Codes and Conventions

To understand the project at hand better, i'm going to examine 3 scenes simular to the brief of this project and look for codes and conventions in each of them.

Example 1

The first example i have chosen to research is a scene from the movie "Heat", where Robert Di Niro is having a convosation with Al Pacino in a diner. To view this clip on youtube.com, CLICK HERE. In this scene there is no opening of a door, however it is a very good example of a standard conversation between two people in a film. Here they are sitting down having a convosation, and the camera shots give great examples of the 180 degree rule. Below is a diagram of the 180 degree rule:

As you can se in the scene, Al Pacino is always on the right, and Di Niro is always on the left. This is so not to phycologically confuse the audience. Another very clever camera technique used in this clip, is as the convosation becomes more intense, the camera slow progresses into a closer and colse shot, until what starts as a mid shot of both characters, eventully progresses into a close up shot of the two characters faces. This gives the audience the impression that things are getting more and more intense in the scene, something i may want to consider for my scene.

Example 2

My second example is a scene from the movie "The Matrix". To see this scene, CLICK HERE. In this scene, Neo is taken to meet Morphious. This scene is a good example as it begins with Neo and Trinity opening double doors in a full shot, to exstablish both the characters and the set. There is then an example of match on action, as Morphious begins turning to face Neo, the camera cuts to a close up of his face, and he continues turning. As match on action is an element that has to be applied to my clip, this is very helpful, as it has shown me a different style in which it can be applied. The convosation between the two characters is again in mid shot, and shows another good example of the 180 degree rule, with Neo on the right and Morphious on the left. Also the camera occasionally does a close up of Neo's face to capture the emotion of his character. There is also a shot of both characters sitting down from the side, to establish there positions. Lighting is very dim in this scene, to capture and portray the tension of the situation. There is no sounds so that the dialogue is clearly heard.

Example 3

My final example comes from a scene in the movie "Pulp Fiction". CLICK HERE to view this scene. In this scene Samuel L. Jackson is negotiating with a robber of a resturant. I chose to study this scene, as it uses a range of different shots, and although a fair ammount of action is happening with movement etc, the scene still sticks to the 180 degree rule, with Samuel L. Jackson on the right, and the robber on the left. The scene uses full shots and long shots at certain points to show the audience where the scene is taking place. it also uses 3's and 4's shots to establish all the main characters in the scene. This might be relevant if i chose to have more then 2 characters in my scene. Below is an example of a 4 shot it uses.

As you can see here, this shot is layout out carefully to establish where the 4 characters are in the scene, in a diamond type shape so that all are visible.