Recently a few of the guys in the office have been busy studying individual pieces of animation on a in their own time for educational purposes (you can find a few of these over on my colleague
Andy Latham's blog, including a very thorough breakdown of the famous Jiminy Cricket scene for
Pinocchio). This has been a very worthwhile exercise and has been a valuable source of inspiration for all of us, so much so it's actually encouraged me to blow the cobwebs off the old blog and contribute something myself! :)
Unlike Andy, I've decided to go left field and study a piece of live action, although I promise I'll included some animation examples at a later date.
That been said, let's begin:
this is one of my favourite scenes from
Sideways that takes place roughly halfway through the film.It's largely pantomime with some interesting acting choices that is still fairly subtle (I find my natural tendencies whilst animating lean towards going small over too big, so I assume this is one of the reasons I find this scene so appealing):
Setting the scene:we start with Miles (Paul Giamatti) leaving the bathroom after trying to steady his nerves and psyche himself up to make a pass at Maya (Virginia Madsen) after an intimate heart to heart over wine outside on the porch. This is originally one tracking shot following Miles out of the room, but I've decided to start at this point down to some profanities at the beginning of the scene.
the first thing that strikes you is how intentful he enters the room with the aggressive shoulder swagger, keeping his eye on maya (the thought seems to be "I can do this!" here).
however once Maya comes into view, Miles' confidence immediately fails him; his head droops in inevitable failure and he takes to hiding behind the side of the wall (note how Madsen turns to face him; this not only lets us know that she realises he's there but only helps to direct our eye back towards Giamatti).
As he turns towards camera, note the secondary action of the tongue licking the lips. This is a gesture of anxiety (incidentally,in his book Manwatching Desmond Morris tells us that what we're doing here is a relic gesture from our infant past when we used to suck milk from our mother's breast. If you haven't read it, I consider it an essential read on body language for all animators).
This is then followed by a quick glance at the heavens for divine help and a Gary Oldman-esque crick of the neck. As before, all gestures are signals of trying to relieve stress.
I know what you're thinking: so far, so 'meh' right? this is the gesture that I find the most interesting in the entire scene and is largely the reason I chose it.
Notice how Giamatti starts to wipe the sweat from his pours, but instead of going with a traditional hand wipe he goes with the sleeves of his jacket. this makes him act very much like a mouse, which is a very interesting viewpoint of how he sees Miles' character: timid and cowardly.
The next gesture is almost the opposite of the previous one as he now grabs the bottom of the jacket and gives it a self assuring tug. These gestures normally gives a sense of trying to establish authority (think how Ricky Gervais will always fix his tie whilst playing David Brent in the British version of the Office).
Also notice how Madsen is still playing an action whilst all this is going on, drinking from the glass and drying her hand on her blouse; All small stuff that works in the scene without overly drawing your attention away from what Giamatti is doing (you get a sense of nervousness from her throughout, after all this is a character who has been through a lot of relationship issues as well).
Finally he moves into the room. Note how he stands mirroring her with his left arm leaning against the sink? you'll find this sort of thing happening a lot in bars and clubs when a guy is trying to chat someone up, what he's effectively trying to do is limit the space off to keep it intimate and lock her off from any other suitors who may be nearby.
After the inital kiss and awkward pause, I like how he gives her a reassuring hand on the arm and holds her hand. you really get a sense of Miles' desperation here I feel.
Note also how Madsen breaks out of Giamatti's grip by pulling it upto her chest before the hug. you understand by this that she values their friendship, but her unease in the situation suggests that now wouldn't be the best time for her. Giamatti's still pose and small sigh with another look upto the heavens tells you all you need to know about his rejection.
there you go, your thoughts? did you think it was too subtle, how would you have approached this scene if you were given it as an assignment?
