Character and Space from Kai-feng Wang on Vimeo.

This shot is an exercise that I did it in Friday’s class. Actually, this practise does not have any story background or dialogue. The purpose of this shot is improving my camerawork skills. Personally, I am interested in the relationship of character, space and camera. This idea comes from a Hong Kong remarkable  filmmaker Johnnie To. He is famous for camera movement and space manipulation. In his mise-en-scene, the image are dynamic because To always move his camera to reveal new content. Sometime, even though the characters are still, To prefers mobilising the camera.

In my case, I aim to create a vivid image with a camera. This shot consists of two major factor that make it succeed. First of all, camera movement is the prime technique. To reveal the new space, What I did is walking backward slowly by handholding a camera.  In a way, I am able to show more information to audience by pulling the camera from Evelyn’s face to Alex. This is amazing to see what the camera shows in the backward process.

Secondly, I found that some parts of human body, like arms, legs, fingers and eyes, sometimes create a great leading line to compose the frame. Before I start to film, I try to figure it out how do I connect this character together? Where is the connection bridge? Perhaps, Evelyn’s right arm could make this work. So I ask her to expand her arm and to point to the direction where Alex is. Then, it is ready to go. I start to pull the camera following her arm to the spot that I can frame both characters. Although neither character is almost motionless, the picture is so beautiful and dynamic.