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Hi, my name is Tony,[br]and this is Every Frame a Painting.

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There's a quote that I love[br]from Alexander Mackendrick. He said :[br]

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<i>"What a film director really directs[br]is the audience attention ...</i>

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<i>... Directing is a matter of emphasis ...</i>

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<i>... You emphasize what is important ...</i>

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<i>... by under-emphasizing[br]what is less so."</i>

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These days, most directors create emphasis[br]by cutting from close-up ...

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... to close up ...

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... to close up.

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But too much coverage is exhausting,[br]especially for the actors.

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<i>- And say, oh, so now,[br]you're gonne be a mechanic,</i>

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<i>so you should master close, close, closer,[br]over, over, over ...</i>

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<i>I go hard lining, and say "Look,[br]I'm not gonna do that.",</i>

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<i>because you already got[br]everything you need to tell the audience</i>

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<i>what they need to know[br]about what's happening here.</i>

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So today, let's consider a different option.[br]Instead of standard coverage,

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let's put all the actors[br]in the same frame,

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and let them perform together.

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In other words, let's talk about[br]'ensemble staging'.

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Ensemble staging is all about[br]creating emphasis without using a cut

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The first thing to remember is that[br]we naturally look at whoever is speaking ...

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and whoever is being spoken to.

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This is often combined with[br]a second technique :

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if someone is more important, [br]put them closer to the light,

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or closer to the lens.

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If you want someone to be less noticeable,[br]move them further away,

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maybe out of focus.

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Of course, attention is relative.[br]Sometimes, you can get the audience

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to look at something,[br]even when it's out of focus.

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By having it move.

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We're especially aware[br]when somebody moves their hands ...

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or moves their eyes.

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You can also guide the audience by putting[br]something close to the center of the frame.

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In fact, this is one of the film's[br]running jokes.

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Characters in the middle of the shot ...

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... who keep attacking the suspects.

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Which brings us to #5 :[br]the body position of the actors.

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How are the characters turned[br]in relation to the lens ?

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Do we see their whole face ...[br]or 3/4 ?

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Is it a profile ... or another angle[br]where we don't see the face at all ?

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When you have multiple actors in a shot,[br]it's important to have some variation.

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The audience doesn't need to look at[br]a character right now : turn him around.

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Notice how by doing this,[br]you're creating contrast.

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The 3 cops on the right face each other,[br]while detective Seo looks elsewhere.

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In fact, for the first half-hour, he's[br]constantly placed away from the main group,

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looking at documents[br]that everyone else is ignoring.

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This bring us to #7 :

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Subtly moving the camera.

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Here watch out the shot[br]narrow our focus from 4 characters ...

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... down to 2.[br]While here, our attention moves

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from one side of the argument, to the other,[br]fore-settling on the eventual winner.

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And last of all, don't forget that[br]human beings are social creatures :

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We look where other people are looking.

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So with all that, let's consider why Bong Joon-ho[br]would stage something as an ensemble.

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This is my favourite shot[br]in the entire film.

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At first we think it's one story,[br]an argument between two cops.

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And Bong seems to do very little.[br]He just lets our attention move

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from detective Park ...[br]to detective Seo.

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But in the center of frame,[br]something catches our eye,

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and we realize another character,[br]detective Cho, is making out

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with the hostess in the back.

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So now we have 2 stories :[br]foreground & background.

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And Bong plays them against each other,[br]to contrast the serious ...

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... with the silly. As the scene builds,[br]he slowly pushes the camera in,

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which hides the 2 women,[br]and focus our attention on the main pair.

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And he lets the actors use their hands[br]to tell the story,

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especially when the argument[br]reaches his breaking point.

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But suddenly, the chief enters the scene.

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This is the moment when[br]the ensemble staging pays off.

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We have an unexpected third story, and[br]it interrupts both of the others.

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With a joke.

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From now on, the rest of the scene[br]is the third story,

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as the chief outlines his plan[br]to catch the serial killer.

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But why do this in one shot ?[br]I think it underscores the theme.

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The first story is a petty argument.[br]The second story is just lust.

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None of these cops is doing work,[br]they're all being selfish.

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It's not until the third story that[br]they think about the victims and the case.[br]

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The chief literally provides[br]the moral center of the frame.

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And if Bong had shot this scene[br]with coverage,

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we wouldn't see the connection[br]between the first story ...[br]

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... and the second.[br]And from both stories ...

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... to the third.

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This is the kind of directing that is[br]unbelievably rare today,

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and it shows the value of[br]playing a scene as an ensemble,

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rather than cutting[br]from one face to another.

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<i>- Because sometimes, I just want to stay[br]in that particular place, with the actors,</i>

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<i>and let the actors settle it,[br]and not let you help me tell the story</i>

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<i>by getting closer to my face.[br]Just let me do it.</i>