In ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’, unique camera and framing tricks are used to highlight drama in the story, allowing for emotions the characters are feeling to be expressed without words in a very quick and effective manner. In this scene, many of the shots are medium close-up (MCU) of a certain character, but often include other characters in dynamic ways.

https://youtu.be/R-aJ-2y5ICo?si=yxFdUZORi_018pxq

In this scene, we see Scott at a his band’s show, which he has invited Ramona Flowers (his crush) to. As she arrives, she meets his band and friends, including his current girlfriend, Knives. As Scott deals with his mistake, the viewer sees the tense game of emotions being tossed from person to person.

In the first shot, we see Ramona at close-up (CU) between Scott and Knives, who have just kissed and are at extreme close-up (ECU). This begins the loop of tension moving throughout the characters.

The screen then shifts to CU of Scott, who looks from left to right in one shot. Even though the viewer can’t see what he’s looking at, the preceding and following shots, as well as the emotion, help tell the audience who he looks to and from (Ramona to Knives).

As Scott looks at Knives, the shot changes to a CU of her. Included is a MCU of Wallace (Scott’s roommate), which helps establish where everyone is within the shot.

The shot then zooms out, becoming a MCU of Knives and a CU of Ramona, showing Knives’ tension towards her.

It then switches to a CU of Scott’s sister, showing an CU/ECU of Knives in front of her, looking the same direction.

When the shot zooms out, we see that they are both looking at Scott, who is now CU. This exemplifies their anger at him.

Then the shot changes to a CU of Wallace-

–who is looking towards Scott’s sister’s boyfriend, setting up tension on the side as well, as Wallace is attracted to him. The boyfriend looks away uncomfortably.

It then switches to the final CU of Scott, the instigator of the entire problem.

The audience then sees a medium shot (M) of everyone looking at Scott, showing the bulk of people who are upset with him after focusing on each of them one by one. This passes the tension from character to character, shot to shot, quite smoothly.

Finally, the camera then shows the final CU of Scott again, before he runs away from his problems, as is common for the character. The camera stays in place as he escapes, showing the ECU back angles of Ramona and Knives as Scott goes from CU to long shot (LS).

Overall, this playful and dynamic use of framing and zooming out allows the viewer to digest a large amount of information rather quickly and easily. It keeps the viewer more engaged than if each character explained who they were upset with and why. Additionally, the repetitive nature of the shots zooming out adds to the tension of the narrative, as the viewer isn’t sure who is going to be seen next or how deep each character’s emotions actually run.

For this post, I decided to do the first Lord of the Rings movie and it was tough choosing what sequence I should do because almost all of this movie is pure gold for shots and framing. I went with the council of Elrond because I feel that it has a great variety of framing throughout the entire sequence.

extreme long shot (landscape and architecture)

close up (face)

high longshot

medium longshot

extreme closeup(Frodo’s hand and the One Ring)

medium(Waist up Frodo and Gandalf)

extreme close up (The One Ring and the reflection of the Council of Elrond)

medium (waist up of Bormir probably the perceptive of the Hobbits)

pov and/or extreme close up (Borimir reaching for the One Ring)

low long shoot(Gandalf talking in the black speech of Mordor)

another close up of the One Ring

longshot(full body of the council)

close up(Aragorn’s face)

Longshot(fullish body)

Medium waist up(also a great shot to show the scale of hobbits)

Close up (one does not simply do framing for Lord of the rings)

extreme close up( the one ring and the council arguing)

Longshot full body( another great scale of the hobbits)

medium (from the pov of Frodo)

medium close up(Frodo Merry and Pippin)

Medium( of the entire fellowship).

There are many medium shots because Peter Jackson(the director) was probably aiming to show the scale of the hobbits in regards to the rest of middle-earth. The close ups of the Ring was done since the ring itself is basically a character all of its own. Through the editing and framing we can see how each race(elf, dwarf, man, and hobbit) interact with each other and how the ring corrupts people. The close ups were fairly important important to convey how each character was feeling without having to explain too much.

For this assignment, I decided to use the series finale of Better Call Saul. When reading about this assignment, I knew I wanted to choose Better Call Saul, but deciding on which scene to use was very difficult because of the many brilliantly filmed scenes in the series. In the end, I chose the final scene because it not only wrapped up this masterpiece of a series but also left me very content. If this series is known for anything, it’s the amazing storytelling and cinematography.

This final scene might not seem like much, but there is a bit to it. With Jimmy now in prison, he and Kim share one last quiet moment. This final scene is really carried by the way it is filmed, as there isn’t much dialogue between Jimmy and Kim. For example, the long shot (full body) frame is such a great shot because of how reminiscent it is of their early days as pro bono lawyers sharing a cigarette.

The last frame I picked (medium, waist up) was also a really good callback. In Season 5, Episode 10, Jimmy and Kim are talking about ruining Howard’s career as a lawyer. During this conversation, it almost seems like Jimmy is trying to discourage Kim from criminal behavior, but at this point in the series, Kim seems very serious about going through with these actions. The scene ends with Jimmy asking if she’s serious, and Kim answers with the finger guns.

The thing about Better Call Saul that I love so much is these very simple things that one might disregard but then end up being very significant. In this case, Kim’s finger guns signify her entry into criminal activity, while Jimmy’s use signifies his exit.

  Medium (waist up)

Long shot (full body)

Long shot (full body)

Medium long (knees up)

Low shot/ Zoom Medium close (chest up)

Extreme long shot

Extreme long shot/ High

Medium (waist up)

I started my clips around 2:20 because the framing was varied a lot after that time stamp.

My all time favorite movie is Fantastic Mr Fox made by Wes Anderson. Not only is this movie an entertaining watch for the characters and plot but also Wes Andersons unique style of filming centers around one thing; framing. Anderson is known for his framing, color palette and consistent symmetry in every scene, its actually quite fascinating.

medium closeup

Very long shot

long shot

long shot

long shot

medium closeup

long shot

closeup and very long

closeup

mid shot

Long shot

long shot

closeup & mid shot

mid shot

A lot of these shots are two layered, that’s why I enjoy Wes Andersons film style so much, it’s all so stacked and every frame compliments the other. There was 7 different frames from this 20 second clip and I think they fit each scene so well.

I love the framing of the last 5 shots, the camera stays stationary but the moving of characters changes the framing which is so interesting. Long shots are most common for this clip and I feel as if the framing fits the scenario of this part of the movie so much, it shines light on how small the characters really are and shows how vast the Boggis farm is as well as how heavily armed it is which wouldn’t be conveyed as well in anything smaller than a mid shot.

You’ll also notice that characters will share the same frame one after each other without moving the angle or position of the camera or changing to a new scene.

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