--Okay Max now this is it. Left or right?
--Come on Max!
--Left!
Hi, my name is Tony and this is a quick Every Frame a Painting.
Be warned, this video spoils all of Snowpiercer.
So I am giving you a choice. Beyond this point in the video...
--There's no turning back. --There is no turning back.
--And there's no turning back
you understand? --Yes I do.
In nearly every blockbuster you watch or Telltale game that you’ve played,
you've seen moments like this. The protagonist has to make a choice,
and there’s no way to reverse it.
--Okay it's you.
Just to be clear, I think moments like these are great and a foundation
of good storytelling.
But I do wish in movies they weren’t presented through dialogue.
So today I look at one possible alternative.
In fact, this is one of the oldest traditions in cinema.
How do you show character choice?
Left or Right. That’s it.
We often forget that screen direction is a tool, and that character choices
can be presented simply by having them look.
Snowpiercer depends on one simple rule:
camera left is the back of the train, while camera right is the front.
And we gradually move from left to right.
In fact, you could see this film as the story of a man who thinks
he has to keep pushing forward.
And yet everything that anchors him and gives him his humanity
is behind him. --You have to lead us.
Each decision he faces seems to be a simple variation on these two directions
But the film doesnt make it easy for him and sometimes he goes backwards.
--Curtis, my friend, we understand each other, listen to my words, it wasn't me!
When he finally reaches the end of his journey, Curtis is pushed
by yet another person to go forward.
--I have devoted my entire life to this, the eternal engine.
And to see the humanity behind him as something lesser.
--You can save them from themselves
And given one final choice between right and above
or left and below.
He chooses this.
The best part of this is that Bong Joon-ho
has shown the moral progression of his choices without ever needing dialogue.
Snowpiercer is probably the most lateral film you’ll see this year.
And it’s proof that the simplest visual ideas have a lot of grace and subtlety.
So the next time your character runs into a complex choice...
Who knows?
Maybe it’s actually just a simple matter of left or right.