Haikyuu!! Episode 25

The quietness from the ending of Episode 24 continues with the intro to this season finale. Although not completely silent since there’s a really soft music that aids the scene, there’s calmness to it that resonate strongly. The show makes exceptional use of silence to contrast the characters’ thoughts with the normalcy of school life.

The intro starts with a brief flashback to show the intensity and excitement of competition. This is to establish where the characters’ minds are at, which is volleyball. The scene conveys the difficulty of letting go of that strong experience (especially after a painful loss) and settling back to the routine of school life. This feeling is further reinforced with the good usage of panning shots. The camera slowly pans not just for dramatic effect but to show a full view of the characters in their classroom and how their class is the farthest thing from their minds. I also liked that in a couple of shots panning was used to create a sense of connection by moving the camera from one team member to another.

The impressive thing about this little sequence is the fluidity and cohesiveness of the combination of imagery, camera movement and editing. The overlaying of the flying crow is analogous to Hinata’s jumping ability. As we watch Hinata get ready to jump/fly the scene dissolves to him sitting in the classroom, conveying the stark reality of the loss. The camera movement and editing is molded into one. The sequence starts with the camera tracking Hinata from behind then dissolves to a graphic match but what makes this so seamless is the push/pull effect that blends really well with the tracking movement. The combination of tracking shot and push/pull also creates a visual of Hinata being transported from flashback to reality.

Haikyuu!! Episode 24

This episode did a great job of capturing the intense emotions of competition and how sudden that can change to an emotional drop-off after a defeat. Kageyama and Hinata’s conversation with Takeda were especially poignant. It’s a quiet scene that lets the sincerity of the moment sink into the audience.

The above clip is a wide shot of the Takeda conversation. The wide shot gives us a look at the contrasting body language of the characters. Kageyama and Hinata are slumping on the ground sulking while Takeda is standing straight up with a look of poise. It’s an image of difference in maturity that communicates Takeda’s role as a mentor and advisor. Also, notice the large amount of negative space between the characters and above them. This plays into quietness of the scene and its contemplative nature.

This wide shot lingers a bit longer than usual. The longer take allows the audience to absorb the brief pauses where Kageyama and Hinata are lost for words. This is a subdued moment of two young men wordless in their moroseness taking in the words of wisdom of someone they respect.

_________________________________________________________________________

The sequence above is another shot that holds a bit longer. Takeda in the middle of the shot framed by Kageyama and Hinata was another way to show his mentorship and stabilizing presence. We then see Kageyama and Hinata stand up, responding to Takeda’s words of encouragement. The camera zooms out for a full shot of Kageyama and Hinata. The change in posture and scale (from wide shot to full shot) are a visual of growth of the two characters.

Haikyuu!! Episode 20

The pressure of the intense game against Aoba is beginning to become overwhelming. The one that has been most affected by this is Kageyama, who has put the entire burden on himself to win the game. This unnerving pressure was communicated to the audience through composition.

Shots of Aoba players in the background were more prevalent with Kageyama than any other character. By having Aoba players in Kageyama’s background numerous times a consistent imagery of “one vs. team” gets established and provides a visual of his self imposed burden to win singlehandedly. This was also an effective way to evoke from the audience the tense feeling that Kageyama was experiencing.

Haikyuu!! Episode 19

The last scene in this episode, which was the Kageyama setter dump, made great use of foreground framing to put focus on the character on screen and to also create continuity. The characters on play were used for foreground framing; by doing this the viewers become aware of the other parts of the play developing despite not being the focus of the shot. This viewer awareness was essential in creating a sense of continuity, which was very important for the misdirection the scene was going for.

The first image (top-left) is the beginning of the play, with Hinata acting as the first decoy. Kageyama is also on screen, this helps with the continuity in the next shot (top-right) where his body is used for foreground framing. The focus of this shot is the Aoba player witnessing the play develop, which is in the third shot (bottom-left). In this shot Tanaka is the second decoy, again Kageyama is being used to frame the shot for continuity purposes. The fourth image continues Tanaka’s action.

This sequence is the next phase of the play where Asahi acts as the spiker. The first image (top-left) continues to reinforce continuity with Hinata in the foreground still acting as the first decoy. In the next shot (top-right), Hinata is used to frame and put focus on Asahi as he’s about to spike. This of course never happened as we see in the next image (bottom left) where Kageyama executes the setter dump. In the following shot (bottom-right), Kageyama is again used for foreground framing (continuity!) to highlight the shock on the opponent’s face.

The storyboarding also helped a lot with creating continuity, specifically the good use of eyeline matches.

Haikyuu!! Episode 16

Whip pans can be visually off-putting when used inappropriately due to the abrupt movement and distortion of image. When used well, whip pan is a good way to do dynamic transitions especially in action oriented scenes and that’s what this episode of Haikyuu does.

In this sequence two different actions in different places are cut together. By using whip pan to imitate the volleyball’s movement it makes a seamless transition from one action to another, which gives an impression of one cohesive action. This also helps the narrative as it connects two groups of people going through a similar experience of being overmatched but yet still staying resilient.

In this scene, the use of whip pan was more straightforward but nonetheless very effective at showing teamwork. Hinata acts as a decoy, then a whip pan to Daichi as the spiker.

__________________________________________________________________________

The video below was the beautifully done montage. I really like how it uses the shape of the volleyball to frame the sequence, which puts an emphasis on how much the sport can mean to people. Also, the narrow and round field of vision helps puts more focus on the pain of defeat expressed in their faces and body language.

Another thing worth of note is the use of extreme close up on Hinata’s eye with the reflection of his defeated opponent. A moving image but also a subtle way to show Hinata’s empathy since he had a similar experience.

Haikyuu!! Episode 9

There were some really nice subtle touches in this episode in which the character's actions and feelings were mainly expressed through cinematography.

 A long shot of Asahi contemplating. The school and the crows in the background are the visual representation of what's on his mind, which is whether or not he should go back to the team.

 A shallow focus on the crow taking flight in the background, further emphasizes the symbolism. 

 The shallow focus then switches on Asahi as he leaves, emphasizing the decision he has made. Just like the crow in the background he's taking flight again and rejoining the team. In this scene there was no dialogue from Asahi, the visuals were used to speak for the character

___________________________________________________________

This sequence is Asahi's return. Again very little dialogue.

 His entrance scene starts with the camera slowly panning to the entrance. This expresses Asahi's feeling of anxiety and apprehensiveness. Then only his hand comes into view, the camera focuses on it to show how he feels too ashamed to fully present himself

 The scene further builds on this feeling of anxiety by slowly panning up until finally Asahi's face comes into view.

 The shallow focus on Asahi with Nishinoya in the foreground conveys that his return was most important to Nishinoya.

_______________________________________________________________

The sequence in which Asahi came to a realization that he has teammates that support him switches from medium-long shot to a long shot. This switch that made him look more diminutive signifies that he's seeing the bigger picture, that the team is bigger than him and he shouldn't shoulder all the blame.  

Previous post on Haikyuu!! - Episode 8

Haikyuu!! Episode 8

 Long shot with a shallow focus. This establishes the volleyball setting. The haziness and the out of focus background give a memory lane effect. 

 Close up shot of the net with a shallow focus. The net coming into focus strongly suggests that the character (Nishinoya) is reminiscing about volleyball.

 Off center medium shot. Volleyball background remains prominent.

 Medium shot of the back of another character (Asahi). This shot specify what Nishinoya misses about volleyball and that is playing with the person in the shot.

 Full shot of both characters. This establishes the two characters. Asahi having his back turned drives the emotional point that he has left volleyball.

______________________________________________________________________

A mix of medium shots and volleyball imagery express the feeling of playing volleyball is still fresh within Asahi. The head only partially exposed has a melancholic effect by leaving it to the audience's imagination on how Asahi feels.

__________________________________________________________________

These series of photos is Asahi's reaction to Hinata and Kageyama practicing.

 Close up shot of his hand as Asahi remembers the feel of hitting a ball.

 Medium shot with Asahi coming into focus. The low angle from the hand and the focus on him really express how he misses the game.

Full shot of Asahi's silhouette for further emotional effect.