Developing Shots and Their Effect on the Narrative in The Banishment
Fatih ÇalışkanMovie directors find themself face-to-face with a lot of elements of story-telling when they want to turn the story into a movie. Which story-telling elements they chose and use in the narrative determine their directing style. Because shots are the smallest meaningful part of a movie, the decision directors make in their regard will affect the whole movie. Developing shots have the potential to completely affect a director’s style and tools in cases where they have made a decision to use them. Andrey Zvyagintsev can be said to have preferred the use of developing shots in most of the scenes that contain important events affecting the whole story in his movie The Banishment (Изгнание, 2007). This study aims to analyze how developing shots contribute to the narrative cinematographically in The Banishment. Examining the use of developing shots in this film is crucial for illuminating the opportunities this type of shot offers and Zvyagintsev’s directing style and for comprehending the film cinematographically. This study can be said to have the potential to contribute to the literature due to the lack of any other technical and cinematographic analysis of this director’s movies. The process of choosing which scenes to analyze for this study was done by choosing those that have developing shots and that involve big events affecting the whole plot or that seem important for the script. The study has chosen a qualitative research method and conducted content analyses. These analyses show the director’s use of developing shots to create atmosphere and tension, to supply the necessities of staging, to add a creative layer to the narrative, and to develop the narrative and script through the compounding technique. It can be said that Zvyagintsev, who can make these types of shots, has the ability to move the movie beyond main-stream storytelling styles and to have constructed his own language of cinema.
Sürgün Filminde ‘Gelişen Planlar’ ve Anlatıma Etkisi
Fatih ÇalışkanBir sinema yönetmeni, ele aldığı konuyu bir filme dönüştürmek istediğinde kendini sinema sanatının getirdiği birçok anlatım aracıyla baş başa bulur. Bu araçlar içinden hangisini tercih etmiş olduğu ve tutarlı bir şekilde anlatımına dahil ettiği konusu da onun yönetmenlik tarzını oluşturur. Planlar, bir film içinde anlamlı en küçük parçalar olmaları dolayısıyla, bunlar üzerinde alınacak kararlar bütün bir filmi temelden etkileyecektir. Plan türleri içinde yer alan ‘Gelişen Plan’ türü, bir yönetmenin tercih etmesi durumunda, anlatım tarzını ve kullandığı araçları temelden etkileyebilme otansiyeline sahip bir plan türü olma özelliği taşımaktadır. Andrey Zvyagintsev de dilimize “Sürgün” olarak çevrilen The Banishment (Изгнание, 2007) filminde, senaryonun gidişatını etkileyen önemli olayların olduğu sahnelerinin çoğunda ‘Gelişen Planlar’dan faydalanmaktadır demek mümkündür. Bu çalışmanın amacı; ‘Gelişen Planlar’ın sinematografik olarak anlatıma ne tür katkılar sunabileceğinin Sürgün filmi üzerinden incelenmesidir. ‘Gelişen Planlar’ın bu film üzerinden incelenmesi, bu plan türünün olanaklarına ve Zvyagintsev’in yönetmenlik tarzına ışık tutabilmesi, söz konusu filmin sinematografik bağlamda anlaşılabilmesi açısından önem arz etmektedir. Yönetmenin filmleri üzerine yapılmış böyle teknik ve sinematografik bir çalışma yapılmamış olduğundan bu çalışmanın literatüre katkı sağlama potansiyeli taşıdığını söylemek mümkündür. Çalışmada incelenecek sahnelerin seçimi; senaryoda ve hikâyenin gidişatında önemli değişimler yaratan ‘Büyük Olaylar’ın bulunduğu ve senaryoda önemli bir yön değişimi yaratmamasına rağmen dikkate değer bir anlatım sağladığı düşünülen sahnelerdeki ‘Gelişen Planlar’ üzerinden yapılmıştır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemi tercih edilmiş olup içerik analizi yapılmıştır. Analizler sonucunda yönetmenin ‘Gelişen Planlar’ kullanarak bu plan türünü; atmosfer ve duygu durumu yaratmada, sahnelerde gerilim yaratmada ve sahneleme ihtiyaçlarını karşılamada, anlatıma yaratıcı bir katman sağlamada, tekniği senaryoyla bütünleştirerek anlatımı geliştirmenin ana unsuru olarak kullandığı ve bu konuda tutarlılık sergilediği görülmüştür. Bu plan türünü sahnelemesinin merkezine oturtan yönetmenin, standart ve ana akım bir anlatımın çok ötesine geçerek kendine has bir dil kurabildiğini söylemek mümkündür.
This study aims to analyze the developing shots in Andrey Zvyagintsev’s (2007) movie The Banishment and find out how they contribute to the narrative cinematographically. The questions addressed for this main goal, as well as the answers obtained through the analyses are presented below.
Which elements do the developing shots create in the scenes that have been chosen as representations of the movie? The first thing that can be said to be seen as elements that create developing shots involve mounted and supported movement, such as traveling/tracking and boom shots. Some equipment such as a dolly and crane can be seen to have been used to create these movements. Panning and tilting movements, as well as mixed movements where these are used together, are also seen to have been used; non-simple actor movements are also used as an important constituent element in each scene and are seen to play a role in advancing the scene. Although not used as often as other elements, lens movements such as changing focuses are also seen to have been used.
How do these elements in developing shots relate to the script? In Scene A where the interior of the country house is seen for the first time, an allusion is made to the situations that will happen in this house through the sliding movement within the developing shot. This turns the house into a character of the movie. The families that lived in this house, such as Alex’s parents, Mark’s family, and Alex’s family, have the same destiny according to the script. A partnership can also be said to have been established between the script and camera movement, such as the unity of the families’ fates and allowing the audience to associate this negative situation with the house. The use of these elements in the interior scenes of the country house where a significant part of the script takes place alongside the opportunities presented by the interior scenes having been created specifically for the film in the set environment, such as the ability to see the walls through uninterrupted shifts in the transitions between rooms, makes the house an important part of the story through the uninterrupted continuity. This is in opposition to focusing on events or actors with cuts. The similarity of content in the conversations between Kir and Flora in Scene C and between Alex and Vera in
Scene D and the location and elements used in the staging being almost the same interconnect these two scenes and conversations and lead the audience to an understanding of the scriptural abstraction implied by the technique. Lastly, the use of a developing shot based on the example in Scene I visually supports the deep structure of the script, one which should not be rushed but should be connected by allowing time to pass; it makes the audience aware to think like the director aimed to. In light of all these determinations, the bond developing shots establish with the script are seen to significantly improve the presentation of the story.
When comparing the developing shots used in this film with one another in the context of the scenes, do they contain any certain consistency in terms of their emotion, situation, or visualization? They can be said to have some common aspects. Scene A and Scene H respectively show the interior of the country house for the first and last time and present the house as a character of the movie. This makes the audience focus in Scene A, Scene E, Scene H, and Scene I by implying the abstract and understand the meaning in the scene by giving the time with staging. Clearly common usages have also occurred, such as the continuous presentation in real time without disturbing the spatial integrity through Scene B, Scene F, and Scene H. Developing shots can also be said to have been used for common purposes, such as showing without interruption the emotional state and tension of the characters in Scene B and Scene F. When viewing Scene C and Scene D, other common uses are seen to have occurred in terms of space, technique, and presentation of the content. These scenes also show common usage in terms of making a monotonous dialogue scene interesting through actor movements, mounted and supported camera movement, and characters entering and leaving the frame. When viewing the developing shots in Scene G and Scene K, common usages can be said to have occurred in terms of how characters’ facial expressions are presented uninterruptedly at the points where they are important regarding real time and movement integrity.
