How One Movie Achieved Visual Perfection | Film Perfection

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[00:29] hi

[00:29] my name is phil mento and this is phil

[00:32] mento

[00:33] if you've been following the film side

[00:34] of youtube for a while you've probably

[00:36] heard the phrase

[00:37] every frame a painting if not in essence

[00:40] this phrase could be seen to mean that

[00:42] whenever you pause a movie that

[00:44] paused frame should be visually

[00:46] impressive enough to be hung up on a

[00:48] wall

[00:48] as a painting obviously in reality the

[00:51] phrase is exaggeration and

[00:53] unreal not every frame of a movie ever

[00:55] is or should be worthy of being a

[00:57] painting

[00:58] because of basic filmmaking things like

[01:00] motion blur but still on a more of a

[01:01] shot level

[01:02] it is an interesting topic how can a

[01:04] movie actually make it so that

[01:06] many if not all of its shots are

[01:08] visually impressive enough to be

[01:10] paintings and what better way to study

[01:12] this topic further than with 2015's

[01:15] macbeth if it so happens that you've

[01:17] never seen 2015's macbeth

[01:19] i don't blame you it's not really a

[01:21] thrilling film that would have much to

[01:23] offer narratively

[01:24] most of it is just people monologuing

[01:26] about their inner feelings which at

[01:28] least to me

[01:29] is a big big no-no and it doesn't help

[01:31] that to a more average modern audience

[01:34] most of that monologuing sounds like

[01:36] pure nonsense

[01:37] first desire ms kinsman and his subject

[01:40] strong

[01:40] both against the deed the earth earth

[01:42] bubbles as the water has and these are

[01:44] of them

[01:45] come to my woman's breasts and take my

[01:47] milk for all

[01:49] you murdering ministers confusion i hath

[01:54] made his masterpiece most sacrilegious

[01:57] mother have broke

[01:58] open the lord's anointed temple and

[02:00] stole vents

[02:02] the life of the building what

[02:06] uh the king has been murdered

[02:09] well why did you just say that

[02:12] despite all the shakespeare stuff this

[02:14] movie still is a remarkable cinematic

[02:17] experience

[02:18] because of two reasons the first reason

[02:20] is the simply

[02:21] incredible music the second reason and

[02:23] the reason we will be focusing on today

[02:26] is the visual side to put it shortly

[02:28] 2015's macbeth is without a doubt

[02:30] one of the most visually striking and

[02:33] impressive films

[02:34] ever made if any movie truly is worthy

[02:37] of the phrase every frame a painting

[02:39] there's a good chance that it's

[02:40] this one and that's why we are here

[02:42] today to find out

[02:43] why that is of course there are

[02:45] countless different visual factors at

[02:47] play in macbeth

[02:48] some of them are more common factors

[02:50] we've examined before like the dynamic

[02:52] use of slow motion

[02:53] other factors are directly tied to the

[02:55] story like the breathtaking landscape

[02:57] and the epic war battles

[02:59] sadly not every movie can be filmed in

[03:01] scotland not every movie has huge crowds

[03:03] of people it can use

[03:05] to me however there are just three core

[03:08] visual factors behind macbeth that made

[03:10] this movie the visual masterpiece that

[03:12] it is

[03:13] three universally compatible visual

[03:15] filmmaking factors that

[03:17] can and should be used by every film

[03:19] regardless of whether it's a massive

[03:21] blockbuster or a tiny indie project

[03:24] and so let's take a closer look at

[03:26] 2015's macbeth and try to find out what

[03:29] those three key visual factors are let's

[03:31] try to find out what you can actually do

[03:34] to make your movie worthy of the phrase

[03:36] every frame

[03:37] a painting

[03:44] the very first thing you will probably

[03:46] notice when watching through macbeth

[03:48] is the color whether a scene takes place

[03:50] outside or inside

[03:51] the movie always retains a consistent

[03:54] ability of featuring

[03:56] multiple different shades of color

[03:58] especially in its light

[04:00] we have white we have blue we have

[04:02] yellow red

[04:03] gray green black take a color wheel and

[04:05] pick any of the slices

[04:06] odds are you will find that color in the

[04:09] movie if not as light then

[04:10] at least as an object or a piece of

[04:13] clothing what this constant use of

[04:14] various colors does

[04:16] it not only gives the movie a visually

[04:18] striking appearance

[04:19] it also separates all the scenes from

[04:22] each other and keeps

[04:23] everything fresh and what makes the

[04:25] whole thing even more impressive

[04:26] is the way the movie manages to

[04:28] incorporate color into the theme

[04:30] and purpose of a scene if we have a

[04:32] scene where a big bunch of nameless

[04:34] scottish and irish soldiers are killing

[04:36] each other

[04:37] then everything is depressingly gray if

[04:39] we have a scene of two sworn enemies

[04:41] finally

[04:42] clashing together in one last battle to

[04:44] the death the world is red

[04:46] out of anger if we have a small child in

[04:48] a forest being hunted by murderers

[04:50] the forest has a scary murky look

[04:53] however

[04:54] there is one big downside to using

[04:56] strong heavy colors

[04:57] and that's the fact that those strong

[04:59] heavy colors can become repulsive for

[05:01] the audience to watch

[05:03] take the recent han solo movie for

[05:04] example while this film does have some

[05:06] impressive colorful cinematography

[05:08] there are many scenes and sequences

[05:10] where the color simply put

[05:12] becomes too heavy in some scenes the

[05:15] screen is entirely blue

[05:17] in other scenes it's entirely brown to

[05:19] the point where it all becomes

[05:20] tiring and unpleasant for the human eye

[05:24] a big criticism many moviegoers had

[05:26] against solo was that it just felt too

[05:28] boring and although there can be many

[05:30] reasons for this i would argue that one

[05:32] of the more notable reasons

[05:34] is the color but even though macbeth

[05:36] uses very strong colors just like solo

[05:39] does

[05:39] it never suffers from the same problem

[05:41] and the reason why

[05:42] is something that every movie needs to

[05:44] keep in mind when using color

[05:46] you cannot pick just one color and put

[05:48] it on screen and be done with it

[05:50] you always have to contrast that color

[05:53] against

[05:53] another color take a look at these two

[05:55] shots from macbeth and solo

[05:57] in essence they are very similar both

[05:59] use very heavy strong colors

[06:01] both have their own narrative reasons

[06:03] for doing so yet for some reason

[06:05] it only works in macbeth why do you

[06:07] think that is

[06:08] what's the difference between these two

[06:09] shots well it's the factor of

[06:12] contrast in solo the screen uses blue

[06:15] and that's it in macbeth the screen uses

[06:18] red

[06:18] but also contrasts that red against

[06:21] yellow

[06:21] and white and that right there is the

[06:24] difference between

[06:25] unpleasant and impressive if you want to

[06:28] make your shot look like a painting

[06:30] then build it out of color it doesn't

[06:32] have to be colorful

[06:33] but it should have a color in form of

[06:36] light or

[06:36] character or nature or object or

[06:39] whatever and in order to keep the shell

[06:40] from becoming unpleasant to the eye

[06:42] make sure to contrast that color against

[06:45] another

[06:46] if the sky is pale then maybe wrap your

[06:48] character in black

[06:49] if the inside of a house is candlelit

[06:51] yellow then maybe mix

[06:53] in blue light of nature if the knight is

[06:55] dark then maybe light it up with flames

[06:58] anything to keep the frame refreshingly

[07:01] colored

[07:08] the second key visual strength of

[07:09] macbeth comes from its ability to

[07:11] utilize

[07:12] motion to bring its imagery to life even

[07:15] if we weren't talking about film but

[07:17] instead just still images

[07:18] i would still argue that motion and

[07:20] movement are crucial

[07:22] in creating a rich compelling frame that

[07:25] feels alive the frame might not be

[07:27] moving but it still requires

[07:29] motion because of what motion means

[07:31] motion

[07:32] implies action action implies intent

[07:35] and intent implies that things are

[07:38] happening

[07:39] and no matter what form of art we are

[07:40] talking about moving pictures or

[07:42] unmoving paintings those forms of art

[07:45] will

[07:45] always be more interesting to look at

[07:47] when things are happening

[07:49] a good example of this is tom cruise who

[07:51] has arguably become the greatest

[07:53] hollywood action movie star of

[07:55] all time maybe you don't agree maybe you

[07:57] don't like tom cruise that's fine but

[07:59] regardless of any personal opinions the

[08:01] fact

[08:02] is that especially as ethan hunt in

[08:04] mission impossible

[08:05] tom cruise is always very intriguing to

[08:08] watch

[08:09] and that's because he is the physical

[08:11] manifestation of

[08:12] intent and action and motion he's always

[08:14] running he's always

[08:16] jumping he's always driving motorcycles

[08:18] and hanging from planes and helicopters

[08:20] and as a result his movies are filled

[08:22] with visuals that hold

[08:24] massive interest

[08:25] [Music]

[08:35] [Music]

[08:47] even without factors like action and

[08:50] intent

[08:50] motion just by itself is a great way to

[08:53] create interest in a frame

[08:54] which can be done with moving characters

[08:57] and to be honest that's not really any

[08:59] astonishing secret information creating

[09:01] motion through characters

[09:02] that's pretty obvious that's done by

[09:04] pretty much every movie ever the real

[09:06] dilemma is

[09:07] how do you create motion when your

[09:09] characters aren't actually

[09:11] moving in macbeth there's a big bunch of

[09:13] slower scenes where characters are just

[09:15] standing still

[09:16] talking or looking or whatever yet

[09:18] despite this

[09:19] the movie still somehow manages to

[09:22] incorporate

[09:22] more movement and motion than most big

[09:25] action heavy blockbusters

[09:27] and the way it accomplishes this is what

[09:29] visually sets it apart

[09:30] from nearly all other movies since

[09:33] macbeth cannot make its characters move

[09:35] around the environment

[09:36] it makes the environment move around the

[09:39] characters

[09:39] and the effect quite honestly is

[09:42] astounding

[09:42] but don't take my word for it see for

[09:44] yourself let's look at a couple

[09:46] different shots of people standing still

[09:48] and you tell me which you think is

[09:50] visually more intriguing and powerful

[09:53] you make me strange

[09:59] 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