Deadpool (2016)
In the classic Hollywood movie "Sunset Boulevard", there is a very famous line, which is the actress Norma's sentence "I'm ready to shoot my close-up!" ”
From this short sentence, we can see how precious close-ups are for former Hollywood film actors.
In the finale of "Sunset Boulevard", the former actress Norma is pointing at the camera and making her last crazy performance.
But in recent years, there has been a trend in many contemporary films, especially Hollywood films, where close-ups are increasingly being used as a tool to fill in the length of scenes, even everywhere.
Given the director's increasing prominence, we can realize that behind each shot is the idea of the director as a creator, so when the audience sees close-ups like this again and again, it is inevitable that they will feel constrained.
Can't help but make us rethink what is the purpose of close-up shots?
The American Psycho (2000)
Before that, let's first popularize what a close-up is.
Close-ups usually frame the character's face to express emotion, or highlight an object to show the details of the situation, and there are many types of close-ups, both medium and large close-ups.
Close-up from Twelve Years of Slavery
Large close-up of Resident Evil
Dating back to the 1903 film Sick Cat, the following shot is considered to be the earliest close-up in film history. The closer the camera gets to the cat, the more we can see the action, revealing to the audience why close-ups have remained the same since their birth in 1903.
But ironically, we still think of the close-up as part of the zoomed-in picture, because it emphasizes the scene, and the emphasis is the purpose of the close-up.
In Sick Cat (1903), the camera emphasizes the little girl's careful care for her cat. Short Film Director: George Albert Smith
A close-up shot that is in the right place and at the right time can add color to a film. The key to successful use of close-ups is careful judgment, and if the purpose of close-ups is to emphasize, then abusing close-ups will undermine that purpose.
If each shot is used for emphasis, it does very little, like shouting "The wolf is coming."
Therefore, we divide the close-up lens into three types, informational, emotional and comprehensive, to analyze the role of close-up shots in practical applications and the impact on the audience.
The Handmaid's Tale S01
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Everything the director does in the film has a purpose, so the close-ups imply and convey information, like secret weapons.
A common and simple example is the movie "Zodiac", where the audience follows the protagonist to explore clues, and director David Finch cuts directly into the close-up to reveal something.
Typical informative close-ups in The Zodiac
Not only that, but David Finch also likes to use large close-ups and shoots very closely.
In the film Fight Club, the film revolves around the important plot of "soap", the protagonist Taylor's underground factory makes soap by stealing fat from women in liposuction hospitals, and he also uses caustic soda from the soap making process to stimulate Jack.
David Finch directly presents this tragic picture to the audience, conveying to the audience the difficulty of Jack in the process of awakening himself to redemption.
Jack's burned hand in Fight Club
Another example of the remarkable use of informative close-ups was the 1958 film "The Dragon Slayer", directed by Howard Hawkes, in which only five close-ups appeared in the two-and-a-half-hour-long film.
"Red Guts Slayer"
The second half of the opening of "Red Guts Slayer" shows Hawkes's mastery of close-ups.
The camera first pans from the doorway to the host position, to the panorama of the host position, and then the camera focuses on the secondary characters for a relatively fixed mid-shot, and then gradually focuses on the protagonist Martin from far to near, reflecting the change of primary and secondary. (Pictured below)
The scene of "Red Guts Slaying the Dragon" gradually deepens from the panorama to the middle shot to the close-up
However, the close-up is not what this set of shots needs to emphasize, in fact, the juxtaposition of close-up and panorama and the sudden switch between the two emphasize the drama.
Suddenly cutting to the panorama, making the protagonist Martin look confused and frustrated, making his desperate performance even more contagious, is the secret of Howard's use of informative close-ups. (Pictured below)
If other directors use close-ups as exclamation points, they see the use of close-ups as carefully choosing an appropriate adjective or punctuation. Howard Hawkes's consideration, therefore, stems from his understanding of cinema, which understands that cinematic art is all about using every audiovisual language just right.
In the scene of "Red Guts and Dragon Slayer", the close-up shots are juxtaposed with the panorama and the middle scene
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In the book "Capturing the Emotions of Characters", the author Professor Amy Copeland talked about close-ups, saying: "The huge influence of close-ups on the audience mainly comes from emotional contagion, allowing people to spontaneously imitate and synchronize the expressions, sounds, postures and movements of others, and ultimately converge on their own emotions. ”
Usually, when you see others expressing emotions, you will involuntarily imitate that expression, and this physiological imitation will act on real emotions, and emotional close-ups have this effect.
A close-up from The Godfather
In the article "This Face-Only Silent Film Reinterprets close-ups", we take the 1928 film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" as an example to analyze the expression of emotions and the impact of close-ups on the audience.
In the film, director Dreyer chooses the real trial events in history to give us a subjective perspective, to experience how a woman was tortured by a trial for her faith, he pointed the camera at the actor's face, and the close-up shot is equivalent to the film version of the theatrical monologue, which can not only show the emotions of the characters, but also change the audience's cognition.
Maria's performances show the deep emotions of human beings, evoke the private emotions of the audience, allow us to fit into the position of the character, and see the world as she sees it.
Joan of Arc's Passion is cut out of her hair
Steve McQueen is one of the directors of contemporary filmmakers who love close-ups, and in his film Twelve Years of Slavery, he used close-ups several times to convey the emotions of the characters.
For example, the following close-up lasts for nearly 2 minutes in the film, which is a quiet contemplative scene, the director wants to let the audience understand that the burden of reality on this man is indescribable, we need to immerse ourselves in the cruelty and barbarism of slavery, and fully realize this, because the first law of the film is to bring the table to narrate, and in this scene, we clearly hear the voice of director Steve McQueen.
Solomon of Twelve Years of Slavery
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Of course, emotions and messages can also be conveyed at the same time. As in Twelve Years of Slavery listed above, it conveys emotions while also conveying a message to the audience: when the protagonist Solomon is tormented by pain, the most destructive force is time itself.
Solomon in Twelve Years of Slavery
Another textbook example is the film Bomb Disposal Unit, in which director Caitlin Bigelow uses large close-ups to give us a face-to-face testimony of the tension surrounding the protagonist's defusion of the bomb.
Close-ups and tight editing rhythms create tension that can even be traced back to the classic scenes in Sergio Leone's The Golden Three. The audience can not only feel the fear and frustration of the characters, but also witness the details of the process of dismantling the car bomb
A close-up from Bomb Disposal Unit
A classic close-up clip from The Golden Three (1966).
Of course, in addition to the above three typical close-up shots, there are many forms of close-ups, such as wide-angle lenses are often used in comedy movies to shoot close-ups, showing laughter through the depth of field and the level of the picture.
But in essence, they are all informative shots and produce a sense of humor, which has also appeared many times in superhero movies to mediate the atmosphere.
I'm Crazy for Mary (1998)
Deadpool
As we have seen, close-ups have the effect of artistic expression and clarification of meaning, and if a close-up is used properly, the audience will clap their hands and applaud, otherwise the opposite is true.
Today, this advantage of close-ups has been reduced, and due to more cases, the way people view images has changed, the screen may be smaller and smaller, and the content under the close-up lens has also changed, but what remains unchanged is the deep meaning contained in it.