Hi my name is Tony and this is a quick Every Frame a Painting.
Maybe you get this. Sometimes I’m watching a scene and I just get so bored
Instead of being staged uniquely, the scene is just this: standard coverage.
Nobody moves, everybody gets a close-up, and we’re stuck here
for five minutes cutting back and forth.
--It’s like a lot of films one sees today. They’re what I call
photographs of people talking.
And bears no relation to the art of the cinema.
So here's one alternative from Akira Kurosawa: instead of going
to standard coverage, stage the scene in simple geometric shapes.
This scene comes from The Bad Sleep Well and it focuses on two things
squares and triangles. Here, Nishi hands the case to Shirai
and as he sits down again, we get a very simple triangle:
two sets of eyes and the bag with the stolen money.
Notice that Kurosawa doesn’t cut between reactions.
Instead our eyes naturally look at one person’s face, then the other.
As Shirai grows afraid, the triangle stretches out.
Even though we’re not thinking about it, notice that the door is
always in frame in the background, to prepare us for when...
As Moriyama approaches, the camera reframes to trap Shirai inside a square.
And as the shorter man backs up...
we get this great composition: three men, three sets of eyes.
Even though the verbal drama happens between the two standing men,
its Nishi’s face closest to center frame because we need to see his reaction
and make sure his cover isn’t blown.
Kurosawa breaks the triangle with a hand and then a reveal.
Notice how just by moving his eyes, we pay attention to Nishi.
And the triangle has subtly changed. The two men on the left
have been brought closer together,
while the man on the right breaks away to focus on the money.
We get one last attempt at forgiveness but it doesn’t work.
Shirai hesitates for half a second and the scene ends
much as it began, with one person alone planning his next move.
Even though he never says a word,
Toshiro Mifune owns this scene with just his posture and his eyes.
And Kurosawa, by staging it in triangles and squares,
gives our eyes multiple points to focus on, and a complete story
in two and a half minutes.
There’s even a geometric beauty about it
1 person, then 2, then 3, 2, 1. Its a masterpiece of visual storytelling
If you liked this exercise, try studying any other Kurosawa.
For each film, he found bold, simple, visual ways to tell the story.
Seven Samurai has circles and groups of seven.
Yojimbo has horizontal rows and diagonal lines.
And the Hidden Fortress has triangles and more triangles.
So the next time you have multiple characters in a scene,
don't just shoot generic close-ups. Be creative
and see what kind of shapes you can make.