Akira Kurosawa – Composing Movement
Akira Kurosawa and Alfred Hitchcock are the masters of cinema. They had their definitive filmmaking style. In my previous post we learned about the Alfred Hitchcock’s filmmaking style. So lets analyse what makes Akira Kurosawa the master of cinema.
Akira Kurosawa was a completely hands-on director, passionately involved in every aspect of the filmmaking process. He used to co-writes his scripts, oversees the design, rehearses the actors, sets up all the shots and then does the editing. He has actively participated in every stage of filmmaking from the initial concept to the editing and scoring of the final product.
Akira Kurosawa always used to say that the screenplay was the foundation of a successful film and a mediocre director can sometimes make a good film out of a good script or even an excellent director can never make a good film out of a bad script. But what makes Akira Kurosawa The Master of cinema is his extraordinary ability of composing movements.
Just found out another video essay by Tony Zhou about the Akira Kurosawa’s character and camera movements. Check out how Akira Kurosawa painted each and every frame with perfection.
Are you amazed? I surely am. Have you observed how Kurosawa used multiple movements in on single shot? These are character movements, background movements, props movement, camera movements,… This is extraordinary!
Here is the list of some of the extracts from the Tony Zhou‘s video essay.
- Movement Of Nature – Background Of The Shot Features Weather
Wind, Water, Fire, Smoke, Snow which draws visual interest.
Rain is an emotion trigger that works in any film
- Movement Of Groups
Group movement is very cinematic. When you put many people in one shot, any emotion feels big.
Reaction shot of group of peoples.
- Movement Of Individuals
If someone is nervous, they pace left and right, if they outraged they stand straight up.
Kurosawa often asked his actors to pick up a body gesture and repeat it through out the film.
- Movement Of The Camera
Camera movement goes from closeup to full shot to over the shoulder in a single unbroken shot.
Every camera movement has clear beginning, middle and end.
Rest you need to watch in the video essay. I hope you like the post and if you do please share it with your friends.
Thank you for reading.
