Movies can show us things that we usually can’t see. I don’t mean ghosts or ultraviolet rays (although they can also do that). I mean concepts like emotions, relationships, power, intensity, and intimacy.
I’ll demonstrate with Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, which is widely regarded as “not a good movie.” That’s another secret. Any movie can reward careful viewing. Even low-budget movies from disreputable genres like “direct-to-video” and “sci-fi” have something to show you.
Context: Dix Hauser (left) and Lola Beck (right) are lovers. They are also soldiers in a base being overrun by the enemy. Hauser just ordered Beck (a pilot) to fly a VIP to safety, while Hauser will stay behind to command the defenders and probably die. You can understand the interaction that follows just by listening to the dialog.
Beck: “Wait. Just think about this for a second, because you’re making a decision for the both of us right now.”
Hauser: “I know.”
Beck: “Dix, I love you.”
Beck: “I love you.”
*distant explosion*
Hauser: “Blast off, Fleet.”
Beck wants Hauser to flee with her and save his life, but he can’t ingore the battle. Now let’s see how camera position, actor movement, body language, and other visual techniques support and enhance that basic idea.
Beck: “Wait. Just think about this for a second, because you’re making a decision for the both of us right now.”
- The characters’ physical positions and actions make their interpersonal positions and actions more obvious and powerful.
- Beck doesn’t want Hauser to leave before talking to her so she steps in front of him and puts out a hand to stop him.
- The ladder/pole that Beck swings around is the route to the cockpit, so she’s doing this instead of going to the cockpit to flee.
- Beck and Hauser are lovers, which is demonstrated by the intimacy of Beck’s hand on Hauser’s chest, and its gentleness. Hauser could overpower that hand, but chooses to be stopped by it.
- Where things are in the room is important.
- The exit from the dropship and thus the path to the battle is to the right. Looking to the right means thinking about the battle, and moving to the right means going to fight.
- Where things are in the image is important.
- Moving the camera can show a change without changing anything in the room. Hauser and Beck appear larger in the second image, but they didn’t grow. The camera moved closer, emphasizing them and de-emphasizing the rest of the space. There are several other people in this large room, but they aren’t important right now.
- Hauser and Beck are shown as equals on either side of the frame. Neither has the advantage. This re-inforces Beck’s dialog. She wants Hauser to “wait” and “think” about “both of us” They face opposing directions because they have opposing views.
Hauser: “I know.”
- Physical actions can show how characters are thinking and feeling without saying anything.
- Beck has dropped her hand. She wanted to stop Hauser, but she’s not grabbing him to keep him there. She hopes her words are enough.
- When Hauser says, “I know” (not continuing the conversation that Beck is trying to have about their shared future) Beck tentatively reaches for him again. She is literally reaching out to him. He looks, so we know he’s thinking about a connection with Beck. His words indicate that he’s shutting down Beck’s attempt at conversation, but his actions show he’s tempted.
Beck: “Dix, I love you.”
- Similar concepts can be repeated and reinforced in multiple ways in the same shot.
- movement vs. environment: Hauser moves past Beck to the right, which is towards the battle. He’s choosing the battle over her.
- action vs. action: Hauser walks past, so Beck escalates by grabbing him forcefully and spinning him around so he faces her and faces away from the battle.
- movement vs. camera: Hauser tries to leave the conversation by leaving the screen, but Beck pulls him back in.
- camera vs dialog: The camera moves in even closer, emphasizing Beck’s emotional confession.
Beck: “I love you.”
- Close-ups are emphasis.
- In a close-up, we see the character’s expression mostly clearly, with the least other stuff in the shot to distract us.
- Where things are in the image is important.
- The background is blurry now, not sharp, like in the previous shots. Everything disappears except Beck’s face as she expresses her most intimate and powerful emotion.
- Where things are in the room is important.
- Beck is on the left facing right, just like the previous shot. The object on the right side of the screen is blurry and mostly off-screen, but we know it’s Hauser because we know Hauser is standing in front of Beck and she’s looking at him.
- Physical actions can show how characters are thinking and feeling without saying anything.
- Hauser smiles. He reacts emotionally to Beck’s display of emotion.
- Where things are in the image is important.
- The camera is looking up at Hauser from over Beck’s shoulder. This is her point of view. This is how she sees him.
*distant explosion*
- Where things are in the room is important.
- When he hears an explosion, Hauser turns towards the right side of the screen to listen. The battle is always to the right. He’s now thinking about the battle. Turning towards the battle requires him to turn away from Beck, because those two ideas “defend the base with my life” and “go with my lover” oppose each other.
- Where things are in the image is important.
- We see only half of Hauser’s face out of focus. The camera returns to the close-up on Beck. Her feelings and her reaction to Hauser turning is what the movie wants us to think about most, not Hauser’s feelings.
Hauser: “Blast off, Fleet.”
- Where things are in the image is important.
- The two are not equal in the frame. Hauser’s so tall he doesn’t fit in the frame. His towering height and broad shoulders make him powerful. His black military uniform and upright posture make him commanding and impersonal. This re-inforces the formal impersonal way he orders Beck to leave.
- The camera can change the feeling of a scene, even if nothing changes in the world.
- Beck and Hauser are still standing in the same positions in the same room as when Beck said “I love you” the first time. The camera says that they are no longer equals. The camera says that Hauser is impervious to emotional appeals.
- Where things are in the room is important.
- He goes to the right and the battle is still to the right, so we know where he’s going.
- Where things are in the image is important.
- This is the same shot in which Beck declared her love, and Hauser exits that shot to leave her alone.
- The camera stays on Beck, so we see her reaction. The close-up intensifies her emotion, so we take her side and think this is heartbreaking.
From the dialog, we hear Beck try to keep Hauser from fighting, and Hauser rejecting her appeal. From the images, we see Beck desperatedly trying to save Hauser by being open and demonstrative with her love, while Hauser struggles to hide his reactions, suppress his emotions, and choose to be a fighter, not a lover.