*SPOILER ALERT*
To anyone from other groups: this is the last scene of the film, if you haven't seen it already it'll ruin it for you. Just thought I'd leave a warning.
Constantine is a very interesting film to look in technical terms, as the camera angles, editing, mise-en-scene and sound are all outstanding. Instead of looking at the opening, I'm going to look at a point at the end of the movie.This is because I feel that the intro is not representative of the style we're attempting to recreate, and I prefer the technical aspects of this scene. Whilst most of the SFX (when used) are not achievable in our time window, some other aspects are definitely worth following up.
Here is the technical deconstruction of the first five minutes or 56 shots of this clip.
Shot 1: Watch ticking, blood flowing. Macro shot, XCU.
Shot 2: Gabriel plunges knife downwards, time slows down. Worms eye view, inverse track and pan.
Shot 3: LS of Constantine on floor, unfocused. Drips of tar then feet appear from top of screen and touch ground. Preset focus on feet - C defocused.
Shot 4: Lucifer touches down in slow motion, long shot.
Shot 5: MS of C on floor, chair set in front of him, feet step round.
Shot 6: L sits down. MS
Shot 7: Tracking forward shot of C through chair legs, L's legs.
Shot 8: side view, L & C. Full body, MLS. Low angle.
Shot 9: C places cigarette between lips, MCU
Shot 10: Low angle shot of Seated L. MS
Shot 11: C drops lighter. MS through chairlegs.
Shot 12: CU of L's face. Eye level.
shot 13: Profile shot of C's face, then L's face. MCU
Shot 14: L lights cigarette, MS, medium low angle.
Shot 15: Profile shot, C & L. Eye level. MCU
Shot 16: L sits down. Same positioning as shot 8.
Shot 17: C speaks. Shot 11 - same pos.
Shot 18: "I didn't think you would make the same mistake twice." shot 10 pos.
shot 19: CU of C's face - takes a drag.
Shot 20: CU of L's face. Eye level.
Shot 21: Shot 11 pos. Stationary.
Shot 22: Profile view of L. Left of shot. MCU
Shot 23: Profile view of C. Right of shot. MCU
Shot 24: L runs foot down C's leg. Shot 8 pos.
Shot 25: Shot 11 pos.
shot 26: Shot 8 pos. Camera tilts upwards as L stands.
Shot 27: Shot 19 pos.
Shot 28: shot 22 pos. "I have the spear of destiny" (laughs)
Shot 29: Shot 23 pos. L & C, two-shot. track forwards. Sudden movement of L, camera follows.
shot 30: L behind glass door, MLS. Door explodes. SFX - slow motion movement of glass, L remains unaffected by time change.
Shot 31: Trailing camera behind L, steadycam. MS
Shot 32: Tracking back camera, L walking. Glass bounces off body. MCU.
Shot 33: Centered shot of Gabriel, kneeling and Angela, lying. Level shot. Knife continues downwards in slow motion, camera tracks forwards.
Shot 34: Ped up from G to L. MS.
Shot 35: Worm's eye view, G centered. Knife continues downwards, MS
Shot 36: Bird's eye view; same scene from opposite direction. MS. L walks towards A & G.
Shot 37: BCU of knife, G's head behind - defocused. Tilting down, tracking forwards, pedding up.
Shot 38: MS of L, A at bottom of frame. Opposing camera movement to shot 37, tilting up, tracking back, pedding down. Low angle.
Shot 39: MCU of A's head, L's hand slips behind.
shot 40: L pulls A out of way of knife. 90° bird's eye view, MLS
Shot 41: Focus on knife tip; continues downwards with increasing speed. Slams into ground. CU
Shot 42: Low angle shot of knife in ground, G falls backwards, camera tilts up swiftly to show MS of G.
Shot 43: MCU of L holding G.
Shot 44: Track backwards, ped up, tilt down to show reflection of L holding demon. MS, worm's eye/high angle depending on how you look at it.
Shot 45: G speaks, rocking back and forth. camera follows face, centered. MCU.
Shot 46: MCU of L, tracking forward slightly.
Shot 47: G's wings frame shot of L holding A, low angle MS.
Shot 48: Low angle shot of G; MS. "I will smite thee, in his honour". Pulls back arm, camera follows.
Shot 49: Following fist of G, 60° swivel to profile shot of L. CU.
Shot 50: G left of shot, stunned MCU.
Shot 51: L looks round, pushes fist away. Eye level CU. "looks like someone doesn't have your back anymore".
Shot 52: L pushes fist away. Eye level profile CU.
Shot 53: G jerks, still stunned. Shot 50 pos.
Shot 54: L moves head, sudden rush of air blows clothing, camera defocuses slightly. CU.
Shot 55: G's hair and face blown around, centered CU
Shot 56: Camera tilts down. Reflection of floor shows demon. Camera tilts back up, shows L holding A. Worms eye view.
After looking at this clip shot by shot, it's easier for me to understand the processes and associate the various techniques used with the intended impact of each shot. As there is a certain amount of consistency in the methodology of shot use in horror films, I can take away a fairly good idea of how to create systems of tension, construct fluent conversational aspects and other techniques that can be made use of in our production.
You've done this in a lot of detail! It's good though, because we can see clearly from your screenshots how we can construct dialogue and acting between two characters. It also shows us roughly how many shots we are looking at including in our opening.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of close ups of the antagonist, especiallu towards the end, which is interesting. This is completely the opposite to 'Captivity', which I deconstructed. Maybe that's because it is from the end of the film?
Good work Chris. This is particularly interesting to see that there are a number of close ups of the antagonist which is often not the case in horror films as the antagonists often have limited prevalence to give a sense of mystery and the fear of the unknown.
ReplyDeleteVery thorough - screen shots are useful (although not expected!). You might like to add a little more detailto the conclusion; exactly what shots you would want to emulate in your work
ReplyDelete