In the clip below, Kenshin just finished burying the dead, both the victims and attackers. The low level of framing exaggerates the height of the crosses and creates an imposing view of the tragedy that just occurred. As the camera tracks Seijuro, it slows down significantly as he stops behind Kenshin and Kenshin speaks for the first time. This slow camera movement and Kenshin mostly remaining obstructed strongly draw the audience’s attention to his dialogue. It lets them absorb the pivotal moment that shaped Kenshin as a person.
The juxtaposition of flowers in the midst of violence is one of the more vivid images in Trust & Betrayal.
In a previous scene a man named Kiyosato Akira promises his fiancée (Yukishiro Tomoe) that he will bring flowers back after a bodyguard duty. It then cuts to a shallow focus shot of flowers, representing the promise but also the serenity of a peaceful normal life. The focus then shifts to Kenshin, who’s now an assassin. This change in focus creates an imagery of an impending violence about to take this peaceful life away. This is further reinforced of an insert shot of Kenshin stepping on the flowers on the ground as he confronts his target and Akira.
This overhead shot of a bloodied up Akira and the flowers provide the strongest imagery of a life and a promise broken by violence.
In the Episode 7 and Episode 8 write-ups I talked about the show's great sense of scale and speed, and usage of camera movements and slow-motion. The scene below exemplifies all of that but what stuck out to me happened around the 00:20 mark. The camera tracks Nagate as he avoids another attack, it then pans to the rest of the platoon that are about to enter the Gauna. I thought this was a good use of camera movement to transition from out pivotal moment to another.
Izana saving Nagate was my favorite scene in this episode. The clip below begins with a close-up of Izana's Garde. The up close view of her thrusters in full blast and the camera moving to show her Garde's head directly looking at Nagate are images that show her full commitment to risking her life to save him. Afterwards, we see a beautifully done forward tracking shot of Izana chasing after Nagate. The camera then changes angles to transition to a lateral tracking shot that focuses on Izana's hand reaching out to Nagate and finally grabbing him. This emphasis on the hands was a way to extend Izana's compassion and caring through her Garde and as they hold hands it even reaches a level of intimacy. As humans we often use our hands to express ourselves. This episode took this notion and applied them to mechas in order to express the pilots' humanity through these machines and in essence humanizing them.
An image of trust. Nagate holding a bullet entrusted to him by Ren to avenge her sister.
An evocative and intimate image of Izana saving Nagate.
A balled up fist expressing the urgency to help Izana.
After the truth behind Kaori's selective memory loss was revealed, Hase withdrew himself from her out of fear of hurting her and getting hurt. Consequentially, a gap between the two has formed. This episode uses the scenic shots of a bridge as an imagery of the reconnect and the closing of the gap between Hase and Kaori. Perhaps its usage was a bit strong and made the episode too predictable but it was still a good example of using scenery to complement the narrative.
Here's a couple of more examples of scenery being used for imagery.
After the cold open, the episode title intro starts with a shot of the gray overcast with the camera panning down. This image is indicative of the cloudy and uncertain relationship between Hase and Kaori.
After the two reconciled, the episode ends with the camera panning up to the clearer and bluer skies, an image reflecting the optimism between the two.
Yuasa and his animators really went all out with the camera movement for this finale. The video below is only the warm up. It starts with a medium shot of Smile and Peco in their stance to establish the anticipation. Then cuts to a close-up and extreme close-up that ratchet up the tension as the match begins. Around the 00:13 mark there's a steady-cam like movement where the camera rotates behind Smile then zooms into the ping pong ball. At 00:31 mark we see a really quick push-in shot on Smile which cuts to a reverse tracking shot as Peco slams the ball. This was a frantic combination of camera movements and quick cuts that creates the initial excitement.
This frenzied start was a quick glimpse of Smile being brought out of his shell by Peco. A long-awaited moment. This feeling of fulfillment is encapsulated by the last shot, a close-up of Smile smiling as the camera pulls away to show him absorbing the moment, the cheers of the crowd and the fun that is Ping Pong.
The next video is where the camera movement and animation really shine. It begins with the imagery of Smile finally breaking out of his robot shell, as excitement and emotions overwhelm him. From the 00:29 to 00:37 mark, the hectic exchange between Smile and Peco seems to have been done in one shot but it wasn't. Close-ups of their paddles and quick left and right lateral tracking covered up the cuts and cleverly created a seamless exchange. At the 00:40 mark we finally get a full shot of the competitors. The constant pushing and pulling of the camera accentuates the exchanges between the two and engages the audience to the intense match.
Again it ends with Smile smiling. The desaturated image of him enveloped with light gives a calming sense of self realization. He's not a robot, he's human, he feels, he sweats, and he bleeds. Poignantly he then says "My blood tastes like iron."
Images of the beach were spread throughout the finale. I believe it's an image to express the feeling of calmness as all the characters, at some level, found peace within themselves. Although in the end scene Kazama feels uncertain about his life, the big difference now is he's expressing this uncertainty instead of bottling it up.
Who knew a gun fight between a loli and a cat eared loli using love-love guns would produce a fairly well shot action scene. For more than half of the scene below the combatants were fighting with a barrier between them and shooting through door openings. If shot normally, that is with medium to full shots of the two exchanging gunfire through the door, it would have been boring. This action scene was more about the feel of the combatants for each other's movements. To imitate that feeling the movement of bullets became the focus, hence plenty of close up shots, follow shots and slow motion shots of the bullets.
A long shot from the video above. It uses warm and cool colors to differentiate the two combatants. Izuna finds no enjoyment in playing hence the blue while Shiro loves the excitement of a challenge, which is represented by yellow-orange colors.
The video below is the continuation of the action. Starts with a slow lateral tracking shot to build tension as Izuna jumps out of the window. This time, distance is the separation between the combatants (Sora and Izuna). Again the bullet is the focus. Also, there's a really nice aerial follow shot of Izuna.
This episode neatly used long/scenic shots not just to establish the setting but to briefly introduce the peculiarity of the story. The opening scene begins with shots of snowy mountains, barren trees and typical winter conditions that are obviously unfit for agriculture. The scene ends with a shot of the green rice patties in the middle of dull winter colors. This contrast subtly introduces the viewers to the supernatural aspect of the episode.
The next images show the use of one-point perspective.
This scene uses the layers of sliding doors to create a subtle one-point perspective view. Even as a conversation takes place, the view creates such an eerie and captivating effect that it draws the viewers' attention to the background. The scene above cleverly uses the layers of doors to convey progression to the point of interest. The camera progresses through each layer of doors, until it finally gets to very end to reveal the oddity of rice patties in the middle of winter.
The shot above again uses the doors to create a perspective line. While the previous scene used it to create intrigue, this shot uses it give the viewers an observer's point of view to the emotional exchange that occurred between father and son.
I think an unnoticeable but very essential use of cinematography (right along with editing/storyboarding) is establishing a sense of rhythm in a scene. Different types of shots, angles, camera movement and lighting should blend together and make sense within the context of the scene. I think this is something Knights of Sidonia has done a good job with.
The scene below I think is a good example of rhythm. The scene begins as the camera pans down on Nagate. The light on Nagate in the middle of darkness puts the focus on him and builds an air of mystery. The scene reveals Yure with a deep focus shot, this exudes a feeling that something is about to be revealed that concerns Nagate. The medium shot on Yure shows bubbles in the background, further building up the mystery and tension. The scene then cuts to a long shot to show scale, more tension building. Cuts to a medium shot of Nagate, light flashes and we see his shocked reaction. A long shot to finally show the Gauna Hybrid. All of these worked in rhythm to build the tension that culminates to a dramatic reveal.
As the match starts between Peco and Kazama the scene begins with the camera panning up from Peco's hand getting ready to serve to a view of Kazama being swallowed by darkness. It then cuts to a panning close up shot of Kazama. The black uniform, the dark background, and the shadowing on Kazama's intense face brings a presence of an imposing and joyless force. Next we see Peco surrounded by a wavering white light, the color of the hero. But he's overwhelmed by Kazama's presence as evident by the faintness of the light and the darkness slowly swallowing it. The panning extreme close up shot of Peco and his hero mask show that despite Kazama's overwhelming presence he's committed to playing for fun and with his childhood hero persona.
The scene then ends with a really cool shot of Peco that starts at a high angle, pushes into an extreme close up of his eye (with Kazama's reflection) and then pulls back to a low angle. Everything about this camera work exudes the willingness of a hero to accept such a huge challenge
This whole scene also lays the thematic ground work for the rest of the match. Light vs. dark, playing for fun vs. the cold drive for victory and hero vs. anti-hero. I also love the use of the vertical panning shots for constant thematic transitions.
As the match continues Kazama's dark aura proved to be too overwhelming for Peco. Kazama viewed his father as a hero, losing him and hearing his grandfather belittle him shook this core belief. With that pillar of strength gone, he relied solely on his ability to play Ping Pong as a form of strength. This led to his play to be strongly driven by the pressure to win, to fulfill his grandfather's lofty expectations, and the painful fear of defeat. These rather negative reasons for playing has taken the joy out of the sport and led to emotional isolation. This grim and painful approach has made him a brutal and domineering player which is reflected by the darkness that surrounds him and that eventually engulfs Peco.
As Peco further gets dominated by Kazama he starts losing confidence. In the background he hears Smile's humming. Peco imagines Smile telling him to find the fun out of playing such a tough opponent which improves Peco's play. As Peco gains momentum the background becomes white, the overall setting seems brighter, and the darkness surrounding Kazama slowly dissipates. The play has a more jubilant vibe and atmosphere.
Kazama's background is now light blue, reinforcing that Peco's more positive aura is dominating the match
Notice the competition number on Peco's back acting as a cape. There are multiple full shots like this one in this part of the match that demonstrates Peco's childlike hero persona. __________________________________________________________________________
The use of imagery to represent the characters' personality and their development is very much present in this episode and excellently so. The reoccurring image is flight, which symbolizes freedom. Peco's hero persona has adopted this image and it's reinforced by his unrestricted and flighty play-style. Kazama's style while strong and imposing is also restricted and burdened. This is reflected by the imagery of constantly struggling to climb a cliff with the fear of falling into the dark abyss below him.
An extreme close up of Kazama's eye seeing the image of Peco taking flight.
The imagery of Kazama's constant struggle but now looking to break out of it.
As Peco makes Kazama realize the joy of Ping Pong the pressure and burden are unloaded. He's now free to just enjoy the sport and fly away from isolation.
Peco and Kazama taking flight together as they put on a fun match.
Another extreme close up of Kazama's eye, this time seeing Peco flying away where he can't reach him, a realization that Peco will win the match.
Lighting and shadow in this episode were used really well to set up the mood of the scene and to accentuate the feelings of the characters.
After Hase realized that the significance of the number "18" was truly lost in Kaori, he then walks away upset. The next scene starts with a shot of the sun shining through the window. It then cuts to a long shot of Hase. Despite all the light going through the window he remains in the shadows. This expresses that even though he tries to appear bright and happy, deep inside he's in pain. This also establishes a melancholic feeling that effectively sets up the flashback scene and the emotional moment when Hase cries.
When Kaori started talking about Hajime the scene cuts to a long shot of the two being enveloped by the cloud's shadow. The scene uses the shadows to emote Kaori's dark and painful memories of Hajime that she has long-repressed.
Hase tries to comfort Kaori and the conversation moves on to a more joyful topic of going out for crêpes. To reflect this change in mood, the cloud covers move to let the Sun shine on both of them.
Unfortunately for Hase things couldn't quite remain bright and sunny. In this long shot of the last scene, the street light flickers off above him, perhaps indicating a dark foreshadowing.
