Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis - The Temptation of Jeanne d'Arc

The temptation of Jeanne d'Arc was strongly told through visual storytelling. The use of light, shadow and other compositional elements painted a picture of a character whose core beliefs are about to be shaken.

In Episode 9 Jeanne was accused of being a witch and imprisoned. In her prison cell she prays to a carving of an angel. The scene then cuts to a canted angle of the angel carving (image above). The canted angle was not only used to produce a sense of unease befitting the scene but also to visually portray Martinet’s attempt to shake her beliefs.

The shot above is the strongest compositional representation of Jeanne’s predicament. In a show about demons and gods, a ray of light can be strongly associated with heavenly beings and a way to portray one as holy and ethereal. Jeanne praying in the dark, separated from the ray of light, conveys the lost of her saintly image and a sense of abandonment by the gods. Of course this imagery reinforces the belief Martinet want to instill into Jeanne.

After Martinet tried to convince Jeanne that she has been betrayed by her fellow humans, the scene goes back to an insert of the angel carving. This was to reinforce her dedication to the gods as a holy knight. Later on this image is used for an opposite effect.

The first picture is another strong composition. Jeanne continues to only face the angel carving as a show of resolve against Martinet’s temptation. The ray of light is acting as a separation between her and Martinet’s darkness. However, the smoke from the transformation spell is distorting the light as if to suggest that her separation from temptation is fragile.  The second image is a low angle and shallow focus shot of the spell bottle. The increase in scale and focus stresses out its importance.

In another attempt to sway Jeanne (by suggesting the angels have abandoned her), the ray of light is further distorted with the use of some spooky shadow puppetry. In the second picture, the scene again goes back to an insert of the angel carving but this time to emphasize Martinet’s insistence that Jeanne has been forsaken by the angels.

This last shot greatly sums up Jeanne’s situation. She has remained resolute in her beliefs but she is shaken and the light separating her from the leering temptation (spell bottle) is faint.

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Episode 10 didn’t quite offer composition and imagery as strong as Episode 9 but continued to use light for visual storytelling

In the scene where Jeanne communicates with the angels (perhaps Martinet’s imitation of them), much of the frame was dominated by the angels in the shape of a fire. This dominance of warm color when removed, as shown in the third picture, creates a contrast that accentuates Jeanne’s feeling of abandonment and betrayal.

Abandoned and cornered, Jeanne finally gives in to Martinet’s temptation and accepts his offer.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis Episode 5

The obvious attention grabber of this episode was the large scale battle scene. It’s hard not to be amazed by a battle that included dragons, trebuchets, sorcerers and a flying castle but what caught my eye was the fight scene between Favaro and Kaisar.

The sequence starts with a worm’s eye view of Kaisar attacking Favaro. The camera actually pulls back in this shot, which makes the shot more dynamic. This is evident by the perspective changes in the background. It almost functions as a follow shot that involves the audience more into the action.

After a couple of cuts, the scene proceeds to a brief shaky cam wide shot. The wide shot establishes the characters positioning which sets up the continuity of the closer shots that follow it. The shaky cam adds a bit of dynamism but also makes the transition from the wide shot to the steadicam-like shots less jarring.

As mentioned, the scene transitions to a steadicam-like camera work. The closer look makes the fight engaging and also shows the emotions in the face of the characters. The gif above is the best example. The camera follows the movement of fight, changes focus to the clashing of the blades then to Favaro’s face; all done in one shot. The disadvantage of an up close fight scene is the lack of full body animation and choreography.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis Episode 2

The highlight of this episode was the beautifully shot, animated and edited dance scene. Before the breakdown, let us again watch that exquisite scene:

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This shot manipulates scale in order to place two elements in different planes side by side. The juxtaposition of Amira’s curious expression with the stage-like framing of the dancers really communicates her playful sense of wonder towards these new experiences

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This a POV shot from Amira’s perspective. The use of follow pan on Favaro produces a dynamic and exciting movement that reflects how Amira feels as she learns about dancing. The panning shot also gives the audience a view of the festive atmosphere, as they get to see the jubilant crowd in the background.

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The dancing scene begins with a full shot. It acts as an establishing shot to present the stage for the performance. The next shot is primarily consisted of a medium close-up of Amira, this tells the audience that she’s the main focus of the scene.

What made this scene so seamless and rhythmic were the really well timed match on action cuts. The two shots above exemplify this. In the first shot we get a quick glimpse of Favaro holding Amira’s hand. It then cuts to a different view, but we still see Favaro holding her hand as he completes a swinging motion. The matching motions between cuts maintain continuity despite the changing camera locations.

 The shots above are another example of match on action cuts. The first shot shows Amira losing control of her body. It then cuts to a low angle shot of Favaro grabbing her and then proceeds to swing her around. This whole dance scene is constituted of exceptionally timed match on action cuts.

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I like how the sequence above emphasizes Amira as the main attraction of the scene. First Favaro gets pushed off frame and then Amira’s gets pushed to the center. It basically turns to a centered shot of Amira without cutting or moving the camera.

There’s repeated switches to low angle shots during this dance scene. The low angle gives the characters a larger than life presence and also brings the audience closer to the enthusiasm of the scene.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis Episode 1

The overall visual presentation of the Shingeki no Bahamut premiere was superb. The most impressive part was the horseback chase scene. It had that cinematic feel to it, not just in terms of dynamic camera work but rhythmic and purposeful shot making.

Right from the very beginning, the scene puts the action on top of the audience with a low angle tilt shot and a low level follow shot. The camera being close to the ground produces a sense of speed, which is important to a chase scene. The close view of the galloping horses and the dirt being kicked up also enhanced the excitement of the scene.

The scene then cuts to an aerial overhead shot that pulls back to an extreme wide to show the scale of the chase and the scenery. The characters are then introduced through lateral tracking shots. The insert shot of the horse reiterates the sense of speed. A second overhead shot from a different angle gives us a view of the city, which establishes the setting. Establishing the setting creates continuity with the shot of them jumping on top of city roofs.

As you might have noticed, each shot served a purpose of either establishing the mood or setting through visual storytelling. These shots also weren’t overextended, there’s a great sense of rhythm and continuity to these cuts. All of these elements combined made for a cinematic scene.