

The Cinematography of "The Incredibles" - isaacjohnwesley
http://floobynooby.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-cinematography-of-incredibles-part-1.html

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bitwize
Holy shit, look at this:

[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AQTRoWPB3n4/Tbn5O99q6lI/AAAAAAAARG...](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AQTRoWPB3n4/Tbn5O99q6lI/AAAAAAAARGY/MzV38NYcm6o/s1600/longshot4.png)

Though it wasn't mentioned in the movie, Brad Bird described Edna as "half-
German and half-Japanese". The walls of this room resemble Japanese rice-paper
walls -- but the divisions are arranged as in a Piet Mondrian painting.
Mondrian was Dutch, not German, but there's still a sense of Asian and
European art styles mixed here. I never noticed that before.

Fuck this movie is so good.

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tamersalama
I thought Edna was modeled after Edith Head [1]

[1]
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Head](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Head)

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JetSpiegel
I thought it was the boss from NCIS LA

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Anm
Sorry... Pixar did not invent a time travel machine just to get a character
reference. (NCIS LA came five years after.)

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JetSpiegel
Surely Linda Hunt is older than Pixar...

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brazzy
Interesting read, though sometimes it sounds a bit like over-analyzation.
Especially the constant mention of "triangular composition" \- three points
form a triangle (unless they form a line). You'd have to make a conscious
effort NOT to have "triangular composition".

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bentcorner
Completely agree. I enjoyed reading about framing, how positioning backgrounds
to ensure the viewer can easily follow action, the far/medium/full shots,
bird/worm's eye view and the like.

Mentioning triangular composition so often was strange. I guess it's a basic
filmmaker thing? (don't line up talking characters in a line?) Moving the
camera out-of-plane of the conversation allows the viewers to more easily
understand the flow of conversation, who the characters are paying attention
to, and who we should be paying attention to.

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rquantz
You'll notice that the triangular composition shots had three figures on three
different levels in the shot, when most shots with a single figure in them had
their head at basically the same level, right below the top of the frame. If
the default placement for a character's head is near the top of the frame, it
would indeed be a conscious choice when placing three head in a shot to make
them at three different levels.

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scrrr
That's cool, but I think if you want to study film, you should study the likes
of Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone or Krzysztof Kieslowski [1] first. A lot of
what Hollywood is doing has been first done by these guys.

Especially computer games and Pixar movies are often directly reusing famous
scenes and camera angles.

[1] Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of "Three Colors", especially "Red".

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visakanv
Thanks for the reccomendations! I've heard so much about Akira Kurosawa. Gotta
check him out.

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m_mueller
Kurosawa has a wide range of styles - which is why I like to compare him to
Kubrick, although Kurosawa usually stays within Edo period contexts while
Kubrick also had a wide range of themes. My favorites so far are Seven
Samurais, Yojimbo and Dreams. Don't be afraid of watching one of his films
from the 50ies - because of their relatively quick pace, clear themes and
modern looking cuts I find them highly enjoyable, not just as an educational
experience, but with a genuinely high entertainment value even today. From an
educational standpoint it's amazing to see the strong influences he had on
Star Wars for example.

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visakanv
This is great stuff that I think everybody should check out, whatever your
field- it's just generally interesting. Insights can be useful metaphors for
presentation, direction, writing, project management...

Relevant link: The use of light in cinema:
[http://imgur.com/a/cpLno](http://imgur.com/a/cpLno)

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DanBC
One thing you don't get from that first photo is that they're sitting round a
green baize table. Like poker players.

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ginko
Somewhat related: A collection of the different types of chairs in The
Incredibles

[http://jimunwin.com/extra/incrediblechairs/](http://jimunwin.com/extra/incrediblechairs/)

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chiph
I think The Incredibles is at least partially responsible for the return of
mid-century modern furnishings.

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Jagadeesh1210
Check All "hayao miyazaki" films. He defined the animated films.

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wmkn
I know it is a mainstream movie and everyone has seen it. But try watching
Disney's Snow White again, and remember that it was released in 1937. Your
statement "defined the animated films" is more applicable to that movie than
anything else.

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froo
My favourite Disney book is "The Illusion of Life" which is written by Frank
Thomas and Ollie Johnson, 2 of Disney's "nine old men"

The first chapters deal with the creation of the Snow White film, and the
startup culture within the Disney studios at that time.

Co-incidentally, both authors are referenced in the film The Incredibles (the
original subject of the OP's post)

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bitwize
Not just referenced -- they appeared as themselves!

I can't help but wonder if this is a shout-out/jab to the perennial Stan Lee
cameo in films based off Marvel characters, especially considering that _The
Incredibles_ was often seen as competing with, and compared favorably against,
_Fantastic Four_ (2005).

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CRowlands
This is awesome it adds a whole other perspective to movies.

