Joel & Ethan Coen - Shot | Reverse Shot

0:04 Hi my name is Tony and this is Every Frame a Painting

0:08 The most basic thing we have in film grammar is probably

0:10 this: Shot Reverse shot Nearly everything you watch is going to be

0:21 Nearly everything you watch is going to be filled with it.

0:24 And most filmmakers seem to use it as a quick way to record dialogue.

0:28 Keep the actors still, use multiple cameras shoot ten takes,

0:31 and then make decisions in post.

0:34 But I think shot| reverse shot is still powerful when it's done precisely

0:37 And a good example of that is the work of Joel& Ethan Coen.

0:42 -"We thought you was..." -"...a toad." Because the Coens

0:48 are masters of the dialogue scene And they’ve

0:50 done it by keeping their shots simple but precise

0:54 -"Can I share something with you?" So today,

0:57 let’s reconsider shot| reverse shot.

0:59 What can we learn from the way the Coens use it?

1:01 -"But let me ask you a question..." -"Would an imbecile

1:04 come up with this?" One of the first things

1:11 you notice about the Coens is that they like

1:13 to film dialogue from inside the space of the conversation.

1:16 And that means the camera is usually in between

1:18 the two characters so that they each get separate shots.

1:22 -"Do I make myself clear?" In other words, they shoot a lot of singles.

1:27 -"I’m sorry.

1:28 I wasn’t listening." Other filmmakers, like Paul Greengrass,

1:33 prefer the camera behind the characters Usually on a very long lens,

1:37 so you feel like you’re spying -"I want

1:39 to know what happened" -"What happened?" -"Jason Bourne happened.

1:42 You got the files." -"Then let’s cut the crap."

1:46 The Coens and Roger Deakins don’t do this.

1:48 In fact, they film almost exclusively on wide lenses -"Well

1:51 I’ve got a very strong feeling about lenses and personally..."

1:55 -"...I’m sitting here talking to you and you’re filming me

1:58 from over there..." -"...on a shoulder on probably a single.

2:00 Where, I’d rarely do that." -"Cause I think,

2:03 you know, the camera wants to be..." -"To me,

2:05 I would shoot singles inside here." And if you do this, switch

2:09 to a wider lens and bring the camera

2:11 closer it feels like… -"It’s different right?

2:13 You know, there’s a sense of presence..." -"You’re right there with somebody,

2:16 as opposed to being…" -"...I think psychologically,

2:18 it’s a totally different effect so…" But what is the psychological effect?

2:23 If a long lens feels like you’re spying, then how does this lens make you feel?

2:27 -"Look, look, something is very wrong!"

2:30 -"I don’t want Santana 'Abraxas.'" -"I’ve

2:32 just been in a terrible auto accident!" I would say it’s two feelings:

2:38 kind of uncomfortable… and kind of funny.

2:45 And it fits.

2:46 Because the Coens like to isolate individuals trapping them

2:50 in situations that they really have no control over.

2:53 And because the lens is right here...

2:55 -"Now we had a deal here.

2:56 A deal’s a deal." -"Is it Jerry?

2:58 You ask those three poor souls up in Brainerd

3:00 if a deal’s a deal" You’re trapped with them.

3:03 The other effect is visual.

3:05 The Coens shoot mostly on a 27mm or 32mm lens and they

3:09 often push in to exaggerate some part of an actor’s face.

3:12 -"Frank Raffo, my brother-in-law, was the principal barber." -"And man,

3:16 could he talk." Using wide lenses doesn’t just exaggerate the face...

3:20 ...it also exaggerates forward camera movement, like dollying into a close-up.

3:25 -"Also a sense of action." -"Like if I

3:27 bring my hand closer or further from the camera..."

3:30 -"...the wide-angle lens is going to have

3:31 much more effect." -"And even if I’m shifting,

3:34 like this." -"Maybes don’t make it so." -"It’s going to feel more alive,

3:40 more edgy." -"What, are you kidding?

3:44 We got us a family here!" But the third effect of shooting singles this way...

3:50 ...is environmental.

3:52 Shots like this have a nice balance...

3:53 ...between the character and everything around her.

3:57 -"I’d be very surprised if our suspect was from Brainerd." -"Yah."

4:01 And it helps us get a quick read on very minor characters.

4:04 Think about how well you know this woman

4:06 just from her clothes and her workspace.

4:09 -"We can’t give out no information." But what really

4:16 distinguishes the Coens ...is the rhythm of their editing.

4:19 -"We depress the stock." -"To the point where we

4:22 can buy 50%" -"51." -"Not counting the mezzanine." -"It could

4:24 work!" -"It should work!" -"It would work!" -"It’s working

4:28 already!" Many people think the rhythm comes from their dialogue.

4:31 But the rhythm is actually nonverbal.

4:43 Sometimes, to feel the rhythm, you have to see it done badly.

4:45 This is a film they wrote but didn’t direct.

4:48 Watch the awkward pause between two lines of dialogue.

4:52 -"Not that I judge." -"How terribly interesting."

4:56 -"But is there a tournament of some

4:58 description with rowdy goings-on?" It just feels

5:00 "off." Now watch this moment, directed by them.

5:06 -"Cigarette?" -"Right." And this rhythm is

5:12 what underlies so many of their scenes...

5:15 and it’s how they find nonverbal moments that other directors don’t look for.

5:24 But what do all these choices add up to?

5:26 I think it creates a particular tone.

5:28 Because on one level, the Coens want you to laugh at these people.

5:36 After all, they use the wide lens to exaggerate

5:37 the face and they time the scene for humor.

5:47 But on another level, the Coens want you to empathize with these characters.

5:51 They frame wide enough so you can see the environment ...and they

5:54 put the lens right next to people at their lowest point.

5:58 -"I am dying." -"Do something.

6:02 Help me!" There's an old saying: Tragedy is a close-up.

6:07 Comedy is a long shot.

6:11 But for the Coens those distinctions are jumbled.

6:14 They play both tragedy and comedy in intimate singles.

6:18 -"I miss Mike." And that's the fascinating thing.

6:22 Because dialogue scenes aren't just about recording the dialogue.

6:25 They're also about the nonverbal behavior.

6:28 -"I don’t guess this means much to you." -"Hell yeah,

6:31 I could tell you some stories…" -"And that’s the point!

6:34 That we all have stories..." And by placing the camera here, using a wide lens,

6:39 and following their particular rhythm the Coens have

6:42 found an interesting approach to the most basic tool.

6:45 Shot Reverse shot Subtitles by the Amara.org community