C H R I S T O P H E R K E N W O R T H Y

MASTER SHOTS VOL 2

1 0 0 WAY S T O S H O O T G R E AT D I A L O G U E S C E N E S M I C H A E L W I E S E P R O D U C T I O N S
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . vii 2.4 Dramatic Swing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 4.3 Group Pivot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.5 Clandestine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 4.4 Central Character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK. . . x
2.6 Frame Share. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 4.5 Along the Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
ABOUT THE IMAGES. . . . . . . . . x 2.7 Focus on One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 4.6 Line of Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.8 Level Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.7 Central Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
CHAPTER 1: CONFLICT 2.9 Claustrophobic Space. . . . . . . . . . . 40 4.8 Solid Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
1.1 Power Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2.10 Track Character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 4.9 Round Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
1.2 Doorway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4.10 Expanding Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
1.3 Offset Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 CHAPTER 3: POWER
STRUGGLES CHAPTER 5: CONNECTING
1.4 Crossing Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1 Disoriented. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 CHARACTERS
1.5 Barrier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Doorway Angles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 5.1 Long Lens Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.6 Side Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 Angle Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 84
1.7 Snap Turn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.4 Threshold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 5.2 Obstruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
1.8 Swing to Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.5 Space Reverse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 5.3 Facing Away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
1.9 Deep Staging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.6 Character Chase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 5.4 Angled Push. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
1.10 Power Struggle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.7 Side On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 5.5 Back to Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

CHAPTER 2: INCREASING 5.6 Dance Moves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

TENSION CHAPTER 4: GROUP 5.7 Outsider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
CONVERSATION
2.1 Circling Dialogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.8 Playing with Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.1 Angle Anchor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.2 Closing Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5.9 Pacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.2 Eyeline Anchor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.3 Exaggerated Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 5.10 Parallel Speech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

C O N T E N T S v
CHAPTER 6: REVEALING PLOT CHAPTER 8: INTENSE 10.2 Remote Observer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
EMOTIONS 10.3 Contrasting Motion . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.1 Shifting Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6.2 Close Cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 8.1 Argument in Motion. . . . . . . . . . . 150 10.4 Sense of Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
6.3 Hard Reverse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 8.2 Freeze Reveal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 10.5 Wall Turn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.4 Face to Face. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 8.3 Homing In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.4 Mixed Distance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 CHAPTER 11: CREATIVE
6.5 Face Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 STAGING
6.6 Background Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 8.5 Moving Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
8.6 Turn with Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 11.1 Reverse Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
6.7 Invisible Barrier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
11.2 Motion Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
6.8 No Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 CHAPTER 9: INTIMACY
11.3 Trackback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
6.9 Shift to Background. . . . . . . . . . . . 122
9.1 Push to Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
11.4 Offset Angles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
6.10 Swing Pan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
9.2 Close Faces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
11.5 Different Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
CHAPTER 7: WALKING AND 9.3 Head to Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
11.6 Distant Slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
TALKING 9.4 Raised Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
11.7 Flat Reverse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
7.1 Spiral Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 9.5 Arc and Push. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
11.8 Move Through Scene . . . . . . . . . 214
7.2 Rush Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 9.6 Whispering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
11.9 Character Reveal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
7.3 Finding the Lens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 9.7 Partial Angle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
11.10 Push Between. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
7.4 Back to Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 9.8 Outer Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
11.11 Closing the Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
7.5 Mutual Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 9.9 Low and Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
7.6 Open Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 9.10 Coupled Angles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

7.7 Following . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 9.11 Object Hinge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

AUTHOR BIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
7.8 Offset Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
CHAPTER 10: LONG
7.9 Repeated Swing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 DISTANCE
7.10 Tethered Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
10.1 Solo Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

v i C O N T E N T S
C H A P T E R 1

CONFLIC T
1.1

POWER MOVE
Hay momentos en los que quieres que un personaje asuste o amenace a otro. Puedes hacer esto haciendo que cada
uno de ellos se mueva en el espacio del otro personaje mientras habla.

Estas tomas de Defiance muestran cómo una sutil diferencia en la posición de la cámara y la elección de la lente crea
este efecto. La toma de apertura está filmada con una cámara relativamente baja, ligeramente inclinada hacia arriba.
Esto contrasta con el siguiente disparo, que se realiza a la altura de la cabeza. Esto crea la sensación de que el primer
personaje es más fuerte, o más dominante, porque mira hacia abajo.

El primer plano también se realiza con una lente más corta, de modo que cuando el actor avanza un par de pasos, su
movimiento es exagerado y parece asomarse hacia adelante. La cámara también se inclina hacia arriba, haciéndolo
parecer aún más dominante. La lente corta exagera esta inclinación hacia arriba.

Si al otro actor le dispararan con una lente corta, el contraste entre ellos no estaría ahí. El contraste funciona como se
describió anteriormente, pero también ayuda a establecer quién es "bueno" y quién es "malo". Una lente corta tiende a
hacer que alguien sea más aterrador, mientras que una lente larga los hace más atractivos. Al usar lentes contrastantes
en un momento crucial de la película, le dice a su audiencia con la mayor claridad posible quién es bueno y quién es
malo.

Si miras esta escena en su totalidad, notarás que sí filmaron un ángulo bajo del segundo personaje, con una lente más
corta, pero apenas se usa, estando ahí solo para conectar las tomas. Esto sugiere que el efecto que se describe aquí
puede haberse descubierto en la sala de edición, en lugar de planificarse desde el principio.

Si planea disparar de esta manera, recuerde que la combinación de tres formas de contraste crea el efecto. Una cámara
permanece quieta, mientras que la otra se inclina. Un tiro es amplio, el otro largo. Una cámara está baja y la otra a la
altura de la cabeza. Solo combinando estas tres formas se crea el efecto completo.

De iance. Directed by Edward Zwick. Paramount Vantage, 2008. All rights reserved.

2 C O N F L I C T
P O W E R M O V E 3
1. 2

DOORWAY
El conflicto siempre trae interés a una escena, pero hay momentos en que el conflicto de personajes puede ser casi
incidental. Necesita filmar estas escenas de una manera que mantenga el enfoque en la historia y los roles de los
personajes principales.

En esta escena de The International, el personaje en el apartamento es incidental, y aunque hay un breve conflicto con él,
es importante que nos mantengamos enfocados en cómo los otros personajes responden a este conflicto.

La escena se abre con una breve toma maestra para dejar en claro dónde se ubican todos en relación con la puerta.
Luego pasamos a una toma por encima del hombro de Clive Owen. La cámara está bastante baja aquí, para enfatizar que
él es el héroe.

Con la geografía de la escena bien establecida, es posible cortar a los policías a ambos lados de la puerta sin ninguna
confusión. La configuración ideal, como se muestra aquí, tiene el personaje más lejano enfocado, con los otros dos
desenfocados. Una lente larga ayudará a generar esta profundidad de campo reducida y a capturar la reacción del
personaje más lejano.

Los otros policías incluso desvían su atención del personaje incidental, lo que enfatiza aún más que esta escena
realmente trata sobre el personaje de Clive Owen estableciendo su autoridad, en lugar de las revelaciones de la trama.

Los portales son interesantes para los directores porque actúan como barreras o umbrales que pueden necesitar ser
cruzados. Las conversaciones mantenidas en estos umbrales son tentadoras, porque nadie está seguro de en qué
dirección caerá el equilibrio de poder. Esto es mucho más interesante que tener dos personajes en la puerta, entrar y
charlar.

Al filmar este tipo de escena, las configuraciones pueden ser bastante básicas con poco movimiento de los actores o la
cámara. La forma en que dirige a los actores para que centren su atención es la clave de cómo se desarrollará esta escena
cuando se corte.

The International. Directed by Tom Tykwer. Columbia Pictures, 2009. All rights reserved.

4 C O N F L I C T
D O O R W A Y 5
1.3

OFFSET GROUP
The more subtle the conflict, the more subtle your camera work needs to be. If you want your character to feel left out of
a conversation, a simple arrangement of actors and camera can create the desired effect.

In this scene from Lost in Translation, the characters are arranged in a triangle. They are all equal distances from each
other, but rather than creating a feeling of equality, this creates some power imbalance, because two of them are a
couple and should probably be closer together.

To emphasize this, the opening shot is taken from behind the couple, so that the interloper is almost central in the
frame. This makes her seem significant to the audience, and it is clear that she is invading their territory.

The next shot places Scarlet Johansson in the center of frame. Given what has just been said about putting somebody
in the center of frame, you would think this would make her the dominant character. But this time a longer lens is used,
closer to the actors; this means their faces frame her as they talk. She is left out of the conversation, looking across from
one character to the other.

She remains the focus of the audience, but is not the focus of the other two characters, because they are talking to each
other intently. This is an extremely clever way of keeping our focus on the central character, while making her feel left
out of the conversation.

Lost in Translation. Directed by Sofia Coppola. Focus Features, 2003. All rights reserved.

6 C O N F L I C T
O F F S E T G R O U P 7
1.4

CROSSING LINES
Directors usually take great care to make sure the audience knows exactly where they are situated in a scene. When you
establish the geography of a scene clearly, the audience knows exactly where everybody is, and who’s talking to whom.
Out of this need for clarity, a set of rules has evolved around exactly where the camera should be in any scene. By
breaking these rules, carefully and at the right time, you can add to the scene’s sense of conflict.

If this scene from 21 Grams was shot conventionally, the cameras would always stay on one side of the characters.
Instead, the camera switches to the opposite side with the cut. This is called crossing the line, and most of the time
directors are told not to cross the line.

Imagine a line between the two characters (if they were facing each other). In normal situations, you keep the camera
on one side of that line. Here, though, with the first cut, the camera switches from being on her right-shoulder side to
being on her left-shoulder side. The next cut remains on her left shoulder.

If you watch the whole scene, you see actors walk in without facing each other, and the camera sometimes pans from
one to the other. At other times these cuts across the line are made. The overall feeling is one of disorientation. We don’t
actually become disorientated, because we know they are talking to each other, but the constant moves and shifts make
for an uneasy, restless feeling that captures the emotion of the argument well.

By having him wait for an elevator, the director is able to have him turn his back on her plausibly. Equally, there isn’t
room for her to move around in front of him, which justifies her standing behind him. You should always look for good
reasons to justify the way your characters stand and move, because it helps to add realism and makes the actors more
comfortable with their performances.

21 Grams. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Focus Features, 2003. All rights reserved.

8 C O N F L I C T
C R O S S I N G L I N E S 9
1.5

BARRIER
When people are in conflict, something stands between them. You can make this idea literal, by putting a physical barrier
between them in the scene. It may be a table or chair, or even, as in this example, a wall and window.

A physical barrier gives characters more of a justification to shout, especially if it’s a wall, and this can add realism to
your scene if the conflict is strong. Arguments often begin with some distance between the characters, and a physical
prop can help. Be aware though, that as the intensity creeps up, that barrier will probably be crossed. In this scene, he
eventually moves into her room.

You can experiment with barriers that completely separate the characters, giving them no view of each other, but you
may find that having a window helps. They cannot see each other clearly, as the glass is mottled, but they can see each
other’s position. This means they know where to direct their energies.

Having a line of sight like this, even though it is distorted by the glass, makes it more powerful when one of them turns
away from the other. For much of this scene she turns away from him in anger, increasing the conflict between them.

The camera setup can be quite simple. In one room, try to capture the whole scene, so that we see him clearly, and
see her indistinctly. The second camera should show only her, and should not look back into the room at him. To do so
would draw too much of a connection between the characters when you are actually trying to separate them.

The Reader. Directed by Stephen Daldry. The Weinstein Company, 2008. All rights reserved.

1 0 C O N F L I C T
B A R R I E R 1 1
1.6

SIDE SWITCH
Capturing both actors in one frame enables you to see their body language and the way they interact physically in
the scene. This can be exactly what you need for an argument or conflict. The disadvantage is that you frequently find
yourself shooting the actors’ profiles, which limits how much we see of their faces.

Body language is important, but to really know what characters are thinking and feeling we want to look in their eyes.
If you want to show a medium shot like this, without cutting to close-ups, you have to find clever ways to move the
camera and actors to show us more of their faces.

This scene shows the two actors facing each other directly, so that most of their acting comes from their voices and body
language. To get their faces in the shot, the director has them walk towards camera, and then dollies along the sidewalk
with them. The key to this, however, is that the actors switch sides when they begin to walk away.

This switch serves two purposes. First, it adds some visual interest and realism, because it looks more energetic than
simply having the actors move off in a straight line. Second, it gives the director a chance to let each actor have a
moment where he or she dominates the frame.

When they first begin to walk, she is almost directly facing the camera, so we listen to her more intently. Then, as they
catch up with the camera, he turns his face toward her, and he is the focus of the conversation.

You may find that to get this to work you need the actor that’s closer to camera to walk slightly behind the other actor. It
might not feel natural to the actors, but it looks real when filmed.

Melinda and Melinda. Directed by Woody Allen. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004. All rights reserved.

1 2 C O N F L I C T
S I D E S W I T C H 1 3
1.7

SNAP TURN
This shot gives a surprise impact, when a calm conversation suddenly turns into a conflict. The group of three characters
walks along, and then as the argument ramps up, one character comes face to face with another, and they stop in their
tracks. These two frame the third character. Although she is central in the frame, she remains an observer (rather than
the focus of the scene) because the camera is at their head height, not hers.

The moment where one actor runs forward and turns to face the other is actually quite unrealistic, and will feel so to the
actor, but it looks convincing to the audience.

The camera should move slightly slower than the actors. This enables the camera to come to a rest without it looking too
sudden. The actors should, therefore, start a short distance away from the camera, and gradually catch up to it, finding
their final marks as the camera stops. Although this looks simple, timing it exactly can take a lot of rehearsal, especially
as the movement has to be dictated by the lines they are speaking, rather than where they happen to be standing.

The Snap Turn is almost a reverse of the Side Switch, but it ends with the characters facing each other. As such, it creates
a different effect, because the argument appears out of nowhere and surprises the audience (whereas with the Side
Switch, the argument progresses into a conversation).

Garden State. Directed by Zach Braff. Fox Searchlight, 2004. All rights reserved.

1 4 C O N F L I C T
S N A P T U R N 1 5
1.8

SWING TO CUT
An unexpected cut, during a scene filled with lots of motion, can have a startling effect. Used well, it can add impact to
a quiet or calm line.

In 21 Grams, the two characters move around the room as they argue. In the first frame you can see how the character
closest to camera is moving in on the other. The camera arcs around to the left, as they move in to face each other.

As soon as we have established that they are in a face-off, the camera cuts to close-up. Given all the handheld camera
moves that have gone before, this is a surprise, and adds real weight to the moment where he whispers an important
line.

Often, it’s wise to avoid too many cuts during a conversation, as they prevent you seeing those important moments of
change on an actor’s face. That is why Master Shots 2 shows you lots of ways to keep two or more faces on screen at
the same time. In some cases, though, a quick, hard cut to a close-up is exactly what’s needed.

The lenses used throughout this scene are short, to match the wide, handheld feel, but at this moment of rest, a long
lens is used. This makes his face dominate the frame, so that most of the background vanishes.

When you shoot this type of scene, make sure that your camera comes to rest in the opening, handheld shot. If it
doesn’t, then cutting to a motionless camera will be too jarring for the audience. The camera doesn’t have to completely
freeze, but it should settle as the two characters come together.

21 Grams. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Focus Features, 2003. All rights reserved.

1 6 C O N F L I C T
S W I N G T O C U T 1 7
1.9

DEEP STAGING
Even when your characters end up fighting, as they do in this scene from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a lot can be
gained by building the main conflict when the characters are at a distance from each other.

This scene is a good example of deep staging, in that there is always something in the foreground, the midground, and
the background. Although the viewer is watching the two men face up to each other, the setup gives this small room a
much larger feel, making it seem more threatening.

You may think that every shot automatically has a foreground, midground, and background, but many shots focus so
intently on the subject — usually the main character — that they lack any depth or sense of space. Directors are especially
guilty of neglecting this concept when shooting indoors, but as shown here, it is possible to give an indoor space this
level of depth.

By placing both cameras close to the wall, the director has his audience look out into the space of the room. Had the
director shot from the middle of the room, this space would have looked quite conventional, and the depth of the space
would have been lost.

The cameras remain stationary, and the only movement is made by the deputy as he turns away from the wall and
approaches the FBI agent, where the actual fight takes place.

To shoot this sort of scene you only need to be aware of the importance of including foreground, midground, and
background, and position your actors and cameras accordingly.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Directed by David Lynch. New Line Cinema, 1992. All rights reserved.

1 8 C O N F L I C T
D E E P S T A G I N G 1 9
1.10

POWER STRUGGLE
Conflict often leads to a direct power struggle, and that can be shown by one character ignoring another. In this scene
from Defiance, Daniel Craig is trying to get the attention of the distant character, who largely ignores him.

The positioning of the actor in relation to the camera is as important as the camera placement itself. In the first shot
Craig’s body is turned off to the side, as if he is afraid to face up to the problem. Although he is facing the enemy, his
body is turned more towards his friend and confidant who stands beside him. This body language contradicts his words,
creating an interesting tension.

The next shot gives the distant character some power, because he is filmed from behind, and acts as though none of this
is of interest. His unwillingness to engage in the argument is shown by his body language; but rather than being afraid,
he is showing that he is unperturbed. Importantly, the director uses a long lens for this shot, from behind Craig. This
foreshortens the distance between them, which makes the distant character seem closer than he should be, as though
he’s imposing his power on their space.

Then, the director cuts to a wider shot that shows the whole scene, and this builds on everything that has gone before.
The enemy is clearly surrounded by his friends, and remains disinterested in the conversation, only glancing around.
Craig and his friend, meanwhile, are tiny in the frame, looking isolated in the snow.

By making the main character appear afraid as he tries to regain power throughout this scene, the director creates far
more tension than if the hero immediately acted like a hero.

Shooting this sort of scene requires strong direction of the actors and careful placement of the camera. But it is relatively
simple to shoot, because there are only a few shots and almost no camera movement.

Defiance. Directed by Edward Zwick. Paramount Vantage, 2008. All rights reserved.

2 0 C O N F L I C T
P O W E R S T R U G G L E 2 1