Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW0xteHHXrY

La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelle, is one of my favourite movies, not just because the music in the film is astonishing (I’m a strongly musical person), but also because of the stunning cinematography that earned itself an Academy Award in Best Film Editing. The scene I chose to analyse, however, does not contain many special camera coverage features, or not even anything unique at all. But, as some would say, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication and can bring out a sense of genuineness, especially at this scene which I consider the acting to be very raw that is too real.

This is the scene of two main characters, Mia and Sebastian (being played by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) having a romantic dinner together after a distancing period. It starts with an extreme close-up at the vinyl record that is playing the background tune. This would be worth discussing later on. Both characters are then showed through medium shot at either sides of the table as their conversation goes on in a calm manner. The use of medium shot would allow viewers to see both characters, emphasising the sense of ordinary and calmness as if the bond between them is strong. Then, at 1:59, the conversation turns south, starting an argument. From then on until the end of the argument, close-up is used in order to showcase the intense in the characters’ feeling as well as their outburst in emotions through facial expression. The prime example would be from 5:18 to 5:33, when Mia tries to suppress her tears. The audience is able to see how her face turns red, as well as how she looks away in order not to cry in front of Sebastian, which makes the scene more emotional.

After this is another extreme close-up at the running vinyl player, which by now has turned silent. Comparing to the start of the scene, the use of this type of shot helps the audience seeing how swiftly bad the dinner has turned, just like how bad their relationship has also turned. At the start, the music flows with the vinyl, as if they both have a lot to express to each other as they have not met in a while. Then, the silence of the vinyl indicates they have nothing else to say to each other.

It is worth noticing that the camera position has been fixed until this point in order to focus fully on the emotions of both characters. This is changed with the reuse of the medium shot when the fire alarm rings, as the camera follows Sebastian when he tries to turn the alarm off before following Mia as she runs away from the house and her boyfriend. The lighting of this scene is rather dark, which could be seen as romantic at first but later on proves to be a sign that their relationship is no longer delightful. The background colour during the argument is somewhat green because of the curtain, but psychologically, this use of colour is to highlight the fact that they are both ambitious and it is their ambition that no longer makes them mutual.

If there is one thing last semester (my first one being a uni and Media student) taught me, that would be uni is all about experimenting and making the best of new experiences. I headed into Media 1 not shooting a video before, not editing anything before, and not taking a proper photograph before (unless you count circumstances when strangers call me out on an ordinary Saturday afternoon and ask nicely for me to take some photos in benefit of their virtual life to be proper photography. I can never please easily). Making vlogs was the highlight of my first uni experience. Honestly, at times they were cringy to watch, but in the end those videos proved to be solid foundation in understanding what Media study is really about – constantly experimenting, improving and reflecting.

I take that “learn something new every day” mentality with me into Media 2, which is my first engagement with a studio. When choosing “The Scene in Cinema” as one of my preferences, I imagine learning more about the cameras and how they are used in construction of scenes. To a certain extent, my first thought was precise. The camera would be the star of the studio, and right away in the first session, we got to learn about its different components, as well as practicing how to set it and the tripod up properly. It was very much all new information and practical to me, considering I have not been near cameras of such size before. I also came to acknowledging the concepts of “panning” and “tilting”, which are basic motions in cinematography. It is knowledge like this that I aim to earn more at the end of the course: always something new to learn and appreciate everyday about the use of camera coverage in cinematography in terms of techniques as well as valuable practices to put that knowledge into empirical.

What I found is truly special about this studio is it emphasizes the role of camera coverage in films, an aspect that is too often underestimated according to my tutor. This makes me think of how I have always appreciated a movie: the acting, the plot and the visual effects. It is true that how a scene is shot is an element I never think about, but it plays a fundamental role in how the scene would eventually turn out. The reading by Tom Reilly, “Blocking is overlooked and undervalued” in 2009 highlights this fact. He significantly imposes the process of blocking which is “the process of choreographing a scene” to be having “a dramatic effect on both the rhythm and the timing of a film”. Some exercises in class later required us to practice this, as we constructed some scenes from certain scripts with restrictions over camera coverage implied. From these exercises, I realise that there are many more factors of camera coverage that have to be considered: lighting, exposure, reflection or framing are just some of them. Hopefully, I would be able to ponder on them when practising with the camera later on in the semester. And moreover, to appreciate the effect of camera coverage to a greater extent in watching movies is another goal I aim to accomplish at the end of the semester, as this aspect in cinematography is too fascinating to be left out.