Video Essays: 'Every Frame a Painting'

In this popular YouTube series Tony Zhou analyses the craft of a number of directors and films. In his educational video essays he covers a variety of topics, such as Spielberg's use of long takes, David Fincher's repeated techniques and Scorsese's use of silence. As a freelance editor himself, Zhou's videos often have a particular focus on how some scenes are edited to create meaning, giving insight to the level of thought contained in every choice of shot. Below I have summarized the main points from his best videos:

In this video Zhou analyses the first meeting between the two main characters in 'The Silence of the Lambs' (Jonathan Demme, 1991). He identifies both characters as 'wanting something' from the other, and goes into a shot-by-shot analysis to determine who 'wins' the shifting power struggle in the scene.

• Both characters looking directly into the lens - examining each other for the first time.
• Similar framing shows both characters as equals, even though Lecter is in jail.
• As he gains the power, shift to shot looking down on her and up at him.
• She looks slightly off-camera but he looks into the lens - we're 'inside her head'. Reinforced by camera movements looking around the room as she does.
• Change to a 'standoffish angle' of Lecter whenever she's obvious about her intents.
• Shift to Lecter's POV to show his genuine curiosity.
• CU of survey establishes its importance.
• As Lecter gains power, dolly moves to frame him normally. Clarice framed off-center, she's been knocked 'off-balance'.
• Scene ends with first two-shot containing both characters - establishes the beginning of their relationship in the film.

Here Tony explores director David Fincher's signature techniques, and interestingly the devices he chooses not to use in his films.

• Handheld - uses it very rarely, usually once or twice per film. 
• Final scene of 'Seven' (David Fincher, 1995) - shaky camera for the two cops, tripod for John Doe. Conveys who is and isn't in control during the scene.
• Human-operated camera - no shaky camera or 'mistakes' in shots. Camera is 'omniscient', and has no personality to it. 
• Close-ups - uses them sparingly, because it tells the audience 'look at this, its important'.
• No unmotivated camera moves - tries to frame in simple proscenium, 'this is what is happening'.

Zhou then breaks down a simple scene in 'Seven' of three characters talking, showing how despite these limitations he manages to create relationships clearly and effectively.

• Shot/Reverse shot sequence between Somerset and the Chief
• Difference in frame size between Somerset and Chief shows topic is more important to Somerset. 
• Change to a different, profile angle of the two characters to show how Mills is trying to get into the conversation.
• Eye-line not matching between Mills and Somerset, shows that he's being ignored.
• CU of Chief used when he dismisses Mills, emphatic and important. 

Fincher has become more subtle throughout his career also, making use of space in the frame - 'cutting to an empty chair, or a space for an absent husband'.

Scorsese is well-known for his use of music in his films, but in this video Zhou highlights his most powerful uses of silence.

• 'Raging Bull' (Martin Scorsese, 1980) - Pulled all the SFX out the track at the end of the fight, creating a numbing effect that links the audience with the main character.
• 'Goodfellas' (Martin Scorsese, 1990) - "How the fuck am I funny?" scene. Silence used to create a central dramatic beat before a release of tension.
• In Scorsese's filmography, silence is used to precede an important character choice - 'such as choosing not to fight or choosing whether to take the money'
• The sound design is used to create an emotional structure for the film - each fight in 'Raging Bull' is preceded by a quiet domestic moment, allowing harsh cuts into the fight.

He also discusses the state of silence in modern films, the use of which is becoming more rare. A comparison is drawn between death scenes in the original 'Superman' (Richard Donner, 1978) and last year's reboot 'Man of Steel' (Zack Snyder, 2013). Whereas in the original Superman we are allowed to watch the build up and explosive release of emotion in its entirety without sound, the reboot continues music throughout the scene - detracting from its potential impact. 

In a similar vein to his video on Edgar Wright's use of visual comedy, this video essay looks at how Jackie Chan creates action and comedy in his films. In an interview clip Chan describes the most important part as being the editing - 'most of the directors don't know how to edit.' 

As Zhou describes, modern action films have adopted the 'Bourne' visual style of shaky cameras, motion blur and audience confusion to add intensity to fight sequences. In contrast, the success of such sequences in the work of Jackie Chan has come from being able to see everything that happens, and sticking to the rhythm of the scene. Whereas most action films cut on the impact of a hit to increase its impact, Chan gives the audience time to watch it happen, arguably to a greater effect. 

Also covered in the video is the choice of shots used. Zhou explains the idea of including both action and reaction in the same shot, and how cutting between them individually works less successfully. Comparing similar scenes in 'Rush Hour 3' (Brett Ratner, 2007) and 'Police Story 2' (Jackie Chan, 1988), we can see that increasing the number of cuts actually detracts from the action and danger in the scene, much to the opposite of the intended effect.