Final Project
|
Slow Disclosure Since this was only a short segment, I was unable to employ the extensive type of slow disclosure that Sharff refers to in his description of the element: “a particular system of distributing narrative information… used throughout the length of a film” (Sharff 117). What I hoped to accomplish was a slow disclosure of a certain action through a series of movements and consistent camera angles that would have the viewer guessing. Establishing the initial image with the walk to the bathroom and having the feet move to different rooms, I hoped to have a limited scope that still had its own relevance and would gradually lead to a zoom out, disclosing the ultimate action. |
| Shot-by-shot Analysis of Slow Disclosure |
 |
Shot 1 12 ½ seconds. Medium long shot. I walk in from the left into the bathroom and stand facing the wall. I am stationary for a few seconds before exiting out the same way that I came in. One might guess that I am looking at the mirror, but that is not for certain. In this mise-en-scène static shot, the movement of the feet brings them attention, allowing the initial image to be of the feet. |
 |
Shot 2 12 ½ seconds. Medium shot. I walk into the room, sit on the desk, open the drawer, and take out a bag. After I close the drawer again, I exit the room. The bag’s contents are unknown. |
 |
Shot 3 9 seconds. Medium shot. I used this particular angle focusing on the shoes as another mise-en-scène situation, where the viewer's focus will shift from the shoe to the right side, where my hand reaches down to take the newspaper. It is uncertain why I grab the newspaper, but the viewer knows that now I have the newspaper in one hand and the bag in the other. I exit the room by coming towards the camera and walking over it. |
 |
Shot 4 24 seconds. Long/medium-closeup shot. This is the longest shot of sequence which begins with a long shot of the hallway and my feet coming around the corner. I walk up to the camera for a medium close-up of my legs. This shot has constant motion as I lay down newspapers on the ground. This is disclosure of what the purpose of the newspaper was in shot 3, but in the overall segment, its purpose is still uncertain. |
 |
Shot 5 4 seconds. Medium shot. I used a reverse-angle shot to show my exit from the hallway. This shot, combined with shot 4, helps to define the dimensions of the hallway. Shot 4 shows the end of the hallway that has a shoe-rack and shoes on the ground while shot 5 shows the entrance into another room at the opposite end. I felt that the reverse-angle worked into the slow disclosure element by revealing the setting where the final action is to take place. |
 |
Shot 6 18 seconds. Medium shot. I enter my room again and the camera position is similar to shot 3, but inside the room this time and without the shoes. This shot is almost like a reverse-angle shot of shot 2, but is more of a 120-degree change from shot 2. However, this angle still reveals the setting of my room. This shot in itself contains a slow disclosure element: I walk into the room, sit on the chair, slightly move towards the desk, my hands go on the desk (not visible), my hands come back on my lap, and the music comes on. The initial image then, can be my stationary position in the chair and the unexpected "outer limit" that marks the disclosure is when the music comes on and I tap my hands on my thighs to indicate that I have turned it on for my own amusement. |
 |
Shot 7 22 seconds. Medium close-up shot. I walk back to the hallway and sit down on top of the newspapers. This scene has more clues as to what I am trying to do. The camera shows my lower back. I take off my glasses and put it where it is visible. I then stick a plug into the outlet that is not visible. The electronic device is covered by my body, so that the imminent action is still not clearly known, although the viewer may already have tried guessing from the clues provided thus far. |
 |
Shot 8 10 seconds. Medium close-up shot. This is another instance of a reverse-angle shot. The purpose now is to disclose what is happening, and yet refrain from showing the electronic device and also what is going on above (so far, nothing above my waist has been shown). The drops of hair pieces discloses the fact that I am cutting my hair, but that has not yet been totally confirmed. |
 |
Shot 9 9 seconds. Medium shot. This shot begins with only my right arm being visible, but a slow zoom out reveals that I am using a hair clipper to shave my head. The back of my head, which is being shaved first, becomes visible as the camera zooms out and the shot fades to black. Thus, the integrity of the initial image, which had been sustained by the low angle shots of the feet and actions either outside the screen or below the waist, can now be understood in the context that everything happened for the purpose of cutting my hair. |
| Overall Commentary
There was only one instance of camera movement in the whole segment, the zoom out in the last shot, but it proved to be the most important in finally revealing the outer limit of the consistent “feet-level” shots. I think that the reverse-angle shots were helpful in defining the space for the viewer while maintaining the integrity of the initial image. I tried to employ subtle action throughout so that a constant focus on the feet would still allow narrative clues to be dropped. Even in shot 6, when the music comes out, it is an audio effect, not a visual one that discloses information about the outer screen. The slight tapping of the hands are enough to indicate that I have turned on the music purposely to listen. I believe that I could also have achieved the slow disclosure with shorter shots from all different angles, but for this particular segment, I feel that the series of static shots punctuated by a final zoom out also achieved the effect. |
- completed December 5th, 2002