From the soon to be released MATT AND KHYM

Those of you who are familiar with the Comstock style know that we always interview people in pairs. When we do this, we use two cameras. The first camera (a-cam for short) frames both of the interviewees, and the second (b-cam) is a close-up that stays with whomever is talking. What I like about this is that it lets me do more interesting things with the interview than if we just had one camera that panned back and forth and zoomed in and out.

For example, if we’re on the close-up of Ms. Interviewee, and she says something that makes Mr. Interviewee laugh and nod his head, we can cut to the wider camera angle (the two-shot) and the effect is sort of like cutting to the reaction shot in a film that’s shot narrative style. We see the action (close up of Ms. telling us a cute but embarrassing secret), then we see the reaction (two-shot with Mr. laughing and nodding in response to the revelation).

If it’s done right, the audience shouldn’t even be aware that we’ve switched from the close-up to the two-shot, and the fact that we don’t notice good editing is one of the things that’s utterly magically about film. The camera’s point-of-view moves fluidly through time and space in a way that our own POV never does, yet somehow, when it’s done right, if feels more natural and normal, and is easier to watch than a camera that just sits in one place and stares endlessly at the action.

I don’t make any claims to be a master at this particular part of film-craft (or any other for that matter). But when it’s working right I do enjoy it, and the last few days I’ve been enjoying deciding between the close-up and the two-shot on Matt and Khym’s interview very much. Their interview is chock-a-block with opportunities to move from one shot to the other and back again in a way that helps move the story along and helps to reveal more about Matt and Khym’s relationship.

I also noticed something about Matt and Khym’s interview. I love faces, and usually I’m always looking to find a way to the close-up. But Matt and Khym spend so much time relating to one another that this interview is mostly the two-shot, with the single person close-ups used mostly as color or grace notes. Here and their either Matt or Khym has a longer passage in close up, but time and time again I’ve found that if I stay on a close-up the way I usually would, I miss too much of the relationship. There’s just too much going on between them to stay with the longer close-ups in the way I usually favor. It’s exciting to see the way a couple relates to each other have such a strong effect on the way I cut their interview!

Figuring my way through things like this is one of the things I really like what about what I do. In it’s own way it’s as exciting as getting to see beautiful women take their close off and have sex. While there’s a certain sameness to these little movies, within that sameness there a huge opportunity to enjoy what makes each of these couples unique. They look different, they express themselves differently, they make love differently. That’s what makes this work so rewarding, and that’s what makes me feel so lucky I get to do it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Filmcraft, Matt and Khym, behind the scenes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.