HEY EVERYBODY let's talk about Basic Film Language and Heated Rivalry.
A very basic part of film language is the 180-degree line. That's an invisible line that divides the camera from the scene and establishes where everyone is in a scene.
Shane enters a room and moves -- with his thumbs tucked into his pockets, the Most Autistic Boy personified -- to the right-hand side of the screen. He looks off-screen at Ilya in the left-hand side of the screen.
Ilya warily stays in the left-hand side of the screen. He's standing up, keeping his distance.
Here is what I mean by the 180-degree line. The wide shot has established where they are in the scene: Ilya is in the left side looking right and Shane is on the right side looking left. If, for instance, we reversed one of these shots and Ilya was suddenly looking left --
Then the whole fucking scene falls apart, because where the fuck is he looking? Shane's to the right! The camera has established this and we as viewers instinctively know that Ilya's looking in the wrong direction, even if we don't know anything about film.
This is, like -- basic language of filming a scene. And I'm so happy to see it being used, because I have seen it fucked up so. many. times. in recent years! There's this very emotionally affective scene in the first season of Supernatural that I cannot fucking watch because about halfway through the scene they break the 180-degree line for no fucking reason, and it drives me batty each time!
ALSO: since we're talking about film language. Western audiences who read left-to-right subconsciously interpret characters in the left-hand side of the screen as being more powerful and "good." Recall, Shane walks into the room and immediately goes to the right-hand side of the screen to sit down on the bed. Ilya stays on the left-hand side, mostly standing up despite Shane's request that he sit. That first 180-degree line locks in with Ilya with power in the scene.
Except then the scene changes. Shane says that he's gay and snaps at Ilya for scoffing. Ilya, chastened, moves from the left hand side of the screen --
-- to sit next to Shane, notably on the right-hand side of the screen. A new 180-degree line is formed. Crossing the 180-degree line to re-establish a new one can be tricky to do and frequently relies, as this case, on a character moving across the line, and typically indicates an emotional shift within the scene. It's notable that Ilya is the one who moves, giving up the more "powerful" side.
They continue to talk. Shane pushes through his palpable discomfort to press Ilya about their relationship. Ilya denies they even have one or could have one if they wanted to, and insists that Shane doesn't like him.
Another jump across the 180-degree line, except this one isn't anchored on a character's movement. As I said, moving across the line is tricky to pull off without characters seeming to suddenly be looking at a wall. What's even trickier is that they only go to that shot for one line, Shane's insistence that he likes Ilya "more than he should," which Ilya quickly rebuffs --
-- and we jump back OVER the 180-degree line, again without character movement. With the actors stationary, it could become incoherent...but by keeping Ilya visible, he acts as a pivot-point. Just for a second, he is in the left-hand side of the screen again and Shane is on the right, in the "lesser" position, before Ilya verbally pushes him away. Without character movement to justify the TWO 180-degree hops, the viewer is left with the sensation that something very significant just happened, centered on Ilya.
The conversation shifts to Ilya's dad. Ilya can't keep up the mask anymore and starts to cry. Shane notices and we get this:
That same camera angle, except for the first time Shane moves into the left-hand side of the screen, to the position of more power, even as he climbs into Ilya's lap.
I'm so happy to see a movie or TV show remember how to use basic film language to visually tell a story. The scene is about Shane cracking Ilya open like a crab leg not through force or aggression but by making himself vulnerable. Y'all know how I feel about the wonderful, wonderful D/s in this show and how well they depict it as an actually balanced relationship in which both sides have power; we see this as Shane keeps putting himself into a vulnerable position not just physically or emotionally but cinematically as well. He goes to the right-hand side of the screen, he sits, he opens up.
I don't have space for anymore images in this post, but
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