WOHL'S TECHNIQUES
The article of Wohl mentions a few techniques for filming. In the video, that you can see here, I saw two of those techniques worked out. They’re a pretty obvious and that is why this video is a perfect example of the two techniques I’m talking about. Those two are the eye line technique, and the 180-degree line technique.
In this short clip of the TV show of New Girl, you can see the eye line technique. The recorders used the medium close up shot. They use the same close up to not confuse the watcher about the different distances between the two actors (the matching angels techniques helped here too). This medium close up shot gave me the idea that the communication between the two actors was semi-intimate. When the makers would have used the close up, I probably would have gotten the impression that they were standing really close to each other, which would have made it even more intimate. The other editing/montage that the makers did was the fast switching between the two actors. This gave me the feeling that the two actors were overthinking in that part and find the conversation a little bit awkward.
The other technique that is used in this video is the 180-degree line technique. When I first read about this technique, it confused me. What line are they talking about? It means that the makers try to only show one half of the room to the watcher, otherwise the watcher can get confused about the space the actors are. When I you think of this logic, it sounds useless, why not show the whole room? After watching TV shows after I read the article, I finally saw that this half of the room (180 degree line of the camera) is actually really helpful. I helps to locate the bodies of the actors in the space.
After this video, it became even more clear for me what Wohl tried to say. From the woman’s point of view, you see only the left side of the room. When they video the guy, it is only the left side. The other side of the room is not visible when they are making eye contact in that scene. The makers did this to make sure the watcher is not confused where they are, because the watcher keeps ‘standing’ on the right side of their conversation.
