The Portrait Studio
The Portrait Studio is a short by Takashi Nakamura that
chronicles the shared life experiences of a little girl and a photographer. It
begins with a young couple visiting the studio for the wife to get her portrait
taken. Later they return with their baby daughter who always looks grumpy. The
jovial photographer futilely tries to coax a smile out her; he does so again
and again every time the little girl returns. As time passes the two of them
share important personal moments and witness historical events.
As you watch the film what becomes apparent is the use of
visual repetition. Specifically the repeated visual motif of the wide shot of
the photographer’s house and the stairs leading up to the house. Also,
throughout the short the house and stairs barely change. The lack of change
combined with the repetition establishes them as visual constants. By having
constants to contrast against it made the changes that occur in the characters
and the setting more dramatic and striking.
The visual repetition also helped depict the routineness of
the little girl getting her portrait taken. Every time she goes up the same
stairs to the same house as she and everything else around her change. It’s a
reflection of real life which can be full of repetition and routine but as time
passes by things do gradually change around us.
The repeated wide shot of the house remained constant
amongst the modernization, urbanization, the earthquake and the destruction
brought by World War II. The evolution of transportation from a rickshaw to the
modern train was also a nice touch.
Here the constant are the stairs and we see the little girl
and her family travel up the same steps throughout the years. The changes here
are more personal as we see her grow up to a young woman, become a teacher, and
then grow old.
Also, the art and composition of this short are very flat.
The camera work was straight forward and neutral. Any shots that would provide
a sense of depth were mostly avoided such as angled shots, over the shoulder
shots and shallow focus. There were very little perspective lines especially in
the beginning. Even as the architecture of the surrounding buildings became
more three-dimensional they weren’t organized to together form cohesive
vanishing points. This lack of organization maintained the illusion of
flatness. The flatness of course was
intentional. The simple and yet elegant visuals fit the subdued and quiet nature
of the film.
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