the Coens

...is the rhythm of their editing.

-"We depress the stock."

-"To the point where we can buy 50%"
-"51."

-"Not counting the mezzanine."

-"It could work!"
-"It should work!"

-"It would work!"
-"It’s working already!"

Many people think the rhythm
comes from their dialogue.

But the rhythm is actually nonverbal.

Sometimes, to feel the rhythm,
you have to see it done badly.

This is a film they wrote
but didn’t direct.

Watch the awkward pause
between two lines of dialogue.

-"Not that I judge."

-"How terribly interesting."

-"But is there a tournament of some
description with rowdy goings-on?"

It just feels "off."

Now watch this moment,
directed by them.

-"Cigarette?"

-"Right."

And this rhythm is what underlies
so many of their scenes...

and it’s how they find nonverbal moments
that other directors don’t look for.

But what do all these choices add up to?

I think it creates a particular tone.

Because on one level, the Coens
want you to laugh at these people.

After all, they use the wide lens
to exaggerate the face

and they time the scene for humor.

But on another level, the Coens want you
to empathize with these characters.

They frame wide enough
so you can see the environment

...and they put the lens right
next to people at their lowest point.

-"I am dying."

-"Do something. Help me!"

There's an old saying:
Tragedy is a close-up.

Comedy is a long shot.

But for the Coens
those distinctions are jumbled.

They play both tragedy and comedy
in intimate singles.

-"I miss Mike."

And that's the fascinating thing.

Because dialogue scenes aren't
just about recording the dialogue.

They're also about
the nonverbal behavior.

-"I don’t guess
this means much to you."

-"Hell yeah,
I could tell you some stories…"

-"And that’s the point!
That we all have stories..."

And by placing the camera here,

using a wide lens,
and following their particular rhythm

the Coens have found an interesting
approach to the most basic tool.

Shot

Reverse shot