Revisiting "The Defender" found that the first courtroom scene used a very good long shot. This long shot contains a complete start-up and turn-around. By rotating around Song Kanghao at different distances and directions, it fully demonstrates the defense's unparalleled sense of justice and oppression during the defense, which is amazing.
The camera starts with Song Kanghao's court questioning of the prosecution witnesses. Song Kanghao stands in the center of the courtroom, passing the defense table, the defense table and the prosecution in turn.
Note that although the camera is focusing on Song Kanghao in the center of the close-up frame, the defense and defendant's seats are vaguely visible in the long-range. Due to focal length and shutter speed limitations, the sharpness of the distant view is only maintained just enough to be seen roughly. Therefore, on the one hand, the audience will follow the focus and focus on Song Kanghao, and on the other hand, they can see the whole picture of the court from the constantly rotating perspective.
After the camera explained the basic environment, Song Kanghao questioned the identity of the witness, and the prosecutor stood up to protest. In this confrontation, the camera did not continue to rotate, but created tension between the defense and the prosecution through two quick pans. The lighting made Song Kangho's face clearer, as he was a symbol of justice at this time, while the prosecutor's face was backlit in the shadows, making it more passive.
Song Kangho gained the upper hand in the confrontation, and immediately continued to question the E.H. Carr part of the witness report. The camera also returned to the rotation and moved behind Song Kanghao. Note that the prosecutor and witnesses took turns speaking, but the focus was always on the back of Song Kanghao's head in the close-up. The purpose is to strengthen the protagonist of this trial. Hold the audience's attention.
After obtaining the exact testimony of the witnesses, Song Kangho walked back to the defense table, and the camera stepped back to distance him from Song Kangho. There seems to be a small follow focus error here.
After the distance was further opened, the camera came to the control seat, providing a brief view of the control. From this perspective of the prosecution, the camera rotates around Song Kanghao again. But unlike the first time, this rotation puts Song Kanghao in the long-range position, while the camera provides three subjective perspectives of the prosecution, the judge and the defense bench in the close-up position.
This continuous rotation, the technique of shooting defenders from different subjective perspectives, perfectly echoes the development of the plot. In the plot, Song Kanghao submitted the testimony of the British Foreign Office, which overturned the report of the prosecution witnesses in one fell swoop; and in the language of the camera, Song Kanghao firmly occupies the central position of the court, whether it is the prosecution, the judge, the defense bench, or the screen. The previous audience was impressed by Song Kanghao's eloquence.
At this time, Lawyer Song's aura had completely controlled the entire courtroom, and the camera moved closer in time to release the long-held emotions. With Song Kanghao's outstanding explosiveness and acting skills, the defender's majestic momentum and sense of justice can be seen in the close-up.
After successfully suppressing the prosecution, Song Kanghao once again submitted key evidence to pursue the victory, and the camera also followed closely to strengthen the importance of the evidence.
Two consecutive key pieces of evidence made the court a stage for defenders. The camera returned to the rotating shooting, and the close-up shots were used to fully release Song Kanghao's unparalleled acting and line skills.
Song Kanghao made a judgment and summary of the reading club in his plea, and the camera also circled from the left side, providing the audience with the perspective of the accused student for the first time. In front of each student, Song Kanghao completed this extraordinary defense summary and uttered one of the classic lines of the film.
Finally, the camera slowly pulled away, ending the entire long shot with a small panorama that was silent but lingering.
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