When I was in college
and everyone was writing papers about
Hitchcock or the French New Wave,
I wrote about Spielberg.
I remember studying a scene
from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Within a minute of
starting the scene,
I forgot that I
was analyzing it.
I got so caught up in the film
that I watched it straight
through to the end.
I had to figure out how
Spielberg hooked me.
So I studied every
Spielberg film I could.
Over time,
I noticed a particular pattern.
Spielberg`ing
secret, if you will.
Once I figured it out,
I applied this technique to my own films
and it made me a
better filmmaker.
Let me show you what
I'm talking about.
No, you're right.
This is not a Spielberg film,
but to understand
Spielberg's technique,
we've got to look
at where it began.
So here's a scene from Alfred
Hitchcock's "North by Northwest."
Hitchcock is known for his reliance
on the point of view shot or POV.
This famous scene is
composed of 133 shots.
A whopping 46 of
them are POV shots.
Here`s one.
And there's another one.
And another one.
It's not very hard to
see what's going on here.
Hitchcock shows us a character.
Then shows us the
character's point of view.
Then shows us the
character's reaction.
It's a sort of POV sandwich,
and it's everywhere
in Hitchcock's films.
The POV sandwich serves
a very specific purpose.
By showing us exactly
what a character sees,
Hitchcock puts us in their
shoes, so to speak.
We get drawn into the story
because it's key moments are shown to us,
literally, through the character's eyes.
So what does this have
to do with Spielberg?
First of all,
Spielberg isn't shy about
using Hitchcock's technique.
Check out this famous
POV sandwich from "Jaws."
There's Chief Brody,
and Brody's POV,
and his reaction.
But if you watch
most Spielberg films,
you'll notice there
are very few POV shots.
Somehow Spielberg draws us
into the story and characters
without relying on
Hitchcock's signature tool.
How does he do it?
Let's take a look at another
Spielberg scene for a clue.
Here's part of the basket chase
scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Here's our hero.
He's looking for Marion
who has been kidnapped and
carried off in a basket,
and there she is
and this is our
POV shot or is it?
Look at that.
Indiana Jones`s eye-line doesn't
match the POV shot at all.
He's looking off to
the right of frame,
not straight down the alley.
So what is this shot?
Let's watch this
moment one more time.
But this time listen.
Indiana Jones hears
Marion's call for help.
He turns and runs
towards her voice.
Spielberg didn't just
show us a point of view.
He showed us a thought.
The very next shot Jones
runs up from a wide shot
to a very tight close-up.
It's a perfect opportunity to cut to
a POV shot to show us what he sees,
but no instead the camera
holds then pulls back
and follows Jones into the
chaos of the marketplace.
Why does Spielberg
denies the point of view?
And what does he
give us instead?
Jones has no idea
where Marion is,
he wants to see
Marion, but he can't.
And in the shot,
we want to see what Jones
sees, but we can't.
We share an emotional
moment with Indiana Jones.
And everywhere in
Spielberg films,
characters stare in wonder
at something off-screen.
The thing they're looking
at is often mysterious.
And since it's
off-screen, out of frame,
it's just as much
of a mystery to us.
"I think it's ahead of us."
In "E.T." nearly every shot of the
film is from a child's eye level.
We're presented with the world
as Elliot experiences it.
"-Only little kids can see them.
-Give me a break."
Spielberg does this a lot.
Again and again,
he shows us the world
the way his characters think it,
rather than how they see it.
We feel what they feel.
We feel their thoughts.
That's what makes Spielberg
such a powerful filmmaker.
That's why we lose ourselves
so easily in his world.
I promised you a technique,
something you can apply
to your own filmmaking.
I call it "Point-of-Thought."
If the point of view
shot puts your audience
in your characters
literal position in space,
the point of thought gives your audience a
visual expression of your character's mind.
It draws your audience deeper
into your character`s world,
which makes the experience of your
story much more direct and personal.
The key is this.
Use your camera to express
your character's thoughts.
If your characters
tense, try close up.
If your character feels
threatened, use a high angle shot.
Ever since I figured this out,
I've been using the point of
thought technique in my own films.
Like this shot from "The
Pirate Captain Toledano."
The captain has just found
this unusual silver cup.
It's very significant to him.
It dominates our field of view,
much like it dominates
the captain's thoughts.
Now that you've learned
Spielberg's secret.
You should go back and re-watch
your favorite Spielberg films.
Watch for the way his shots consistently
express a character's emotions.
And when you do
start shot listing,
check out the shot listing and
storyboarding modules in StudioBinder.
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great visual storytelling tools,
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Keep making movies and
I'll see you next time.
