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Chernobyl - A Masterclass in Perspective — Transcript

by Thomas Flight · 2,398 words · 370 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:09perspective is a powerful tool for
0:11storytelling in film and TV you can
0:14control perspective with the writing
0:16through what stories you choose to focus
0:17on and how you tell them you can control
0:19it with the cinematography and how you
0:21frame an event visually and you can
0:23control it in the Edit with where you
0:25place the focus of the scene one of the
0:27things that makes the Chernobyl
0:28miniseries so powerful is its use of
0:31perspective let's look at how the
0:33creators of Chernobyl from the writers
0:35to the editors shaped the perspective of
0:37each episode scene and the show as a
0:39whole and how that impacts the story
0:43this video is brought to you by movie
0:46what is perspective in film and TV I'm
0:50not talking about point of view shots
0:51where we see what the character sees
0:53though that is one tool that helps
0:55establish the perspective of a scene
0:57perspective is the vantage point from
0:59which the audience experiences the scene
1:01emotionally and dramatically I'll show
1:04some of the tools Chernobyl uses to
1:07establish its perspective as we go along
1:10[Music]
1:14Chernobyl chooses a more subjective
1:16approach to telling its story using the
1:19perspective of individuals in a lot of
1:22scenes subjective here doesn't mean less
1:25factual just that the goal is to tell
1:28the story as those characters
1:30experienced it instead of trying to give
1:32the clearest possible account the
1:34account is more personal meant to
1:37emotionally convey the event as it was
1:40experienced a perfect example of this is
1:43episode 4 the Chernobyl area cleanup was
1:46a massive project spanning years and
1:48involving thousands of people but in
1:51order to tell this story the series
1:53chooses to mostly focus on one group of
1:56three men performing one job and then
1:59within that group the experience of one
2:02young man
2:14it's extremely difficult to make a story
2:16about many people emotionally impactful
2:19psychologically humans are more likely
2:21to empathize with individuals than with
2:23groups so focusing the story on an
2:26individual allows for maximum emotional
2:29impact all you need then is a few visual
2:32clues to show the audience that the
2:34experience of this one individual can be
2:37multiplied by thousands in taking a more
2:40subjective perspective like this you'll
2:42sacrifice some information in the show
2:45we don't learn many details about all
2:48the other jobs that were being done but
2:51it allows us to be more emotionally
2:53invested in the characters the show does
2:56focus on I thought well that's it about
3:00you you put a bullet in someone you're
3:05not you anymore you'll never be you
3:07again but then you wake up the next
3:12morning and you're still you it's not
3:16just important to choose between
3:17subjective and objective perspectives
3:19for your story or scene if you choose a
3:21more subjective perspective whose
3:23perspective you choose for each scene is
3:25incredibly important throughout the
3:27first episode the perspective shifts in
3:30each scene usually to the person in that
3:32scene that is encountering the disaster
3:35for the first time we see the disaster
3:37first from the perspective of the plant
3:39workers as they deal with the initial
3:42fallout from the political characters
3:44perspective as they learn about the
3:46disaster as the firefighters arrive
3:48on-site the show shifts to the
3:50perspective of an individual firefighter
3:52as he's awoken and arrives at the
3:55disaster but when the firefighters are
3:57taken to the hospital we see that scene
3:59from the perspective of a single nurse
4:01being awoken and seeing the effects of
4:04the disaster for the first time this
4:06puts us in the perspective of each
4:08character at the moment of maximum
4:10surprise it's part of what gives the
4:13first episode such a sustained feeling
4:16of tension
4:16while the perspective of each scene
4:18varies the primary perspective of the
4:20story as a whole is Lagasse loves while
4:22many scenes are not from his perspective
4:24most of the scenes he's in are framed in
4:27his perspective the show establishes
4:30this by beginning with his suicide and
4:32him recording himself telling the story
4:35what does that mean
4:37no one knows doesn't matter
4:41showing us this event largely through
4:43the eyes of someone who eventually
4:45killed himself because of it sets the
4:48tone throughout the show when we see his
4:51reactions to everything that is
4:52happening we know what it's leading
4:55towards the show is in effect increasing
4:58suspense by showing a reaction and then
5:01showing what caused that reaction this
5:03is a technique the show will use again
5:05to dramatize exposition like this
5:09[Music]
5:13fireman was severely burned on his hand
5:16by a trunk of smooth black mineral on
5:19the ground outside the reactor building
5:21smooth Blackmun of graphite there's
5:24there's graphite on the ground this
5:26exposition is dramatically powerful
5:28because we saw the gaseous reaction to
5:30it just a few minutes earlier
5:34[Music]
5:40professor lacrosse off you can also use
5:44perspective to make the revelation of
5:46information feel more meaningful you do
5:49this by showing it to the audience from
5:51the perspective of the person that the
5:53information would be most meaningful to
5:56if you want to dramatize the
5:58firefighters medical situation construct
6:00those scenes from the perspective of one
6:03of the firefighters wives trying to get
6:05to her husband and seeing him
6:06deteriorate
6:12being here if you want to show how far
6:16spread the disaster is show this
6:18information being discovered by someone
6:20who is far away and who understands the
6:23implications of the disaster and how far
6:26it's reaching I've never wronged him
6:28Malik no I would have gone off before
6:33it's coming from outside perspective is
6:35established in the writing but the
6:37entire production team must work
6:38together to create those perspectives
6:41and actually sell the effect to the
6:43audience let's go back to the
6:44firefighter and his wife in the scene
6:47where she and the audience sees his
6:49condition for the first time we do see
6:52him but notice how most of what the
6:55camera focuses on is her face the shot
6:58is an example of using cinematography to
7:01establish perspective if you pay
7:03attention to the cinematography of the
7:05show especially in the first episode
7:07you'll notice how much time is spent on
7:10close-up shots of characters reacting to
7:13things a shot like this of the
7:15firefighter reacting to his comrades
7:17burn is dramatically just as important
7:20as actually showing the burn in some
7:22ways it's more important than actually
7:24seeing what's going on and throughout
7:26episode one we hardly see the details of
7:28the actual disaster this plays an
7:30important role in keeping us in these
7:32characters perspectives the characters
7:35cannot see clearly everything that's
7:37happening so we the audience will not
7:39see an objective view of what's
7:41happening that they do not have access
7:50the shot used to establish the Chernobyl
7:52area before the explosion at the
7:54beginning of the show is not a nice wide
7:56shot of the power plant the focus of the
7:59show it's some apartment buildings in
8:02Pripyat we focus on a character and
8:05experience the explosion from her
8:07perspective as she would have in the
8:12control room
8:12slow-motion sound design and tight
8:15constricting cinematography keep us
8:18focused on the operators and their
8:20emotional state and reaction a wide
8:23steady calm objective camera would pull
8:26us away from the emotional state of the
8:28characters and out of their perspective
8:31it's not literally seeing what the
8:33characters see that puts us in their
8:35perspective when we can see their faces
8:38and reactions and connect with their
8:40emotions when the camera feels like it's
8:42in the room with them we're experiencing
8:44the scene from their perspective in a
8:48scene like this when we see a shot of
8:50legis off by himself in the frame boxed
8:53in and framed by bodies around him were
8:56in his perspective if the
8:58cinematographer had wanted to stay in a
9:00more objective perspective they could
9:02have shown a wider shot more clearly
9:04displaying him with the characters
9:06around him this personal individual
9:09perspective is consistently maintained
9:11throughout most of the first episode
9:13only rarely and quite far into the
9:16episode do we get occasional slow steady
9:18wide shots revealing more of the
9:21disaster itself and we only see these
9:23types of shots as characters themselves
9:25gain these perspectives an explosion
9:28disaster or monster by itself is not
9:31very scary it's relative to characters
9:34we can sympathize with that these things
9:36become terrifying
9:40[Music]
9:42look at this scene from Deepwater
9:44Horizon a film that dramatizes another
9:47real disaster we see certain moments
9:49from the perspective of the characters
9:50but these are intercut with very
9:52objective shots of the mechanics of the
9:55explosion the audience is always aware
9:57in extreme detail of what's happening
10:05even when the characters don't know
10:07what's going on it makes for a flashy ER
10:10scene than we see in Chernobyl but it
10:14removes much of the suspense in favor of
10:17showcasing the explosion in as graphic
10:20detail as possible and it confuses and
10:23models the perspective of the scene and
10:25that's often the failing of many films
10:28it's it's not that they choose the wrong
10:30perspective it's that they fail to use
10:32it as a tool for their benefit and just
10:34somewhat arbitrarily seem to use
10:36whatever perspective is convenient take
10:39the helicopter crash as an example many
10:41shows or films wouldn't be able to
10:43resist the maximal action and drama of
10:46seeing the crash from inside the
10:48helicopter with the pilots yelling as it
10:51falls to the ground
10:52Chernobyl instead only lets us see it
10:55from a distance from the perspective of
10:57those watching it's maybe not as
10:59exciting but excitement isn't the goal
11:02here instead we see and feel the
11:05crushing hopelessness and despair it's
11:09not that Chernobyl is good because it
11:12uses a subjective perspective it's that
11:15it knows when and how to use perspective
11:18effectively the show does use a more
11:21objective perspective in the last
11:22episode we do eventually see the gory
11:25details of the explosion compare how
11:28steady objective and wide the angles are
11:30and how much more clear the geography of
11:33the control room is in these flashbacks
11:35from episode 5 compared to the scenes in
11:38the control room in episode 1 a
11:40different perspective is used because
11:42the intent for the scene is different we
11:44see these flashbacks intercut with the
11:46account of what happened at the trial by
11:49now the characters are more objectively
11:51aware of what really happened and so we
11:53get to see the event in a more objective
11:56light by keeping the cinematography more
11:59subjective and restricting the use of
12:01objective views it also allows the show
12:04to use these objective shots for maximum
12:06impact the score plays a big role here
12:09helping to give these slow creeping
12:11shots a feeling of doom and dread and by
12:15using the same style you use for a shot
12:18this on a shot like this it helps the
12:21audience infer the danger of this pile
12:24of clothing and the show doesn't have to
12:26explain with exposition how radioactive
12:29it is editing also plays an important
12:32role in constructing perspective and you
12:35can see good examples of this throughout
12:37Chernobyl small things like intercutting
12:39a shot of the firefighters of life with
12:41a close-up of his face as he approaches
12:44the reactor he'll place us in his mental
12:46perspective we know he's thinking of her
12:49in this scene we see the meeting from
12:51Lagasse's perspective this is
12:54established largely by leaving the
12:56camera on him in the Edit even while
12:58other people are talking military and
13:01civilian patrols have secured the region
13:03we see his reactions and hold on closer
13:06angles of him instead of showing the
13:08room as a whole another way perspective
13:11is established through editing is by
13:13staying with characters leading up to or
13:16during a significant action establishing
13:18a scene by showing the characters
13:20walking to the location might seem
13:22unnecessary but it helps place the
13:24audience in those characters perspective
13:26for the coming scene for example in this
13:30scene we are mostly analogue Assad's
13:32perspective because we are with him as
13:34he approaches the cell if the editor had
13:37chosen to start the scene inside the
13:40cell and shown from inside ligase
13:43entering we would have felt more like
13:45the scene was from Alana's perspective
13:48in this scene we stay with ligase while
13:51they wait for a reconnaissance team to
13:53return he's back the show could have
13:56stayed with the team as they measured
13:58the radiation levels but staying in
14:00legolas perspective as he and therefore
14:03we the audience wait to find out
14:05increases suspense
14:07it's not three long again it's 15,000
14:13perspective is an incredibly powerful
14:15tool one that Chernobyl uses well this
14:19kind of subjective perspective is not
14:21always the right choice for a story more
14:23objective cinematography writing and
14:25editing can also be used for powerful
14:28effect but I think Chernobyl made the
14:30right choice here to maximize the
14:32dramatic impact of a story many of us
14:34already know some details about
14:36Chernobyl is one of the most effective
14:38shows or films I've seen and conveying a
14:41sense of despair and doom its use of
14:45perspective to place us right alongside
14:47the characters as they feel those things
14:49is an important part of its success
14:53thanks to movie for sponsoring this
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15:41Thomas flight and give it a try today
15:45thanks everyone for watching I hope you
15:47enjoyed this video I want to give a
15:49special thank you to my patreon
15:51supporters go to patreon.com/scishow
15:53miss flight to find out how you can get
15:56access to my patreon podcasts merch and
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