Author: csh
In an interview with the British online film magazine Electric Sheep , when Apichatpong was asked about the openness of his film, he replied; "This is very interesting because it means that the film has I lost my own life." [1] The charming ambiguity of Apichatbang’s works always makes us feel confused. When we interpret the political references, we may ignore its naturalistic meaning; when we use the so-called "Oriental aesthetics" to generalize, we may ignore the connotations of cross-cultural universality.
Therefore, an overview of the style of Apichatpong has become a very important premise. First of all, based on style analysis, we can prevent us from falling into the stereotype of concept first. Secondly, the narrative, emotional, and symbolic meanings of movies all need to be conveyed through audiovisual styles. In Hollywood commercial films, it is the coherent style inherited from the classicist era (front and back, matching of sight, etc.) that accomplishes the narrative purpose clearly and smoothly. In the ambiguous images of Apichatpong, no matter what kind of meaning it is, it is conveyed by his film language system. Finally, for such a director who is world-renowned for his innovative film form, thinking about what he "says" may be more important than "what he said".
1. Scene scheduling
Before we discuss the uniqueness of Apichat, we must first clarify where it fits with the tradition. As Apichatbang mentioned in the interview, his creation was deeply influenced by Taiwanese director Cai Mingliang [2] . From the similarities between Apichatpong and Tsai Mingliang, we can see a regional tradition of Asian cinema, which is called "Asian minimalism" by the film historian David Podwell. Taiwan New Wave directors represented by Hou Xiaoxian and Cai Mingliang are the pioneers of this "minimalist" style. This style emphasizes the use of fixed-position long lenses, and the scenes are usually medium and long-range. It is very suitable for loose plots, and also allows the director to schedule unique scenes, allowing us to pay better attention to the details in the screen [3] .
The reason why Apichatpong is defined by many as a "long-shot director" is precisely because of his inheritance of this regional tradition . In his works, we can often see this kind of fixed shots with medium and long-range camera positions, as well as scene scheduling with multiple characters. However, different directors will use this style for different purposes. Apichatpong will also adjust and develop this tradition when telling his stories that are plausible, mixed with metaphors and legends .
They all use the scene scheduling in the long-term fixed lens of the mid-to-long view. Hou Xiaoxian allows us to see the complex group portrait interaction, Cai Mingliang uses the amazing length of the lens to let us pay attention to those extremely subtle movements, and Kitano shows cold humor and shocking violence. , Hong Changxiu is playing with the delicate emotional changes in interpersonal relationships-in the same way, Apichatpong certainly has something he is good at.
1. Scattered scheduling
In classic Hollywood movies, in order to keep us focused on stars, protagonists, and a few of the most important information, directors will keep these elements in the center of the picture for a long time, let specific characters face us, or adopt bias. Stronger lighting. If this strategy is called "fixed-point scheduling", then Apichatpong's scheduling can be called "scattered-point scheduling". When using scheduling in Apichatpong, he will use a relatively loose and flexible composition, and there will hardly be any role that will always be dominant in the mid- to long-range picture.
The protagonist at the narrative level often plays the role of the bystander in the composition (Example: "Tropical Diseases" 24:26-24:38; " Cemetery of Splendour " [ Cemetery of Splendour , 2015] 112:46-113:42 ); When entering the next screen, it often takes a while to wait before the protagonists we are familiar with will enter, and they may even disappear among the crowd (Example: "Cemetery of Dreams" 74:25-75 :13); In addition, the center of gravity in the picture is not constant, they will constantly change with the progress of the lens (Example: "Noon Development" 37:02-41:34).
Perhaps the most memorable scene is the ghost scene in "Uncle Bumi Who Can Recall the Past Life" (15:46-17:23). In this long shot of nearly two minutes, the composition was initially in a state of imbalance. The protagonist of the film, Uncle Bumi, is located in the shadow on the right corner (the spectator technique mentioned earlier), and the other two characters are all on the right side of the screen. In the empty left space, the empty chair enjoys the bright lighting. This made the audience realize a sense of anxiety and anticipation, but to our surprise, what we saw was not a "person" entering the arena, but a faint undead.
Through this kind of scattered scheduling, Apichatpong presents a daily state of many characters (and even ghosts) , rather than a story centered on specific characters . In addition, this technique also allows the audience to pay more attention to the environment and landscape around the characters .
2. Multiple picture frames and natural environment
In a fixed-length lens for medium and long-range scenes, the in-picture frame composed of geometric shapes such as door leafs and window frames can become very important indicative elements. Mizoguchi Kenji, Hou Xiaoxian, and Alfred Hitchcock are all masters of this technique.
In Apichatpong's works, this multiple frame can also be part of the scatter schedule. In the previously discussed scene of "Tropical Diseases" (24:26-24:38), the two protagonists in the film are watching a veterinarian's operation. The medical staff are in a picture frame composed of a window frame. This kind of emphasizing composition makes the two protagonists' presence in this picture weaker.
However, the uniqueness of Apichatpong is that he is good at narrative using in-picture frames composed of natural objects. In "Blessings", we see a lot of shots of using trees or plants to create frames in the paintings (85:55-88:48); in "Uncle Bumi who can recall previous lives", those who use canyons and mountains to form paintings The shot of the inner frame is impressive (73:58-77:36). This technique not only enriches the form of expression of the frame in the painting, but also gives a certain vitality to the natural environment.
3. Back view
Human facial expressions are usually the most eye-catching element in a picture. In most contemporary mainstream movies, close-up shots and close-ups have become the two most presentable scenes. As a result, the control of facial expressions has also become an important part of contemporary movie performance art.
But in such a style environment, Apichatpong seems to have a soft spot for the back perspective. Let the camera look at the characters from the back-Italian director Antonioni was a pioneer in systematically using this technique. He created a silent, de-dramatic effect and made it a representative technique of modernist films. one. The extreme use of this technique can be seen in the works of Jean-Marie Straub. On the one hand, this technique prompts us to speculate about the character's psychological state, and on the other hand, it guides us to pay attention to the environment around the character.
Like multiple frames, Apichatpong's use of the back perspective can also be regarded as one of the components of scatter scheduling. Antonioni prefers a 45° inclination. The Straubs tend to have the character directly facing away from the camera, while the Apichatpong character faces the audience in a relatively idle posture .
The angle of his character's back to the camera varies, and as the scene progresses, he will use editing to highlight the key points, or let the characters show more side faces (Example: "Blessing" 37:43- 39:10; "Magic Dream Cemetery" 81:47-83:27). This allowed him to suppress emotions and emphasize the environment, while also creating a state of daily life-our life is not equal to those positive close-ups, but it is also not equal to those difficult images of modernism.
2. Sports footage and editing
Many people would simply define Apichatpong as a "fixed long-shot" director. Indeed, his films are basically composed of long shots with little motion. However, if you delve into his works, you will find that his images are more inclusive than most people think.
He has a "combined" audio-visual language system -he will use mid-to-long-range fixed shot scheduling, but he will not give up editing, sports shots, and even hand-held shots like most Cai Mingliang or Hong Changxiu's works. , He will even use the front and back variants... However, he will adjust and develop these relatively minor skills to strengthen the function of the main skills .
1. Transportation and sports lens
Regarding Apichatpong’s preference for transportation, there have been related works in China [4] . He also said in an interview, "I love the kind of fantastic form, flow, freedom ...... For me, cinema and cars are the same, they will transfer the audience to an unknown place." [5] If The scatter scheduling in the fixed lens allows Apichatbang to present a certain situation, and then the motion lens is the channel for him to transmit between different situations.
Apichatpong will use a fixed lens to represent the scene inside the vehicle, while using a sports lens to show the landscape outside the vehicle. What's interesting is that at such moments, he rarely uses multiple frames (many directors will use the flying scenery inside the car window to show the existence of vehicles), he will use pure and moving scenery (example: "Blessing" 24:42-26:15; "Love Syndrome" 32:40-32:54).
This kind of lens will create a very interesting effect. They are like the "viewpoint lens" of the vehicle-the lens of "Blessing". Obviously it is not the viewpoint lens of the two characters in the car, because this lens is "backward". watch. Because of this, this kind of lens not only allows the audience to focus purely on the landscape in the picture, but also gives a certain spirituality to the carrying process.
2. Handheld lens
In the film of Apichatpong, this kind of transmission channel is not only the stable motion shots associated with transportation. When his character personally breaks into a different environment, the unstable handheld camera comes on the scene.
In "Uncle Bumi Who Can Recall His Past Life", when Uncle Bumi is shuttled in the jungle, the shaking hand-held camera echoes his panting (72:42-73:53); in "Love Syndrome", when When the two doctors walked into the basement, we also saw a hand-held long lens with alternating light and dark (68:07-69:08).
Both of the above two works contain a large number of fixed-camera long shots. These relatively cramped hand-held lenses are particularly prominent. Just as the audience is transported to unknown places through movies, the characters in these movies are also transported from a stable situation, from a stylistic level to another situation. Both Uncle Bumi and the two doctors proceeded from a relatively stable reality to a certain supernatural realm.
3. Pros and cons variants
In the coherent style of Hollywood classicism, pros and cons is one of the most important techniques. It allows us to observe the more important roles on both sides of the conversation at the right time. The front and back fight is also known as "over the shoulder front and back fight". This is because when A listens to B's speech, we often see A's vague shoulders, so that we can recognize both sides of the conversation at the same time.
In the film of Apichatpong, he also used this technique, but he made great adjustments. In a dialogue scene in "Love Syndrome" (52:10-52:42), both sides of the dialogue face the camera-this is a technique often used by Ozu Yasujiro, and the difference between Apichatbang , He will delay the time we see one of the dialogue characters (before that, he even let us see a third party outside the dialogue). Although we can hear the male character's voice, we only saw him in the late stages of the scene. In a scene (23:32-24:05) in "Uncle Bumi Who Can Recall the Past Life", he also used another variant of the reverse shot. He allowed the listener and the speaker to occupy equally important positions in the picture.
Regardless of the above variants, we are more strongly aware of the existence of the "obedient", and let us speculate on their expressions and even emotions. From this perspective, the role of these variants is actually very similar to the back perspective mentioned earlier.
Three, summary
According to the above analysis, we can find that we cannot simply summarize the style characteristics of Apichatpong by using "long-shot director" or "oriental aesthetics". Indeed, from his images, we can find techniques that Mizoguchi Kenji, Ozu Yasujiro, Antonioni, Hou Xiaoxian and even Cai Mingliang have used. In today’s era, most basic techniques have mastered precedents, and Apichatpong’s works show us how a new generation of directors can create through fine-tuning, transformation and integration. Your own style system.
In general, Apichatpong Velashagu’s film style is based on the scene scheduling in the fixed shots of the medium and long-range scenes. He uses a relatively flexible composition mode, multiple frames combined with the natural environment, and Diversified back perspective. This kind of idle and smart images can create a daily situation, convey relatively implicit emotions, and will also guide the audience to pay more attention to the environment around the characters. In addition to this foundation, he does not exclude the use of sports cameras, handheld cameras, and editing, but the functions of these secondary elements also serve the above-for example, sports cameras have become a bridge that connects two situations. "Overshooting" also creates the effect of back perspective.
[1] http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/2009/12/01/interview-with-apichatpong-weerasethakul/
[2] http://ent.163.com/10/0523/07/67BQV4ML00034D8N.html
[3] David Bordwell, “Beyond Asian Minimalism: Hong Sangsoo's Geometry Lesson,” in Korean Film Directors Series: Hong Sang-soo , ed. Huh Moonyung (Seoul: Korean Film Council, 2007), 19-30.
[4] "Mobile Space-Aesthetic Analysis of Transportation in Apichatpong Films", "Film Criticism", Issue 17, 2018, pp. 80-83.
[5] Holger Romers, “Creating His Own Cinematic Language: An Interview with Apichatpong Weerasethakul”, in Cineaste , 2005, fall.
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