Space Dandy S2 Episode 13

This final episode sure was a visual feast. Not much in way of thoughtful composition but this was a fast paced and action-centric episode, appropriately much of the focus was on delivering superb animation and exciting sequences. There was plenty of dynamic camera work, mostly composed of follow/tracking shots. The most impressive parts were the almost unnoticeable cuts that made the some of the action scenes looked seamless.

Look at all those perspective changes! There’s cut at the 15 sec. mark, where the camera position switches from side to front view. The switch in view didn’t really interrupt the flow of the action. The reason for this is the contours and color palette in the frames prior and after the cut were fairly similar.

The flash from the explosion at the 2 sec. mark is used to hide the cut. At the 8 sec. mark, extreme close ups are used to hide another cut.

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Nice use of progressing closer shots to build drama/tension. First a wide shot, mid-shot, close up and finally an extreme close up. In between them are eyeline matches between Dandy and the monitor, where he reaches out to what matters the most. The last shot of the monitor uses Dandy’s eyelids for a frame within a frame shot. This adds extra emphasis to Dandy’s primary motive for fighting. All these dramatic build up for the sake of that booty, topped off with a comical zoom.

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This shot is the only part of the finale that I didn’t like. The tower and its vanishing point are way too off center, which leaves all that empty space in left side and middle of the shot. It’s an unbalanced framing where the empty space comes off as the focus.

Space Dandy S2 Episode 12

This episode had a plethora of camera movements and editing techniques. In terms of editing there were dissolves, wipes, split screens, split screen wipes and match cuts. The camera movements were composed of pans, whip pans, tilts, shaky cam, erratic zooms and parallax effect. The camera work lacked movement in the z-axis but the variety mixed with the snappy editing gave the episode a dynamic look.

For the most part the stylish camera work and editing worked well in conjunction and maintained continuity. Although, there were actually too much going on that it made it hard to take in the scenes and pin point anything to talk about. Also, some of the dissolves were way too slow and visually distracting. Some of the split screens resulted in sloppy framing and the point of interest being partially obstructed. Despite some faults, all in all the direction in this episode was interesting.

The most interesting part was the clever use of formulaic sequence of shots for the testimony of Scarlet, Meow and QT. The structure of their scenes being almost identical is a visual narrative of the prosecution’s similar approach for each witness.

Each scene starts with a medium close-up to full shot of the character to establish them as the primary focus of the scene.

The scene transitions to a split screen as the prosecutor paints Dandy in a negative light by using the witness’s history with him.

When the prosecutor moves on to saying incriminating things about Dandy and getting the witness to do the same, the camera zooms out to a foreground framing shot. This framing puts an emphasis on the dialogue that incriminates Dandy and also the foreground seems to be from his vantage point.

Space Dandy S2 Episode 11

I really liked the moodiness of the cold intro to this episode and how it uses color and scale to emphasize certain things.

I think the most noticeable thing about this intro was everything is desaturated except for the neon lights outside and the glass of drink. Desaturation combined with strong shadows has a gloomy and somber effect. The use of a few colorful elements for contrast makes this mood even more potent.

In the three images above there’s a slight shallow focus. The glass is slightly out of focus while Dandy is in focus. This helps maintain Dandy as the primary subject of the shot even though the more colorful glass of drink pops more visually.

You’ll notice in the second image that the camera moved in closer to make the glass of drink appear larger. In this intro we never saw the woman Dandy was talking to but by emphasizing the glass of drink we start attaching her voice to it and it becomes her analogue. In the third image (from the same shot as the second), she finishes her drink. The lost of color that took up half of the shot has a certain sadness to it and a clear indication that she’s leaving Dandy.

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Camera movements in the z-axis (push in, pull out and rotational shots) were done to emphasize Dandy and crew’s three dimensional existence and to provide a stark contrast to Paul’s 2-D universe.

Space Dandy S2 Episode 8

Almost right from the very beginning the show uses canted framing. This type of unleveled framing is often used in action heavy scenes to create a hectic pace. However, it can also be used to create some visually unnerving shots, which was the case in the beginning of this episode. These canted shots immediately induce a sense of eeriness that is often associated with the world of the dead.

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Cold-Warm Contrast

The above is probably the most striking cold-warm contrast shot in this episode. Notice how most of the shot, the background and mid-ground, have a blue (cold) hue to it while the foreground on the left side is mostly red (warm). This creates a stark contrast that strongly draws the viewers’ attention to the only warm part of the image, which of course makes the sad looking lady clown with a cat protruding off her chest look even creepier.

Warm and cold colors seem to be used as analogues to life and death. Red being life and blue is death. The images above might be evident of that. Dandy with his face still intact has that red color to it but when it was pulled off it turned to a glowing blue.

More cold-warm contrast shots.

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One way this episode engrossed the audience to this world of the dead was by using two-point perspective to create depth. The first image was a forward tracking shot that put the audience in Dandy’s place as he takes in the view of this drab looking world.

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Another cold-warm contrast shot but what separates this from the others is a little bit of symbolism. The giant red structure obviously resembles the shape of an egg, an image representing life. Dandy in the middle of it demonstrates his stubborn determination to live.

Space Dandy S2 Episode 5

This episode was exceptional at immediately immersing the viewers to a new world by making the main character inconspicuous. By immersing the viewers in the initial moments, they get absorbed into the journey even before the focus shifts to Dandy.

In this shot you really don’t notice Dandy right away. He’s a tiny figure at the bottom right, covered by the shadow and his brown color palette blending with the ground. The audience’s eyes are immediately attracted to the environment, specifically the cacti.

Dandy is more noticeable in these images but again the world is the focus. The scale of the rocky tower and the amount of detail it has captures the audience’s attention.

Again, Dandy blends with the background. In the first image the viewers’ attention is initially drawn to the side characters since their colors contrast more against the brown wall. The secondary focus is the outside environment seen through the window.   In the second image the side characters remain as the focus. Notice the ray of light; it basically acts as lines directing the viewers’ attention to these characters. Another thing that draws the viewers’ attention are the dense amount of colorful objects that the side characters are sitting next to.