"Birdman" is not a movie with many honors, but it is a great movie because of its lens language. Perhaps this is also inseparable from the rich and mature filming experience of director Alan Parker.
Next, go straight to the topic and analyze the audio-visual program of "Birdman".
1. Edit
There are two temporal and spatial transitions in "Birdman", the present and the past. So how to make these two time and space narratives natural and smooth, editing is undoubtedly a very good presentation. Take the opening shots at the beginning as an example. First of all, the appearance of movie characters comes in many styles, even genres. In the case of "Birdman", the director adopts a Hollywood-style character introduction method and introduces the protagonist with close-ups. The first shot of the movie is a blue sky, the exterior scene is complete, the zoom lens (from top to bottom), the second lens is changed to the interior scene by dissolving, and Xiaoquan is also a zoom lens (from top to bottom). The foreground of this shot is the iron window, and the background is the blue sky; the third shot, close-up-close-up, push shot (from bottom to top), birdman appears; the fourth shot, Xiaoquan fixed lens, birdman sitting At the bedside, looking at the blue sky outside the window. Birdman’s appearance ends here. The director used four shots to show the birdman’s living environment and the birdman itself. We can see that the connection between the shots is very perfect. ....Okay, the introduction of Birdman is over. The next shot closely follows Al's appearance. Although it happened in the same time and space, in the processing of the shots, it seems to be two time and space events, such as Light, sound, music, and lens movement methods will be discussed later.
"Birdman" also has standard Hollywood-style editing, the editing between shots is not procrastinated, and the rhythm is bright; the editing has obvious dramatic impact and tension.
2. Angle
The angle of "Birdman" has obvious differences. From the perspective of the camera, the composition given to Birdman is not "common sense", and some angles are even very strange. There is also a "bird" perspective. Such a composition design It conforms to the character setting of Birdman itself and conveys the spiritual world of Birdman. On the contrary, Al is from the perspective of a normal person.
3. Exercise
Throughout the film, there is a contrast from the beginning, Birdman and Al; Birdman Al and others. So in terms of sports, there are three types: (1) Character movement: Birdman’s shots are generally leaning towards static and are in his own spiritual world; because of the difference in personality from Birdman, Al’s shots are mostly Sporty. (2) Environmental movement: Because the environment where the birdman is located is a mental hospital, this environment is oppressive, so the cameras are mostly fixed. The scene of jumping out of the mental hospital is the opposite. (3) Space-time plan: The current space-time is located in a mental hospital, which is fixed and changes little. In the past, time and space jumped in various places, moved, and changed a lot.
4. Color
There are three main colors in the film, black, white, and blue. If the film is divided into two worlds, then one is the ideal world or the spiritual world of Birdman, and the other is the real world. The ideal world is blue. The hospital gown worn by the birdman, the birdman’s room, and the sky the birdman looks at are all blue. In the eyes of Americans, blue symbolizes freedom and blue is noble. . In the real world, black and white are dominant. What is worth mentioning is the black and white tuxedo that Birdman wore before the third flight of Birdman. He took off his body before starting the third flight. I wore a black and white tuxedo for the first time and walked into the birdcage naked. The transition from black and white to blue means to travel from the real world to the spiritual world. This is done by color, light, music (more on the music section), etc. A great transition.
5. Sound music
(1) Realistic sound, performance of characters
We can say from the beginning of the scene that the first four scenes depict birdmen appearing on stage. At this time, the sound of the sound is ethereal music, the mumbling birdmen’s shouts, the birds fanning their wings, these sounds The common denominator is unrealistic, they are the sounds of existence and the ideal world; the fifth shot, returning to the real world, Al appeared on the scene, when the noise of the surrounding environment flooded in, the voices of nurses and patients in the hospital pushed the bed The rumbling of cars, etc., are in contrast with the quietness of the previous shot. In the introduction of the two characters at the beginning, the sound played a role in expressing the characters.
(2) Music
Music has a very good role in emphasizing emotions, and music also has the role of adding color. Here I want to talk more about Birdman's music. This is a kind of representative music. Birdman is unique, it is not in the real world, and it is plausible. It not only expresses the spiritual world of Birdman, but also shows the concentration of the spiritual state of Birdman. Music is a good partner of mankind.
Music plays a great role in film. If we look at film music from a philosophical point of view, philosophy is rational, music is perceptual, philosophy is abstract, and music is imagery. Of course, the image mentioned here is not that music has a specific image, but it gives you an image in your mind, just as when you hear the birdman’s music, will you copy the birdman’s appearance in your mind? Will you feel the mental state of Birdman? Another example is Sara's music in "French Lieutenant's Woman". Have you revealed her mystery through Sara's music? These are all the power of music. If you look at music from another angle, you might have new gains.
This article stops here, but the charm of the movie never stops.
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