Next instalment of Marvel Can’t Even Composite A Scene: The Russos!
Check out this beauty:
Characters on screen: 3
Characters correctly framed on screen: 0
Is Cap also SLIGHTLY blurry?!
How about this:
If you hadn’t seen the film 109525 times, would you have known that it’s actually Natasha talking in this scene and NOT Cap? I wouldn’t, considering all we see is her shoulder and her nose.
Why do they keep BLURRING Cap and what’s with Natasha’s HaiR?! There’s so much going on in this that the last thing anyone is going to notice is the expression on Cap’s blurred face. So I guess the point of this frame was? Lines?
And of course, lets not forget, my favourite frame from the entire film and perhaps the entire MCU:
Complex, distracting background that isn’t properly blurred: CHECK
Lots of lines that lead to nowhere: CHECK
Random colours that don’t balance each other: CHECK
A random BROKEN LAMP WITH A RED CORD STICKING OUT IN THE FUCKING 2/3: CHECK
A random SHOULDER in the corner of the frame: CHECK
But hey, Natasha is actually on the 1/3 this time! Too bad most of her is HAIR, and we can’t actually see her face very well.
Didn’t know the demand on Scarlett’s skill was so high, they expected her to act with her hair. That’s a solemn copper strand SJ, but we’d like it a bit more thoughtful.
Let’s see some good examples of compositing, colouring, and camera work, shall we?
Complex background adequately blurred without being too vague: Check
Colours that complement each other: Check
Face actually FRAMED by the camera AND the lines of the background: Check
Things in focus: the MAIN CHARACTER and THE PROP SHE’S USING
Also, can we CLEARLY see the actress's face so she can, you know, act with her face?
YES, we fucking can.
But hold it there spiderling. You only use ONE character. That’s easier than framing 2 or more, how about that?
Lets give it a go.
Characters front and centre, not blurred, both faces clearly directing our attention to whatever it is they’re examining. Background sufficiently subdued, the lines are literally leaning in towards the characters and, again FRAMING THEM, both with the camera AND the lines of the background.
Lighting clearly created to ENHANCE the expressions on the actors’ faces AND the prop they’re using.
But spiderling, what if it’s more than 2 characters that we need on screen? Surely the Russos did a brilliant job making lots of characters be on screen at the same time?
Are you sure about that?
Lighting: Abysmal. If I didn’t already know who these people are I would have no idea what I’m looking at.
Background: Horrendous. Overexposed middle that doesn’t lead the eye to anything, huge dark parts that are imbalanced and not sufficiently detached from the foreground so we can understand what we’re looking at.
General Composition: Below the first year of film school level. We don’t know what’s going on. There’s no dynamic in the movement of the characters. They might be going for a stroll. They might be coming back from a night out. There’s no sense of CHARGING INTO FUCKING BATTLE.
Compare with this if you please:
Lighting: Quite well done. It’s a sunny day at the beach.
Background: Good. States the location very clearly, doesn’t distract from the drama that’s going on, colours blending in nicely.
Composition: Excellent. We clearly understand that something terrible has happened. Every extra has the exact same expression, hats covering their heads because a) it’s what’s appropriate for the setting, beach in the 20s and b) so that their faces don’t distract us from the main event which is that : The Main Characters Are Coming Into Frame from the Left, Which Is Why We Left A Huge Fucking Gap in the Middle, So they Can Step In and Be Glorious.
If you meet any male MCU fan who keeps bitching about how awesome the Russos are and how we are ungrateful idiots, for not worshipping the land they step on, please, send them my way. I’ll set them straight.
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries struggled financially for every season they made, and yet look at those frames.
How much money did the Russos make for Winter Soldier?
P.S. How is it, that shitty directors like that get to work with Scarlett Johansson AND get paid millions of dollars to do a really sloppy job, and if I want to hire an actress for a short film I’m funding myself, I have to live on noodle soups for a month in order to make ends meet, because I refuse to work with someone and not pay them at least minimum wage.
We all end up working our asses off for a short film that might end up being seen by a few thousand people -if we’re lucky-, and I’m supposed to respect the Russo bros because what? They were born with a penis and a sufficient lack of melanin?
Here’s all I think when I bring those dudes to mind: They had the privilege, and the luck, to work on a film project with unlimited funds. They were surrounded by creatives at the top of the game and THIS is what they made of it. Fuck these people. They don’t deserve the right to direct seasoned actors.
