Stand by Me: Shot Composition & Chlois

by: Chiriru
written:  August 2005

ANYWAY… Getting 100 extras and 25 cars and a big bonfire and a complex crane move and two actors plus one mysterious character to line up takes time. I thought it would take an hour and a half to shoot, but it took 2 and a half hours to get it in the can...

I don’t know how many people have been on film sets… But if you are ever are, the general impression is that nothing is happening. Nothing seems to be happening because it takes a LOOOONG time to do all the things necessary to get every single little shot done. Every shot needs to be rehearsed. And then the camera has to get in place and focus marks need to be taken. And the it has to be lit. And then hair and makeup need to do touch-ups, etc., etc.!

-- Greg Beeman
former Smallville director & Heroes co-Producer
on setting up shots & directing

Now, I'm not a film guru - not like Tigress35 but this is something I noticed after I was working on screen caps for Chloe and Clark (and Chlark) for one of my sites after my film class last year.  In it we talked about a few kinds of shots angles, basic intro to film stuff.  So a few set ups first mostly in relation to Clark, because as Beeman says, the show revolves from Clark's perspective (which means a post on the girl's wardrobes meanings in the near future as well).

Basic Shot Definitions & the Smallville Ships that Use Them

The first shot I'm talking about is the full shot - it's from your feet to your head; it's one variation of a long shot.  Long shots are supposed to mimic theatre, being the distance between the audience and the stage.  Lex and specifically shots in the manor and LuthorCorp are often shot in full or long shots, some time looking up at him, often with Lex (or sometimes Lionel) in the dominant.  In fact, the dominate (the shot most often used with the Luthors) is used because it demands the visual attention of the viewer; in a Lex scene the dominate often is shown to be Lex with a cut back to Clark, then back to Lex in dominant - I suspect it's a way to show the Luthor's power/control status. A specific example, like the end of Whisper or the dream in Slumber or the CoCK in Covenant - we see them moving, often full body, or knees up moving around the frame for a good majority of the the scene. (example of Chlex in Commencement on the left.)

 

The second of course is the close up; it's normally of the head an Almiles likes to joke that SV is known for their close ups.  The close up, is used often to be dramatic, intimate but it's also often called the "talking head" shot.  Because the close up magnifies objects, it's used to "elevate the importance of things," according to Giannetti.  Of course Lana and Clana seem to have this as a majority of their shots - in fact I'd say it's the primary shot of the couple, that of individual headshots. Vortex and Phoenix's end Clana scenes work well for that, often after establishing where they are and then cutting close ups of each others face as they talk, back and forth. (examples of Clana in Arrival on the right.)

The medium shot is normally from the knees or waist up typically; it includes the "over the shoulder" shot and the "two-shot," both of which I'm going to talk about in this post because, well, Chlark is almost entirely shot in two-shot with over the shoulder cuts which is interesting on a few levels because the medium shot is the "shot of the couple".  It's shown in split focus; rather than the long shots (such as Clex) where you have a dominate figure, or a close up where all that is in frame is the dominate image, it shows two people.  This shot shows equality - "two people sharing the same intimate space" as Gianetti puts it; it's mostly used in stories about love (dramatic or comedic) and friendship (buddy films.)  (Chlark, Pilot on the left)

The closer-up (and angled version of) the two-shot is the "over the shoulder" which is a close up coming up from behind the person being talked too.  Nearly EVERY Chlark head-shot is done over the shoulder, with a few notable exceptions being when they are fighting (Exodus, Crush, Lineage), one is in the hospital (Kinetic, Rush, Fever) or they are otherwise not working on the same wavelength.  Also the over-the-shoulder is often used to show the intimacy between characters; you are looking "through" their view point to the greatest degree next to shots meant to be directly a POV shot. (Chloe, Clark's shoulder, Hothead on the left)

Which brings me to my next point, or rather several of them now that we've got basic shots recognized with each couple - of course at times they kind of switch around, it's not absolute. My focus here is the continual, reoccurring, purposeful imagery now that we've got the basic shot types in mind and we know that Beeman takes days to block the scenes (on the S3 special he notes about seven days pre-shooting.) and that Tom Welling is obsessed with getting the blocking for a shot right (on the S4 Spell commentary according to Allison Mack and the S2 Red Commentary according to Beeman and Welling himself.)

Clark, Chloe, and Two-Shot

The first type of blocking/shot we're looking at  is of Chloe and Clark walking/sitting/standing traditionally side-by-side; this is done some times in two-shot where it's just them, it's also done in three-shot where there are three people walking.  Almost always one of them is in the middle during one of these three-shots; sometimes a two-shot will become a three-shot when another character comes up, almost always and (given the blocking schedule) purposefully between them - often with them forming the same couple stance behind that person moments later. Occasionally it's someone who walks with them - but not instep with them.

Two-Shot

 

Three-Shot

Chloe & Clark Parallelism within Two-Shot

Furthermore, in the two-shot (occasionally in the three-shot) we have parallelism going on; it's a design principal uses to show unity, and to emphasize the similarity between the people in the shot.  Parallelism occurs when the actors are blocked to be mirror images of each other in actions; this can be directly (walking instep together) or mirrored across an axis (both sit across from each other with their gestures mirroring one another). Giannetti points out that parallelism isn't often found naturally, and that it's often used to link characters romantically.

 

The Chlark Two-Shot & the Wedding Stance

Additionally there is another extremely powerful blocking of Chloe and Clark standing/turning to face each other as a couple would do at the front of a church while marriage; interestingly this doesn't happen merely in shippy moments but also during fights, snooping, other interactions.  What is particularly interesting, to me, with the reoccurrence of this type of blocking is that it is a known powerful subliminal romantic set up.  It also occurs with people around them, often though they, as the couple, is moved into the dominate of the shot; the other characters and sets fading against them.  And while Smallville has a lot of people face each other to talk, it is rare that any other grouping is shot in two-shot while this happens (thus not giving the audience that subliminal wedding stance on the screen).

Two-Shot:

Three-Shot:

Additionally almost every kiss, or almost kiss, happens at this angle or a variation of this angle:

Conclusions

So what this now leads me to ask is why?  Why this type of imagery?  Pete and Clark weren't shot in two-shot to this degree so it makes me rule out 'buddy film' technique.  The supposed "love interest" rarely has the two-shot - which remember, is supposed to be the most romantic set up.

In fact the only other people on that show to continually, regularly (in fact, far above and beyond Chloe and Clark) shot in two-shot are Jonathan & Martha Kent; on occasion, Clark with one or both of his parents in two-shot but not in the 'wedding stance' shot.  Why give the pairing that is seemingly never to happen the subtextual romantic shots - and why purposefully?   I would like to say there is a meaning behind it; I can't be sure, however the sheer amount makes me wonder.

 

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