Anime Cinematography Blog

This final episode sure was a visual feast. Not much in way of thoughtful composition but this was a fast paced and action-centric episode, appropriately much of the focus was on delivering superb animation and exciting sequences. There was plenty of dynamic camera work, mostly composed of follow/tracking shots. The most impressive parts were the almost unnoticeable cuts that made the some of the action scenes looked seamless.

This episode had a plethora of camera movements and editing techniques. In terms of editing there were dissolves, wipes, split screens, split screen wipes and match cuts. The camera movements were composed of pans, whip pans, tilts, shaky cam, erratic zooms and parallax effect . The camera work lacked movement in the z-axis but the variety mixed with the snappy editing gave the episode a dynamic look. For the most part the stylish camera work and editing worked well in conjunction and maintained continuity. Although, there were actually too much going on that it made it hard to take in the scenes and pin point anything to talk about. Also, some of the dissolves were way too slow and visually distracting. Some of the split screens resulted in sloppy framing and the point of interest being partially obstructed. Despite some faults, all in all the direction in this episode was interesting. The most interesting part was the clever use of formulaic sequence of shots for the testimon...

I really liked the moodiness of the cold intro to this episode and how it uses color and scale to emphasize certain things. I think the most noticeable thing about this intro was everything is desaturated except for the neon lights outside and the glass of drink. Desaturation combined with strong shadows has a gloomy and somber effect. The use of a few colorful elements for contrast makes this mood even more potent. In the three images above there’s a slight shallow focus. The glass is slightly out of focus while Dandy is in focus. This helps maintain Dandy as the primary subject of the shot even though the more colorful glass of drink pops more visually. You’ll notice in the second image that the camera moved in closer to make the glass of drink appear larger. In this intro we never saw the woman Dandy was talking to but by emphasizing the glass of drink we start attaching her voice to it and it becomes her analogue. In the third image (from the same shot as the secon...

Almost right from the very beginning the show uses canted framing . This type of unleveled framing is often used in action heavy scenes to create a hectic pace. However, it can also be used to create some visually unnerving shots, which was the case in the beginning of this episode. These canted shots immediately induce a sense of eeriness that is often associated with the world of the dead. ________________________________________________________________________ Cold-Warm Contrast The above is probably the most striking cold-warm contrast shot in this episode. Notice how most of the shot, the background and mid-ground, have a blue (cold) hue to it while the foreground on the left side is mostly red (warm). This creates a stark contrast that strongly draws the viewers’ attention to the only warm part of the image, which of course makes the sad looking lady clown with a cat protruding off her chest look even creepier.

This episode was exceptional at immediately immersing the viewers to a new world by making the main character inconspicuous. By immersing the viewers in the initial moments, they get absorbed into the journey even before the focus shifts to Dandy. In this shot you really don’t notice Dandy right away. He’s a tiny figure at the bottom right, covered by the shadow and his brown color palette blending with the ground. The audience’s eyes are immediately attracted to the environment, specifically the cacti.