micro elements (scenes)

Question 1

OPENING FIGHT SEQUENCE

cinematography

Answer 1

• shoots from far away
• loads of different angles which obscures the violence
• removes audience from the violence as we are transported to different viewpoints

Question 2

OPENING FIGHT SEQUENCE

editing

Answer 2

• slow motion of rain, kicks, punches and movement
• slow motion makes the scene more beautiful
• makes the fighting seem more like dancing

Question 3

OPENING FIGHT SEQUENCE

mise en scene

Answer 3

• violence is obscured through rain as Kar-Wai likes to film through things
• objects get damaged instead of people which doesn’t glorify violence, and in fact we don’t see anyone die throughout the film

Question 4

OPENING FIGHT SEQUENCE

sound

Answer 4

• lots of powerful drums
• fast paced music
• dynamic music adds excitement

Question 5

GONG YUTIAN AND MA SAN SCENE

cinematography

Answer 5

close up and focuses on their faces which makes it more emotional as we have nothing else to focus on

Question 6

GONG YUTIAN AND MA SAN SCENE

framing

Answer 6

• people are not centred
• eyes looking off screen yet we don’t get the space of what Gong Yutian is looking into
• shot composition makes us uncomfortable just like the conversation
• awkward like the audience is intruding on an embarrassing moment
• communicates the difficulty between real life relationships

Question 7

HOW THE SCENES ARE SHOT

Gong Er

Answer 7

when Gong Er arrives, a lot of the scenes are from high angles

Question 8

HOW THE SCENES ARE SHOT

focus and lighting

Answer 8

scenes often shot with a shallow focus and lowkey lighting

Question 9

HOW THE SCENES ARE SHOT

position of characters

Answer 9

• actors often put in different ends of the frame
• this can disconnect characters from each other which is one of the big themes of Kar-Wai’s work: disconnection between humans, some people don’t quite connect

Question 10

HOW THE SCENES ARE SHOT

establishing shots

Answer 10

• throughout the film we never see an establishing shot of Foshan and don’t know what it looks like
• is is also obscured through rain
• we don’t see the actual place because Kar-Wai’s focus is on people/faces/expression
• this is opposite to D9 where there is an opposite point of rich vs poor and setting is as important as the characters themselves

Question 11

GONG ER AND GONG YUTIAN SCENE

framing

Answer 11

• breaks all the rules as Gong Yutian is on the far left of the screen and his outfit blends into the dead space
• gives a sense of uncomfortableness as its unusual and used to be unacceptable in film schools
• works because of the painful relationships in the film

Question 12

GONG ER AND GONG YUTIAN SCENE

editing

Answer 12

• uses constructive editing
• filmed very tightly through close ups
• no establishing shots and they are never seen in the same shot
• because of this we cant see where the actors are in relation to each other. this means the brain has to make up a setting/environment for the characters to be in
• never together in the same shot but our brain immediately assumes and makes the connection that they are in the same room whilst talking, when in reality the actors could’ve been in entirely different countries