SPN 8x10: Dissecting Visual Drama

[bowtrunckle]

I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed how awesome the Sam-and-Dean-stalk-around-the-warehouse scene was.  It was visually the most memorable of the episode not only because it was Sam and Dean and their badass selves stalking around a warehouse but also because it was *dramatic* looking.  But what does dramatic mean exactly?  How do you define

Comments

[growyourwings]

Yes! --> "I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed how awesome the Sam-and-Dean-stalk-around-the-warehouse scene was. It was visually the most memorable of the episode not only because it was Sam and Dean and their badass selves stalking around a warehouse but also because it was *dramatic* looking."

This whole post is awesome. Love this. I rewatched the ep last night and was again taken by this scene.

I love how you dissected this. Do you have a film background?

[bowtrunckle]

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the rec at your journal.

Do you have a film background?

I took a film class in college and since then have studied aspects of it and fiction writing for fun and for something to use my brain for that's not RL stuff.

[ash48]

Yes! I loved this scene - the camera work was fantastic. Thanks so much for the dissection. The motion parallax is interesting - I always love seeing that at work but didn't know it had a name.:)

So, here's a curiosity. Bob Singer directed this and in this scene you can see his skill at work. It's beautifully done and wonderful to watch. Then he gives us that super clunky, almost comic zoom of Crowley's face when the angel tablet it revealed. Singer is obviously too experienced to make a mistake (if FELT like a mistake because it was so cheesy) like that. Do you have thoughts on what he might have been doing there?

Camera comedy maybe? A kind of dun dun duhnnnnnn moment that he was having a bit of fun with?

Thanks for the thinky on this scene. Great stuff.
xx

[runedgirl]

I keep thinking about counteragent's theory that this season is being deliberately melodramatic and soap-opera-ish. Those kind of shots, some of the music, some of the (cringe) dialogue....I wonder...

[ash48]

Hmm...I wonder too.

I would have thought something like this would have fit right in when they were going for the B Movie look as they did in S7. It just felt so out of place. But maybe - yeah - it might have been an acknowledgment that it's all a bit melodramatic and therefore he was adding to that...

(I'd love to know if they are deliberately making this a soap style season. If they are they are pulling it off remarkably well. If not...:koff:...won't think about that. :/)

[bowtrunckle]

the camera work was fantastic

YES! I'd love to see more dynamic, complex set-ups like this *chants SPN movie*. I don't know how long it took to figure out the staging and to light everything, but it was worth it IMHO.

Do you have thoughts on what he might have been doing there?I actually laughed when I saw that zoom for the first time. Oops. :( I'd really like to think that it was put there as a visual gag or elbow nudge because I don't like getting second-hand embarrassment from my favorite show, but my knee-jerk reaction is that it was placed there with the full intention of being dramatic and serious. Here's why (unfortunately): Singer uses those zoom/dollys all the time (but they're usually not that fast), mostly if not always (I'd have to go back and look at his episodes to say for sure) for dramatic effect and to underscore emotional reveals. It's part of his style. Also, it's placed within the beats of the very dramatic dialogue, which I think suggests that it's there to augment not detract from the reveal. Also the

[runedgirl]

That was fascinating! I loved this scene, and even said while it was on, oh wow, that looks so cool - but I had no idea *why* it worked so well. Thanks for dissecting this and explaining it so well, I'm now even more impressed :)

[bowtrunckle]

Glad you found it interesting. I (obviously) think all this "why" stuff is nice, meaty stuff to mull over, too. ;)

[kazluvsbooks]

I LOVED this!!Thanks so much!
You are awesome :)

[bowtrunckle]

Yay! You're welcome and thanks for stopping by and letting me know what you thought.

[yourlibrarian]

I don't have anything to add to this other than that I also noticed how visually interesting they made the episode so I was curious to see what you had to say about it.

[bowtrunckle]

Thanks for stopping by. I wasn't sure if you were still watching SPN as a lot of my flist has dropped the show or else stopped posting about it (myself included in the latter). I figure if I'm not inspired to talk about SPN's story or characters very much at least I can talk about what the show looks like.

[yourlibrarian]

Someone on my flist who hasn't watched the show in a while caught the latest episode. She dubbed it a zombie series, which just keeps stumbling on even though it should have ended seasons back. I suspect that I and many others are zombie viewers!

[bowtrunckle]

*raises hand* I'm a zombie viewer. No matter what happens I'm here until the very end. Darn, addictive Show.