A Thousand Stars: Episode V, Part 4
Jun. 5th, 2025 11:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilA conversation between two people is not inherently compelling, visually speaking. If they're just standing or sitting there, it can feel a bit boring and static even if the dialogue is sparkling. So it's important to use imaginative staging and blocking. When Han and Leia have their first argument of the movie (there are many more to come), there's a very deliberate framing of the scene that creates a dynamic sense even when the characters are standing still.
First Leia is confronting him, authoritative in spite of the height difference. (She might have a little help from the platform she's standing on.) Switching to a closer shot gives us a sense of intimacy, but also escalation. Note how the camera is slightly lower, looking up at their faces. Again it reduces the sense of difference in their heights.
But Leia's 'high ground' in the argument doesn't last. Just when we might be getting tired of this same location, Han storms off so she has to follow him and resume their argument in a new configuration. Now Han is obviously much taller, bending over just to meet her eyes. When Leia struggles to deny her feelings, Han straightens in veritable triumph. (We also have the humor of an anonymous Rebel walking straight through their confrontation, too busy to apologize to the couple that, by now, must be famous for their emotionally-charged bickering. Just kiss and get it over with, he's probably thinking, so the rest of us can actually get some work done around here.
Finally Han storms off for a second time, but not before shouting You could use a good kiss for the entire hallway to hear him. We get a lingering shot of Leia's reaction, angry and flustered, even turning around as if to check whether that guy in the doorway just heard the whole conversation. If this is a competition, Han definitely won this round.
Next, a little set design appreciation...
First Leia is confronting him, authoritative in spite of the height difference. (She might have a little help from the platform she's standing on.) Switching to a closer shot gives us a sense of intimacy, but also escalation. Note how the camera is slightly lower, looking up at their faces. Again it reduces the sense of difference in their heights.
But Leia's 'high ground' in the argument doesn't last. Just when we might be getting tired of this same location, Han storms off so she has to follow him and resume their argument in a new configuration. Now Han is obviously much taller, bending over just to meet her eyes. When Leia struggles to deny her feelings, Han straightens in veritable triumph. (We also have the humor of an anonymous Rebel walking straight through their confrontation, too busy to apologize to the couple that, by now, must be famous for their emotionally-charged bickering. Just kiss and get it over with, he's probably thinking, so the rest of us can actually get some work done around here.
Finally Han storms off for a second time, but not before shouting You could use a good kiss for the entire hallway to hear him. We get a lingering shot of Leia's reaction, angry and flustered, even turning around as if to check whether that guy in the doorway just heard the whole conversation. If this is a competition, Han definitely won this round.
Next, a little set design appreciation...
