How to Watch a Movie - Carter Vance
In Stanley Kubrick's movies, he uses one point perspective to tell a story. From a technical viewpoint, it can be achieved by placing the camera from the horizonal line and vanishing point. This perspective draws the viewer's eye to the center of the screen. He uses all the lines to point to this particular object or person on the screen to create drama and emphasis for his viewers. The the short video, all the clips showed a snip of a scene where a person was centered in the hallway or moving down the middle of the screen. Without words, by watching each clip, the viewer can detect emotions such as danger, excitement or loss. Kubrick used one point perspective in The Shining where in a scene a child is seen riding a tricycle through a hallway and the focal point approach builds tension and makes the viewer take notice that something bad is about to happen.
Interestingly, Kubrick did not invent the concept of one point perspective. The use of one point perspective can date back as far as Leonardo da Vinci in his painting of the last supper. In this picture, the horizonal line and vanishing point all converge on Jesus Christ. da Vinci focused his work on the key character by making Jesus Christ appear larger and is centered so the eye automatically is drawn to Him.
The human eye is naturally focused on symmetry and the use of one point perspective is about symmetry and being focused on the center of the screen. Before films, Kubrick used one point perspective in his photography for Look Magazine. He has famous photo called Chicago - City of extremes that captures the busy nature of the City at night without any words.
As a viewer, do you find yourself focusing on one aspect of a screen that than whole picture which is the basis for Kubrick's approach? Curiously, if you were think about the other elements in the movie such as sound, motion, angle, which as a viewer has the greatest impact? When researching this topic, the key take away is to watch a film more than once and sometimes consider watching it on mute to see if it changes your perspective. Would you as a viewer do this?
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