[0:00] [Music]
[0:09] [Music]
[0:25] [Music]
[0:29] hi
[0:29] my name is phil mento and this is phil
[0:32] mento
[0:33] if you've been following the film side
[0:34] of youtube for a while you've probably
[0:36] heard the phrase
[0:37] every frame a painting if not in essence
[0:40] this phrase could be seen to mean that
[0:42] whenever you pause a movie that
[0:44] paused frame should be visually
[0:46] impressive enough to be hung up on a
[0:48] wall
[0:48] as a painting obviously in reality the
[0:51] phrase is exaggeration and
[0:53] unreal not every frame of a movie ever
[0:55] is or should be worthy of being a
[0:57] painting
[0:58] because of basic filmmaking things like
[1:00] motion blur but still on a more of a
[1:01] shot level
[1:02] it is an interesting topic how can a
[1:04] movie actually make it so that
[1:06] many if not all of its shots are
[1:08] visually impressive enough to be
[1:10] paintings and what better way to study
[1:12] this topic further than with 2015's
[1:15] macbeth if it so happens that you've
[1:17] never seen 2015's macbeth
[1:19] i don't blame you it's not really a
[1:21] thrilling film that would have much to
[1:23] offer narratively
[1:24] most of it is just people monologuing
[1:26] about their inner feelings which at
[1:28] least to me
[1:29] is a big big no-no and it doesn't help
[1:31] that to a more average modern audience
[1:34] most of that monologuing sounds like
[1:36] pure nonsense
[1:37] first desire ms kinsman and his subject
[1:40] strong
[1:40] both against the deed the earth earth
[1:42] bubbles as the water has and these are
[1:44] of them
[1:45] come to my woman's breasts and take my
[1:47] milk for all
[1:49] you murdering ministers confusion i hath
[1:54] made his masterpiece most sacrilegious
[1:57] mother have broke
[1:58] open the lord's anointed temple and
[2:00] stole vents
[2:02] the life of the building what
[2:06] uh the king has been murdered
[2:09] well why did you just say that
[2:12] despite all the shakespeare stuff this
[2:14] movie still is a remarkable cinematic
[2:17] experience
[2:18] because of two reasons the first reason
[2:20] is the simply
[2:21] incredible music the second reason and
[2:23] the reason we will be focusing on today
[2:26] is the visual side to put it shortly
[2:28] 2015's macbeth is without a doubt
[2:30] one of the most visually striking and
[2:33] impressive films
[2:34] ever made if any movie truly is worthy
[2:37] of the phrase every frame a painting
[2:39] there's a good chance that it's
[2:40] this one and that's why we are here
[2:42] today to find out
[2:43] why that is of course there are
[2:45] countless different visual factors at
[2:47] play in macbeth
[2:48] some of them are more common factors
[2:50] we've examined before like the dynamic
[2:52] use of slow motion
[2:53] other factors are directly tied to the
[2:55] story like the breathtaking landscape
[2:57] and the epic war battles
[2:59] sadly not every movie can be filmed in
[3:01] scotland not every movie has huge crowds
[3:03] of people it can use
[3:05] to me however there are just three core
[3:08] visual factors behind macbeth that made
[3:10] this movie the visual masterpiece that
[3:12] it is
[3:13] three universally compatible visual
[3:15] filmmaking factors that
[3:17] can and should be used by every film
[3:19] regardless of whether it's a massive
[3:21] blockbuster or a tiny indie project
[3:24] and so let's take a closer look at
[3:26] 2015's macbeth and try to find out what
[3:29] those three key visual factors are let's
[3:31] try to find out what you can actually do
[3:34] to make your movie worthy of the phrase
[3:36] every frame
[3:37] a painting
[3:44] the very first thing you will probably
[3:46] notice when watching through macbeth
[3:48] is the color whether a scene takes place
[3:50] outside or inside
[3:51] the movie always retains a consistent
[3:54] ability of featuring
[3:56] multiple different shades of color
[3:58] especially in its light
[4:00] we have white we have blue we have
[4:02] yellow red
[4:03] gray green black take a color wheel and
[4:05] pick any of the slices
[4:06] odds are you will find that color in the
[4:09] movie if not as light then
[4:10] at least as an object or a piece of
[4:13] clothing what this constant use of
[4:14] various colors does
[4:16] it not only gives the movie a visually
[4:18] striking appearance
[4:19] it also separates all the scenes from
[4:22] each other and keeps
[4:23] everything fresh and what makes the
[4:25] whole thing even more impressive
[4:26] is the way the movie manages to
[4:28] incorporate color into the theme
[4:30] and purpose of a scene if we have a
[4:32] scene where a big bunch of nameless
[4:34] scottish and irish soldiers are killing
[4:36] each other
[4:37] then everything is depressingly gray if
[4:39] we have a scene of two sworn enemies
[4:41] finally
[4:42] clashing together in one last battle to
[4:44] the death the world is red
[4:46] out of anger if we have a small child in
[4:48] a forest being hunted by murderers
[4:50] the forest has a scary murky look
[4:53] however
[4:54] there is one big downside to using
[4:56] strong heavy colors
[4:57] and that's the fact that those strong
[4:59] heavy colors can become repulsive for
[5:01] the audience to watch
[5:03] take the recent han solo movie for
[5:04] example while this film does have some
[5:06] impressive colorful cinematography
[5:08] there are many scenes and sequences
[5:10] where the color simply put
[5:12] becomes too heavy in some scenes the
[5:15] screen is entirely blue
[5:17] in other scenes it's entirely brown to
[5:19] the point where it all becomes
[5:20] tiring and unpleasant for the human eye
[5:24] a big criticism many moviegoers had
[5:26] against solo was that it just felt too
[5:28] boring and although there can be many
[5:30] reasons for this i would argue that one
[5:32] of the more notable reasons
[5:34] is the color but even though macbeth
[5:36] uses very strong colors just like solo
[5:39] does
[5:39] it never suffers from the same problem
[5:41] and the reason why
[5:42] is something that every movie needs to
[5:44] keep in mind when using color
[5:46] you cannot pick just one color and put
[5:48] it on screen and be done with it
[5:50] you always have to contrast that color
[5:53] against
[5:53] another color take a look at these two
[5:55] shots from macbeth and solo
[5:57] in essence they are very similar both
[5:59] use very heavy strong colors
[6:01] both have their own narrative reasons
[6:03] for doing so yet for some reason
[6:05] it only works in macbeth why do you
[6:07] think that is
[6:08] what's the difference between these two
[6:09] shots well it's the factor of
[6:12] contrast in solo the screen uses blue
[6:15] and that's it in macbeth the screen uses
[6:18] red
[6:18] but also contrasts that red against
[6:21] yellow
[6:21] and white and that right there is the
[6:24] difference between
[6:25] unpleasant and impressive if you want to
[6:28] make your shot look like a painting
[6:30] then build it out of color it doesn't
[6:32] have to be colorful
[6:33] but it should have a color in form of
[6:36] light or
[6:36] character or nature or object or
[6:39] whatever and in order to keep the shell
[6:40] from becoming unpleasant to the eye
[6:42] make sure to contrast that color against
[6:45] another
[6:46] if the sky is pale then maybe wrap your
[6:48] character in black
[6:49] if the inside of a house is candlelit
[6:51] yellow then maybe mix
[6:53] in blue light of nature if the knight is
[6:55] dark then maybe light it up with flames
[6:58] anything to keep the frame refreshingly
[7:01] colored
[7:08] the second key visual strength of
[7:09] macbeth comes from its ability to
[7:11] utilize
[7:12] motion to bring its imagery to life even
[7:15] if we weren't talking about film but
[7:17] instead just still images
[7:18] i would still argue that motion and
[7:20] movement are crucial
[7:22] in creating a rich compelling frame that
[7:25] feels alive the frame might not be
[7:27] moving but it still requires
[7:29] motion because of what motion means
[7:31] motion
[7:32] implies action action implies intent
[7:35] and intent implies that things are
[7:38] happening
[7:39] and no matter what form of art we are
[7:40] talking about moving pictures or
[7:42] unmoving paintings those forms of art
[7:45] will
[7:45] always be more interesting to look at
[7:47] when things are happening
[7:49] a good example of this is tom cruise who
[7:51] has arguably become the greatest
[7:53] hollywood action movie star of
[7:55] all time maybe you don't agree maybe you
[7:57] don't like tom cruise that's fine but
[7:59] regardless of any personal opinions the
[8:01] fact
[8:02] is that especially as ethan hunt in
[8:04] mission impossible
[8:05] tom cruise is always very intriguing to
[8:08] watch
[8:09] and that's because he is the physical
[8:11] manifestation of
[8:12] intent and action and motion he's always
[8:14] running he's always
[8:16] jumping he's always driving motorcycles
[8:18] and hanging from planes and helicopters
[8:20] and as a result his movies are filled
[8:22] with visuals that hold
[8:24] massive interest
[8:25] [Music]
[8:35] [Music]
[8:47] even without factors like action and
[8:50] intent
[8:50] motion just by itself is a great way to
[8:53] create interest in a frame
[8:54] which can be done with moving characters
[8:57] and to be honest that's not really any
[8:59] astonishing secret information creating
[9:01] motion through characters
[9:02] that's pretty obvious that's done by
[9:04] pretty much every movie ever the real
[9:06] dilemma is
[9:07] how do you create motion when your
[9:09] characters aren't actually
[9:11] moving in macbeth there's a big bunch of
[9:13] slower scenes where characters are just
[9:15] standing still
[9:16] talking or looking or whatever yet
[9:18] despite this
[9:19] the movie still somehow manages to
[9:22] incorporate
[9:22] more movement and motion than most big
[9:25] action heavy blockbusters
[9:27] and the way it accomplishes this is what
[9:29] visually sets it apart
[9:30] from nearly all other movies since
[9:33] macbeth cannot make its characters move
[9:35] around the environment
[9:36] it makes the environment move around the
[9:39] characters
[9:39] and the effect quite honestly is
[9:42] astounding
[9:42] but don't take my word for it see for
[9:44] yourself let's look at a couple
[9:46] different shots of people standing still
[9:48] and you tell me which you think is
[9:50] visually more intriguing and powerful
[9:53] you make me strange
[9:59] even to the disposition that i owe
[10:02] being have no woman born
[10:10] yet i will try the last
[10:13] [Music]
[10:14] even though this climactic scene is
[10:16] mostly just two people standing in place
[10:18] and talking
[10:19] it feels so full of power and high
[10:21] stakes
[10:22] because smoke and dust is racing past
[10:24] them a thousand miles an hour
[10:26] it might sound like a small thing but it
[10:28] does make this dialogue moment
[10:30] more powerful than when iron man tosses
[10:32] hulk down into a skyscraper
[10:34] and the genius of macbeth is that
[10:36] there's environmental motion much like
[10:39] this
[10:39] in pretty much every shot sometimes in a
[10:42] smaller scale
[10:43] sometimes in a bigger scale but the odds
[10:45] are that it's there
[10:46] in fact the other scene i just showed
[10:48] you as an example that's one of the rare
[10:50] few moments where there's no
[10:52] environmental motion
[10:53] at all most other times the filmmakers
[10:56] have always
[10:57] thought of something wind candles smoke
[11:00] rain waves fire fog flickering light
[11:04] dogs there's always something as there
[11:07] clearly
[11:08] should be and so if you want to make
[11:10] your visuals powerful
[11:11] and interesting and energetic you should
[11:14] always add in some form of
[11:16] motion if not motion of character then
[11:18] motion
[11:19] of the environment or why not both
[11:28] the third and final core factor that
[11:30] makes macbeth the visual masterpiece
[11:32] that it is
[11:33] is the way it utilizes foreground and
[11:36] background
[11:36] now there's a couple different ways of
[11:38] using foreground and background
[11:40] in film there's a more common purely
[11:42] aesthetic way where you for example
[11:43] shoot something in the foreground and
[11:45] then use the background to make that
[11:47] shot
[11:47] visually cooler you can take a dialogue
[11:49] scene and shoot it against a gorgeous
[11:51] backdrop of scottish mountain tops or
[11:53] then you can even couple this method
[11:55] with the two earlier visual techniques
[11:57] we talked about
[11:57] you can have a red foreground and
[11:59] contrast that against a yellow
[12:01] background you can have two characters
[12:03] talking in the background and create
[12:05] motion by having a flickering campfire
[12:08] in the foreground
[12:09] all good proper uses of foreground and
[12:11] background but the real framing method
[12:13] that separates good visual movies from
[12:15] visual masterpieces
[12:17] is when you not only use the background
[12:18] to make your foreground shot look cooler
[12:21] but when you also use the background to
[12:23] boost the emotional
[12:24] impact that you want your foreground to
[12:27] evoke
[12:27] as an example let's look at the 1995
[12:30] movie 7 directed by david fincher who
[12:32] many people consider
[12:34] as one of the most talented visual
[12:35] directors today there's a lot of great
[12:37] frames and shots in seven to choose from
[12:40] but for me
[12:40] the greatest of them all comes at the
[12:42] very end after mills has killed
[12:45] john doe
[12:57] [Music]
[12:58] looking at the framing of the shot the
[13:00] main driving visual force is the
[13:02] foreground the purpose of which is to
[13:04] evoke the emotion of defeat
[13:06] and disappointment mills knows he's
[13:08] screwed up he knows
[13:09] john doe won he knows this whole thing
[13:12] just ended
[13:13] in defeat and just by itself it would be
[13:15] a good shot
[13:16] but because fincher is fincher good is
[13:18] not enough this needs to be
[13:20] an amazing shot so then how can you make
[13:22] this into an amazing shot
[13:24] by boosting the emotional impact of the
[13:27] foreground
[13:28] with the background now instead of it
[13:30] being just meals knowing that they lost
[13:32] we also have somerset quietly hanging
[13:34] his head which evokes that exact same
[13:37] emotion of defeat and disappointment
[13:40] and just like that the emotional impact
[13:42] of the shot
[13:43] is multiplied a good shot is now
[13:46] an amazing shot even though macbeth
[13:48] isn't directed by a well-known hollywood
[13:50] superstar
[13:51] it still easily stands up to the work of
[13:54] masters like fincher
[13:55] there are scenes in macbeth where the
[13:57] background for example is used just to
[13:59] make the foreground look cooler like
[14:01] there are in every movie but in addition
[14:02] to that
[14:03] there are also multiple shots where the
[14:05] background is used to boost
[14:07] the emotional impact that the foreground
[14:10] is meant to evoke
[14:11] like this one
[14:17] [Music]
[14:23] again the main driving force of this
[14:25] shot is the foreground
[14:26] well technically i guess it's the middle
[14:28] ground but let's just keep it simple the
[14:30] purpose of the foreground
[14:31] is from macbeth to evoke the emotion of
[14:33] hopelessness
[14:34] and misery because of the tragic nature
[14:37] of this chaotic battle he's in you could
[14:39] argue that macbeth is just distracted by
[14:41] the witches
[14:42] but for me this whole sequence above all
[14:44] else revolves around the tragedy of
[14:47] fellow men
[14:48] killing each other and because michael
[14:49] fassbender does do a great job here
[14:51] it would be a good shot but how do you
[14:53] make it an amazing shot
[14:55] by actually simultaneously showing the
[14:58] chaos
[14:58] and the death happening in the
[15:00] background this choice might seem
[15:02] obvious now
[15:03] but i don't think that's true a much
[15:05] more common and safer way would have
[15:07] been to for example first shoot a
[15:08] close-up of macbeth looking at the chaos
[15:11] and only
[15:12] then actually cutting to the chaos but
[15:14] because those two shots are combined
[15:16] into one by making proper use of
[15:18] foreground and background
[15:19] a good shot is now an amazing shot and
[15:22] at least to me
[15:23] this shot is even more visually
[15:25] impactful than the one in 7 because it
[15:27] also mixes in contrasted color
[15:29] as well as motion in form of character
[15:32] and environment
[15:33] once again you don't need huge battles
[15:36] or fancy exteriors to make use of
[15:38] foreground and background
[15:39] look at this shot for example the
[15:41] foreground here is meant to convey the
[15:43] information that the wife of macbeth is
[15:45] dead
[15:45] and that at this point he doesn't really
[15:48] care focus on the background
[15:49] notice how the dogs don't pay any
[15:51] attention notice how the fire keeps on
[15:54] flickering like normal
[15:55] the maid on the bed is sad and crying
[15:57] but the camera
[15:58] intentionally pushes her face out of
[16:01] frame
[16:01] and it's all meant to boost the
[16:03] emotional impact of the fact that the
[16:05] wife of macbeth is dead
[16:07] and that he does not really care look at
[16:09] this shot we have macbeth in the
[16:11] foreground
[16:12] and then nothing in the background but
[16:14] emptiness and again
[16:15] that emptiness is there for a reason to
[16:17] visually hammer in the fact that macbeth
[16:20] is now completely alone
[16:22] and that he has nobody in his life
[16:24] anymore in other words
[16:25] sometimes all you need to improve your
[16:28] foreground driven shots
[16:29] is to add in a simple background of
[16:32] emptiness
[16:33] and so here we are fellas and filarets
[16:35] if you want to make your movie visually
[16:37] incredible like macbeth
[16:39] there are three key things to keep in
[16:41] mind build your shots
[16:43] on color and don't forget to contrast
[16:45] that color against some other color
[16:47] fill your shots with motion in form of
[16:49] character
[16:50] or environment or both and lastly
[16:52] whatever emotions or
[16:54] information your shots are meant to
[16:55] convey be sure to use the foreground and
[16:58] the background together
[16:59] to boost its overall impact that's how
[17:02] you can begin to make a visual
[17:04] masterpiece like macbeth
[17:06] that's how you can begin to make a film
[17:08] that's worthy of the phrase
[17:10] every frame a painting
[17:21] [Applause]
[17:22] [Music]
[17:25] [Applause]
[17:28] you