Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April) Episode 3

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The cinematography in this episode was a bit of a mixed bag. Although a bit too obvious, the use of desaturation to visually equate musical deafness to lacking color was a nice touch. There were also hints of this in the first episode. On the other hand, some of the compositions in this episode were shoddy.

The first three images are examples of desaturated shots of Kousei that acted as visual metaphor to his loss of musical hearing. In contrast, Kaori was visualized brightly and colorfully, which reflects her bubbly personality and enthusiasm for music.

Another nice touch was the change of the scenery from warm to cold colors after he revealed to Kaori his affliction.
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The desaturation theme continued to the rooftop scene. This time it was done more naturally by putting Kousei in the shadows while Kaori remains in the sunlight to serve as contrast. The first shot nicely uses the shadow to form a surface division between the two. In the sunlight is the determined Kaori; while in the shadow is the dispirited Kousei. All these contrasts effectively set up the pivotal moment of the episode when Kousei steps into the sunlight and agrees to accompany Kaori.
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The above images are examples of some of the odd compositions in this episode. The first one is a centered shot of just the head with too much headroom. There were repeated unbalanced shots like this one of both characters. Unbalanced composition can sometimes serve a purpose but this isn’t one of those cases.

Second one is centered full shot. The sentiment behind this is it puts more emphasis on Kaori as she declares Kousei as her accompaniment. However, the shot lasted way too long. After Kaori’s declaration it should have cut to a closer shot: either a two shot or a non-centered one. Also, the tree being a dominating figure was distracting. To add to that, the tree obeys the rule of thirds, this unintentionally makes it an additional point of interest.

Third one is also a purposeful centered shot that lasted too long. It also cuts off the character around at the ankles which always looks odd and happens way too often in anime. Kousei is also awkwardly positioned in this one.

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