Sunday, September 28, 2014

Using the Camera in Easy A

Applying Using the Camera for Interpretation to this scene from Easy A (Easy A Scene - Start at 5 seconds and go to about 1:13), the first thing that stands out is the use of the of the long focal length that creates the shallow depth of field.  This element is clearly seen while Emma Stone's character walks down the hall.  She is the center of the focus and everything in front of, around, and behind her is out of focus.  In the midst of her proud walk down the hall, the camera cuts to a close-up of her red "A" on her top and then tilts upward to show a close-up of her smirking face.  The camera cuts back to an almost medium-wide shot of Stone's continuing to walk down the hallway, briefly cutting back to a close-up of her making a kiss face straight at the camera (meant for the onlookers in the hallway though.)
A few seconds later in the scene, the camera angle changes to show Stone's profile, in close-up, and trucks along side of her as she continues down the hallway.  The shallow depth of field is still maintained at this point, as well.  The camera cuts to continue trucking along with Stone, but now showing a medium shot of the onlookers without Stone in the shot.  Finally, the camera cuts back to a close-up of Stone's face, still smirking at the reactions she is getting for her interesting outfit choice.
Skipping over the short conversation Emma Stone's character has with two other characters (because there are not really any interesting uses of the camera), the audience then sees Stone's character walking away from the other two and the camera re-establishes the long focal length with the shallow depth of field.  This maintains the audience's full focus on Stone as she walks through the crowded hallway.  The close-ups mentioned earlier function as a way to get the audience closer to her facial expressions and feelings about the attention she is getting.
Right at the end of the scene, Emma Stone's character, while in focus, starts to walk off-screen.  At this point, the camera racks focus to change to focusing on the two characters she had her previous conversation with.  This allows the viewer to stay in the scene a little longer than Stone's character does, to get more information about how she was received by the crowd and how her former friend's relationship with her kind-of boyfriend was disturbed by Stone's character's presence.

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