KinnPorsche Ep12 Lines of Power
I'm here to call out lines of power, staging, and framing in KinnPorsche episode 12. Whew, Tumblr's 10-image limit is killing me. Had to do a lot of image combining this time to skirt it.
Bonus: It doesn't quiiiite fit in lines of power, but yesterday I called out a particular Comedy & Tragedy VP screencap for Reasons.
More LoP posts: [Trailer] … [Ep08] [Ep09 Part 1] [Ep09 Part 2] [Ep10] [Ep11] [Ep13]
Porsche is pissed and drawing some boundaries, and this scene uses a line of power (the window pane) to help him with that.
These two shots establish that the line is firmly in place from multiple camera angles.
It's not quiiiite perfectly in place throughout the whole scene, but it's damn close, as close as it's going to get without actually gluing the actors' feet to the floor.
Usually with dividing lines, I've been seeing people staying on their respective sides. Here, Kinn says "nope, do not like" and crosses over. He's not the same as he used to be. Remember back in the "all our people are the same to me" scene in Episode 4 with all those dividers between them? Yeah, Kinn has grown a lot since then.
Kinn: Line of power who? I don't know 'em.
Then there's this wide shot of Kinn trying to reach out physically, and Porsche snaps backwards, keeping the boundary firmly in place.
Fortunately, Kinn respects that boundary and realizes "I'm sorry" won't cut it, and he offers to help find actual answers (WHAT?) to tear down that line of power keeping him from his Porsche.
That gets Kinn through to Porsche, and he holds onto his man, who is still reluctant to give in entirely. The hug scene is framed with soft, blurred beige lines in the foreground. I'm not sure I want to read too much into the foreground frame except that it softens the hard edges, as Kinn is trying to do with Porsche's anger.
I feel this scene was a huge step forward for them, and I'm delighted with the way the line of power helped tell the story.
WOW. Wow, okay. Most often when Papa Korn shows up, he seems small and inconspicuous, often sitting, sometimes even stooped over with very sluggish, lazy posture.
Here he's standing straight and tall, looking very powerful. As with Tankhun in the previous episode, the shot here is designed to make him look LARGE and IMPOSING. The camera angle is looking up at him from below, but more importantly, the two pillars behind him are framing him and increasing his width, effectively doubling his size.
Papa Korn is on the move, playing his war.
This shot has a premium horizontal line: the division between grass and darkness. There aren't a lot of strong horizontals to be had, so I nabbed it.
Vegas looks like a marionette with his strings cut. His head and heart are above in the dark space, while his lost hedgehog is down in the lighter space with lush greenery. There's a strong sense of dissociation going on between the darkness above and light below, at least for me, but I think there's a lot of room for alternative interpretation.
The trees become a lovely frame around Vegas and Pete. I also love that the white flower is so clearly visible at Vegas's feet.
Both of the two scenes above use natural setting, clear light, and green plants, creating a noteworthy contrast to the bondage bedroom with its chains, colorful neon lights, and general clutter.
Speaking of which...
There's a lot going on with the chains in the room, so much that it becomes a bit difficult to read too much into them. However, the first shot above has a veeerrry clear divider between Vegas and Pete. It's problematic as a a line of power in the actual scene, though, because it comes and goes with the different camera angles as they talk in that moment.
A short time later, there are a few moments where the chains disappear completely, as captured in the second shot. The chains are still there, but they're currently hidden behind the characters, almost like the chains have been asorbed.
For most of the scene where Tay and Porsche chat, Tay is firmly positioned in the left half of the screen. He gets an almost entirely clear and white/beige background (highly uncommon) except for one black vertical line.
After Porsche brings up Time and Tay says "it's not like that," his problems come firmly to mind. That's when he sits back, smiles his small and painful smile, and the black line of power goes right through his head.
Tay is a very bright, kind, supporter-type character, hence the pale background. But he has his own troubles, too.
(I will now be adopting Tay.)
Mirrors. Always mirrors.
In the first shot, Porsche is blurred and very distorted. His emotions are all out of whack. He's full of rage and conflict, ready to lash out at the person he thinks has caused the biggest loss of his life.
Kinn's face is clear and focused. He has one goal in this scene, and that's to support Porsche through whatever happens.
In the second shot, after Porsche has let go of the rage and killing instinct, he comes into focus as he holds tight to his biggest simp supporter.
Kinn...you had ONE goal. (And you succeeded!)
There are Lines of Power, and then there's Chay and his LINE OF MOTHERFUCKING CHAOS POWER. This practically needs a post all to itself. Buckle up.
Chay's a mess, and for good reason. His erratic pink line of power reflects that mess. So much more than simple heartbreak has brought on his overdue rebellious phase. He's gone through numerous abandonments and was left essentially on his own without support, he's been kidnapped from his own home and injured, and he's had to face lies from numerous people he thought he could trust. Then throw in teenage heartbreak on top for flavor.
Plot has been happening TO Chay for a long time. But he's fighting back at last.
In this episode, he takes a firm hold of his agency. He decides to explore who he is outside of being "little brother" and "having a crush."
Chay is righteously (and rightly) pissed that Kim has taken away that agency by interrupting the party, and he promptly reclaims that agency by telling Kim off. His anger (all those spikey lines) is justified, in my opinion.
This fight was so fantastic, exactly what this pair needed... Chay standing up for himself and Kim revealing the real face of his Mafia Heir side (ref: @laughsalot3412's post talks about Kim's 3 sides). Kim's dark side is clearly demonstrated in this shot where he just about melts into the dark background.
Yet I'm obsessed with the way Chay's pink line still ends up pointing at Kim, hinting at lingering feelings.
(Need more Kim meta to flesh this out? I hiiiiiighly, so highly, recommend @shortpplfedup's post on Kim.)
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More LoP posts: [Trailer] … [Ep08] [Ep09 Part 1] [Ep09 Part 2] [Ep10] [Ep11] [Ep13]
For more great meta from folks across the KP Tumblr fandom, please visit the Damn Good KinnPorsche Meta doc.
