A few days ago, I watched the Coen Brothers' new film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It was very exciting. The dark humor, the impermanence of fate, and the stunning photography all indicated that this is a high-quality Coen Brothers film. There are many good things about the film. My favorite is the explanation and discussion of death, but what I remember the most for a long time is still the composition of the shots in the film, which is really very classic!
Put a few pictures to feel
Before watching this film, I liked the composition of the Coen Brothers in Thunderbolt the most, but now, this film has become my favorite of the Coen brothers in terms of cinematography.
In addition to the beauty of the picture, there are also several classic compositions in the film, which are also worth learning.
The above picture is a classic yin and yang face composition, which shows the inner struggle of the protagonist very well. It can be seen that the protagonist is very entangled in whether to rob a bank. This shows that he is not the kind of wicked villain, he should be out of necessity. This composition is very classic, so I won't repeat it.
Next, I will talk about my favorite set of shots in the next film.
These two shots appear in the fourth story. In the story, the old man finally found the gold mine he was thinking about, so he was excited to dig in the pit. There are basically only three sets of shots in this process, one is the ore. For close-up shots, the other two are the above two sets of shots, which reveal the external environment of the old man. The composition in the first picture gives people a feeling of looking down on the old man, as if he is standing on the edge of the mine and looking at the old man; the composition in the second picture is a close-up of half the old man, half of the environment behind the old man, this kind of The composition is very common in some horror films. The picture is usually the frightened face of the protagonist, and a monster will suddenly appear on the other side. Using this composition can increase the immersive feeling. You can refer to the famous painting "The Scream"
In the film, looking down at the old man gives the impression that there is someone next to the mine, and this "Scream"-style shot makes people worry that a bad guy will suddenly emerge from behind the old man. The two sets of shots are switched back and forth, creating a kind of suspense. People are worried that the elderly will not only gain nothing after hard work, but even lose their lives. In this atmosphere, the villain appeared, and a gunshot sounded, which was unexpected and reasonable. We sometimes pay little attention to the composition of shots in movies, but its impact on the film is really important.
I have always liked movies with very good photography, especially those with picturesque lenses, and I admire the big guys who can shoot a shot to the end, but the movie is a whole, and photography is important, but it still has to serve and the whole, A movie like the Ballad of Buster, which not only takes care of the beauty of the picture, but also plays a vital role in creating the atmosphere of the story, is really worthy of appreciation.
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