WEBVTT

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

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

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Shot

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Reverse shot

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Nearly everything you watch
is going to be

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

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

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Keep the actors still,
use multiple cameras

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shoot ten takes,
and then make decisions in post.

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

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

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-"We thought you was..."

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-"...a toad."

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

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-"Can I share something with you?"

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

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

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

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-"Would an imbecile come up with this?"

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

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

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

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so that they each get separate shots.

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-"Do I make myself clear?"

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In other words,
they shoot a lot of singles.

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-"I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening."

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

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

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

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

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-"Then let’s cut the crap."

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The Coens and Roger Deakins
don’t do this.

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In fact, they film
almost exclusively on wide lenses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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it feels like…

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

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

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

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But what is the psychological effect?

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

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

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-"I don’t want Santana 'Abraxas.'"

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

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I would say it’s two feelings:

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kind of uncomfortable…

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and kind of funny.

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And it fits.

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Because the Coens
like to isolate individuals

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

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And because the lens is right here...

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

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

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You’re trapped with them.

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The other effect is visual.

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

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

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

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-"And man, could he talk."

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

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

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-"Also a sense of action."

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

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

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

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-"Maybes don’t make it so."

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

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

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

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...is environmental.

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Shots like this have a nice balance...

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...between the character
and everything around her.

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

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-"Yah."

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

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

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-"We can’t give out no information."

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But what really distinguishes the Coens

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...is the rhythm of their editing.

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-"We depress the stock."

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

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-"Not counting the mezzanine."

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

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

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Many people think the rhythm
comes from their dialogue.

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But the rhythm is actually nonverbal.

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

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

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Watch the awkward pause
between two lines of dialogue.

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-"Not that I judge."

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-"How terribly interesting."

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

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It just feels "off."

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Now watch this moment,
directed by them.

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-"Cigarette?"

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-"Right."

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

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

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But what do all these choices add up to?

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I think it creates a particular tone.

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

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

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and they time the scene for humor.

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

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They frame wide enough
so you can see the environment

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

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-"I am dying."

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-"Do something. Help me!"

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

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Comedy is a long shot.

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But for the Coens
those distinctions are jumbled.

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They play both tragedy and comedy 
in intimate singles.

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-"I miss Mike."

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And that's the fascinating thing.

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

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They're also about
the nonverbal behavior.

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

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

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

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And by placing the camera here,

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using a wide lens,
and following their particular rhythm

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

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Shot

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Reverse shot