Week Three: Film Techniques

For this assignment, I'm going to look closely at a scene from NBC's hit show "Heroes." In case you are unfamiliar with the program, "Heroes" is a show about people around the world who find out they have extraordinary abilities.

In the scene I will be looking at (from Season Two, Episode Four, "The Kindness of Strangers"), Matt Parkman, an NYPD detective who is able to hear people's thoughts, is interviewing Angela Petrelli, the mother of two sons with special abilities, about a suspicious death.

The first shot is a long shot of Parkman and his supervisor standing around Mrs. Petrelli's hospital bed. The camera swiftly moves in on Mrs. Petrelli's face and she delivers the line "I killed Kaito Nakamura." I believe this camera movement focuses our attention on Mrs. Petrelli and adds drama to her already surprising statement.

As she explains herself, the camera captures Mrs. Petrelli in profile. Also in the frame is her heart monitor, and we hear it beeping. The inclusion of this image makes the audience feel that she is confessing to the murder of Mr. Nakamura to keep herself alive.

After Mrs. Petrelli makes her case, Parkman attempts to read Mrs. Petrelli's thoughts. As is characteristic of the mind-reading scenes on "Heroes," there is a particular sound of electronic static and the character's voice echoes a bit. The camera also provides several shots of the character's face from different angles. These are signals that help the reader distinguish between spoken language and thoughts being heard by Parkman.

Also, for the first time that I've noticed on the show, camera angles alternate between shots looking down on the character's forehead and shots that zoom in on the character's mouth. I think this is a brilliant way to highlight a main theme in this scene: People often say very different things than what they think. In this case, Mrs. Petrelli is confessing to a murder, but in her mind she is telling Officer Parkman that even though she is innocent, he should just "Take her confession and let it go."

In general, this scene is built on close-ups of the actor's faces, because seeing each character's reaction to spoken words and thoughts are very important to the story. The lighting in the scene is low and dramatic, without a lot going on in the background to distract from the characters' expressions. The music is soft but builds to a crescendo at the climax of the scene. Ultimately, this scene, though short, is very effective in establishing larger themes as well as conveying new information about the characters in a dramatic way.

In my classroom, I would show two clips side by side because it is sometimes easier for students to identify techniques using comparing/contrasting measures. I would either choose two clips that show the same theme or subject matter, or choose the same scene from different versions of a film (such as the two film versions of Romeo and Juliet). Then I would ask my students, using the vocabulary discussed, to find the elements in each. After identification, we would discuss "the underlying purpose for why filmmakers are using these different techniques" (Beach, p. 23).

I do agree with Beach when he says "students are most likely to learn to understand and critique use of film techniques through engaging in their own digital video productions" (Beach, p.21). If resources are available, I would love for my students to create short films to share with the class. At the very least, I think the process of planning/storyboarding an idea is a valuable project for the class to try.

The text mentions comics as a good way to teach storyboarding. Because "Heroes" draws a lot on comics and comic book art, I think it would be a valuable lesson to look at the "Heroes" comic and compare it to the actual "Heroes" program.

The following is an analysis of a favorite commercial of mine which may be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Zma2_n5CA&feature=related

Shot 1: Long shot, shows Tim sitting at his desk, co-workers approaching him
This shot establishes the setting and characters
“Hey Tim, show Joel how everything you touch turns into Skittles.”

Shot 2: Medium shot, shows Tim and his co-worker’s hand offering him a stapler. He pokes it and it crumbles into Skittles.
This shot allows a closer look at Tim’s sadness, as well as a close view of the crumbling stapler.

Shot 3: Medium shot of co-workers in amazement.
This shot allows us to focus on the co-worker’s reaction to Tim’s talent. “That’s awesome!”

Shot 4: Medium shot of Tim looking up at his co-workers.
This shot puts us on Tim’s level, allowing us to sympathize with him.
“Is it awesome when you can’t hold your newborn baby boy in your arms?”

Shot 5: Long shot of Tim and his co-workers, who are eating the Skittles off Tim’s desk.
This shot allows us to see both Tim’s sadness and the casual Skittle-eating behavior of his co-workers.
“Did you feed and dress yourselves this morning? I didn’t.”

Shot 6: Medium shot of Tim, slow zoom in.
This shot is gets us the closest we get to Tim’s face, allowing us to see the emotion in it.
“I met a man on the bus today. I shook his hand. He’ll never see his family again.”

Shot 7: Medium shot of the co-workers, whose hands drop to their sides.
We see a closer view of the co-worker’s reaction and sympathy here, and watch their softening body language.

Shot 8: Medium shot of Tim from the co-workers’ POV.
From this point of view, we mirror the sympathy of the co-workers.
“I guess that’s pretty awesome”

Shot 9: Close up of Tim as the phone rings.
“Excuse me.”

Shot 10: Close up of Tim as he touches the phone, then the phone turns to Skittles.
This close angle lets us see the surprising results of a simple action like answering the phone.

Shot 11: Close up of Tim as he grunts in frustration.
A close view on his reaction.

Shot 12: Long shot from the opposite angle of Tim and his co-workers as Tim touches his desk and it collapses into a pile of Skittles.
This is the climax of the commercial, so we are able to see the full weight of the collapse, all the characters and the setting with Skittles all over the floor.

Shot 13: Shot of a pack of Skittles and the text.
This reinforces the name of the product.
“Touch the rainbow, taste the rainbow.”