Sora no Method Episode 5

The last flashback sequence made good use of matching character and camera movements in order to connect the present and the past.

The sequence begins in the present with a static shot of Yuzuki running to meet her friends for the supposed fireworks. It then cuts to the past, where we see different tracking shots of Yuzuki running to meet Nonoka to see the fireworks but ended up getting lost. Even though it begins with a static shot, the forward character movement matches well with the tracking movement in the flashback. This almost acts as a match on action cut from the present to the past.

The similarity in movements between character and camera creates a nice parallel between the present and the past. The flashback shows her running aimlessly and unable to fulfill her promise, which caused her to be lost as a person. The present shows her running with conviction. She has found herself and seeking to reconnect with her friends and finally fulfill their promise.

The camera revolving around Yuzuki mimics the feeling of getting lost by showing the unfamiliar environment around the character. The camera also pushes in as it revolves; this creates an unsettling feeling which conveys the panic consuming Yuzuki. Just like in Episode 3, the sequence transitions out of the flashback by zooming into an extreme close up and zooming out to a graphic match.

Sora no Method Episode 3

The drama in the latter parts of this episode was constructed cohesively. I particularly liked the use of cross cutting between Nonoka at the old kindergarten and her friends in the forest as a way to form a parallel about how they’re all trying to piece together the past.

This portion of the episode was strongly focused on recounting the past. The kindergarten scene was particular effective in communicating this theme.

When seeing an abandoned building, thoughts of its uses in the past and how it has been left behind by time come to mind. This scene illicit similar feelings. As Nonoka walks around the kindergarten school, the scenery stirs up thoughts of its past when the classrooms were filled with children and the playground was full of activity during recess. These thoughts of the past were strongly pertinent to the drama.

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This scene also effectively used insert shots to slow the pacing down to build up drama. The simple act of sitting down and putting down a backpack accentuated the lonely looking centered shot of Nonoka sitting by herself.

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This might look a bit gimmicky but I thought the use of quick zoom to an extreme close up graphic match was a creative way of transitioning in and out of a flashback. The abrupt zoom conveys the suddenness of Nonoka’s realization of the past.

Sora no Method Episode 2

I didn’t really expect this show to offer much in a way of interesting cinematography but this episode pleasantly surprised me with some meaningful shot making.

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As the first episode suggested, Shione has a long held resentment towards Nonoka. Shione is cold to her and even going as far as ignoring her altogether. The shot above reinforces these emotions by creating distance and space between the two. Framing the characters at each side of the frame creates distance. The depth produced by the perspective lines of the desks combined with the exaggerated negative space produced by the low-angle emulates Shione’s feeling of emptiness towards Nonoka.

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This scene engages in imagery. Although it’s a bit too obvious, I thought it was an effective callback to the character’s past. The close-up of the sculpture reflects the period when Noel patiently and longingly waited for Nonoka. It even resembles this shot from the last episode. The scene then cuts to a full shot of the sculpture and a waiting Noel to complete the parallel.

This was an 18 second scene with only those two shots. Since the two shots are similar, it felt like an 18 sec. extended take. This was designed to let the audience absorb the past and the nature of the character.

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In the clip above, the combination of lateral tracking and shallow focus is used to change the main subject of interest of the scene. Even though Yuzuki dominates the dialogue, the camera tracks away from her, centers Nonoka and puts her in focus. This is to show Nonoka trying to get to know and understand Yuzuki. The camera then tracks back and focuses on Yuzuki to visually emphasize her conviction.

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The above are a sequence of shots from one scene. I’m not sure if the last one breaks the 180 degree rule since Noel’s sight line direction didn’t change but the switch of her screen orientation from right side to left side broke continuity. It’s also unbalanced framing. The lack of noseroom/looking room gave Noel’s sight line very little distance to travel, therefore missing visual weight.