In this particular scene from director David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone, three people have just entered a room; a father, his son, and Christopher Walken’s character. Usage of the rule of thirds, the 180 degree rule, and the 30 rule are integral here, as this is a conversational beat.
Regarding the 180 degree rule, which states that the line of conversation or action between two subjects cannot be broken by said margin of measurement; the director does a fine job of obeying this cinematic law. The line of action in question here lies between Walken and the father, as they share the only lines spoken in the short scene, and they are directed at one another. The switch in camera angles follows a nearly perfect diagonal line from the two. Also, this rule does not get broken because all the characters in the scene are there from the beginning and no new ones are added, nothing is cut away to, the characters do not walk anywhere, and the camera is stationary at every angle; it does not dolly.
The rule of thirds is obeyed quite flawlessly within these shots. Because the first half of the scene jumps back and forth from Walken’s action and the father and son’s reactions, a lot of medium shots are employed to capture each subject’s visage. None of these medium shots infringe on the rule by avoiding centering the subject in the frame, disallowing a dull or boring image for the viewer. Walken’s medium shot is accompanied by a fern, a side table, a vase, and a windowed door to even out the space. The two closer shots of the father and son also feature external objects to fill out the space such as windowed doors and curtains in the background.
Cronenberg also does a fantastic job of representing the 30 rule. This primarily occurs during the cut back to Walken after he smashes the vase and delivers his dialogue. The camera zooms in on Christopher almost exactly 30% in order to evade having a jump cut take place.
No comments:
Post a Comment