It's a Ghost
There's this shot in Firefly 1.03 "Bushwhacked" when Zoë and Mal are looking through the other ship's cargo storage and Zoë opens up one of the suitcases.
It's almost completely dark in the room, illumination coming from only the flashlights that Mal and Zoë hold. In the background, rather eerie music sets the tone. The camera shows us the contents of the case, which includes a doll, as Zoë shines her flashlight into the bag. Zoë's hand lingers for a moment near the doll.
This little moment is so perfect, I almost can't explain it.
It sets up exactly whats going on. No words, no expressions. But the little shot tells us exactly what's going on.
Yeah, they speak it out loud in a minute, but that shot is what really tells us the story.
No one made it out.
I really just love this shot.
It sort of, in a way, reminds me of BtVS 4.10 "Hush" on a much smaller scale, though a lot of "Hush" was based on the actors and their expressions/body language. This is actually rather different, since the only living thing is Zoë's hand, but the idea is somewhat similar, I suppose.
When things like this happen, it really does just make me happy. Relying on dialouge, as good as Joss Whedon may write it, can sometimes be tiresome, or it can be used as a crutch. Being able to tell a story without having anyone say anything is a very wonderful skill.
It's almost completely dark in the room, illumination coming from only the flashlights that Mal and Zoë hold. In the background, rather eerie music sets the tone. The camera shows us the contents of the case, which includes a doll, as Zoë shines her flashlight into the bag. Zoë's hand lingers for a moment near the doll.
This little moment is so perfect, I almost can't explain it.
It sets up exactly whats going on. No words, no expressions. But the little shot tells us exactly what's going on.
Yeah, they speak it out loud in a minute, but that shot is what really tells us the story.
No one made it out.
I really just love this shot.
It sort of, in a way, reminds me of BtVS 4.10 "Hush" on a much smaller scale, though a lot of "Hush" was based on the actors and their expressions/body language. This is actually rather different, since the only living thing is Zoë's hand, but the idea is somewhat similar, I suppose.
When things like this happen, it really does just make me happy. Relying on dialouge, as good as Joss Whedon may write it, can sometimes be tiresome, or it can be used as a crutch. Being able to tell a story without having anyone say anything is a very wonderful skill.