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The somewhat boring movie in my head

70yearswtf.substack.com

The somewhat boring movie in my head

Aug 3, 2016
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The somewhat boring movie in my head

70yearswtf.substack.com

Take a look at a movie from the 1940s or 50s, and compare it with a modern film. Wow. Such difference.

The old films are dull and static. Long scenes shot with a single camera, unmoving. From time to time a close up of a character speaking or reacting. Or an over-the-shoulder shot, very daring.

In today's movies the camera never stops moving. In fight scenes the camera swings around wildly. The average cut is a second or two. Images zoom from the sky. There are low angle shots.

The movie in my head is kind of boring. It's pretty much first person POV with a focal length that doesn't change much. The camera dynamics are pretty boring. And yet...

And yet, if I pay attention, I can make the camera work better. Right I'm moving my focus from medium -- the words on the screen -- to tight focus on my typing hands. I'm going for effect here. Now I narrow down, and take a good hard look at one of my fingers, as I continue to type. Then I look up, and take in a wide angle shot of the room.

Then -- well then what can I do? A flashback? I'm suddenly in Italy at Dana's wedding. And now I'm looking at a picture of the wedding. See how I did the cross-fade?

Then back to the typing fingers.

Now if I can just do something about the sound track!

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The somewhat boring movie in my head

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