Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1097515
DGA QUARTERLY 23 So, by tracking it turns from a subjective shot (Tommy Lee Jones' point of view) into an objective shot: a perfectly framed image with the window centered and Mrs. Redg- ick's legs up, like in stirrups. One of my other many rules is: Never pan. I think panning is the laziest thing a director can do. Tracking is great; panning is messy. The camera is a character in the movie. Tracking here to the reveal is a self-conscious thing, telling the audience, "I'm making fun of this." If I'd panned, it would be reportage as opposed to filmmaking. I love that we gave her all that sweat, red hair, that she looks like a normal human about to give birth. Will sees the woman giving birth. We're shooting over her legs. I didn't intend to shoot this but when I cut the movie to- gether and showed it to Spielberg, he felt we were missing a shot of Will reacting and of his comic fear that he was going to have to help this woman give birth. It's shot on stage maybe six months later. Will is really funny in it and it adds to the scene. Sound also played an incredibly important part here because you hear the swishing of the amniotic fluids and other gooey sounds. Later, you have the hilarious banging of Will hitting the top of the car roof, so even when Will is not in frame, he's still funny because you're hearing all sorts of things going on inside the car. What makes this scene so funny is in the foreground, you're learning important information—flatly delivered, total New York detective—but in the background, the most insane, surreal thing is happening; Will Smith be- ing thrown around by an alien. We shot Tommy and Patrick Breen live in New Jersey and Will on a blue-screen stage in New York. The challenge of doing it in a single shot with no cutaways is that you can't control the pace or timing through editing. My theory is always faster and flatter is better, so I didn't let Tommy and Breen spend a lot of time leaving holes for Will's comments. I felt it would be better to try to fit in Will's, even overlap- ping, so I wouldn't be forced to change the pacing in post. Here are the requirements: Agent Kay and Redgick have to be on the left side of frame, leaving enough room in the middle for Will to be thrown around by the tenta- cle. I want to see the World Trade Center because I want to know where we are in relation to New York City. The camera is slightly low, which doesn't crop the actors in the foreground and gives us plenty of room for Will to be thrown around. I love that since Will is in deep background we have true depth of field, slightly out of focus, which helped our blue- screen blend. 3 4 5 6 3 4 5 6