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.

Zankyou no Terror Episode 6

There were numerous amounts of extreme close-up shots in this episode, specifically the eyes. The reason for this is perhaps to underline a turning point that occurred for a few characters in this episode. Those turning points would be, Shibazaki forming a camaraderie, Nine showing a sign of acceptance towards Lisa and the start of the Five vs. Nine rivalry . Extreme close-up shots of the eyes just have a naturally gravitating effect that is very useful for emotionally involving the audience into significant character changes and events.

Almost right from the beginning this episode tries to have the audience invests themselves into Nine with an extreme close-up showing the weariness and emotional drain in his eye.

A disapproving and suspecting look from Shibazaki. In his mind he’s already acting as a lone wolf. This sets up the scene where he discovers that he’s not alone in this fight.

Part of this scene was just Nine and Lisa looking at each other intently. Nine was reading Lisa while she was giving him the look of determination that gained her a semblance of acceptance. This was also a good use of eye-line matches to visually communicate the situation with little dialogue.

This extreme close-up of Twelve seeing white feathers sets up the reveal that he has synesthesia.

The game is afoot.

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.

Zankyou no Terror Episode 5

This episode introduces us to Five. The most noticeable thing about the images below is that her face is always not in full view. This is a straightforward way of giving a character an air of mystery but her striking first impression comes from the lighting. You’ll notice there’s always light on her. In the first image it’s the summer sun, the sunlight through the window in the second and the lamp in the third. This is opposed to most of the characters who spend a good amount of their screentime in the shadow. This contrast gives her an aura of brazenness and boldness.

A few more things that make these shots attention grabbers are the use of bloom and shallow depth of field. The bloom in the first two shots highlights the character. The shallow depth of field in the first and third shot directs the viewers’ eyes to her face. This was especially effective in the third shot where the viewers’ attention is drawn to that daring look in her eye.

_________________________________________________________________________

In this episode Shibasaki and his superior butt heads about the handling of the bomb threat.

I think this shot best illustrates the strongly diverging views of these two characters. Notice the subtle use of a line of separation; the lamp stand is aligned with the window frame to form a line between the two. The window itself and the vertical lines of the blinds serve to accentuate the gap between them.

This deep focus and high angle shot gives us a diminutive look of the chief. It communicates Shibasaki’s disappointment and perhaps loss of respect.

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.

Kancolle Anime is Coming in Jan 2015

To be honest, I don't get this craze for web based naval game that is using real World War 2 ships such as Yamato or Akagi and anthropomorphize it into moe, cute anime girls but apparently it taken the anime world by storm. Not surprisingly, to cash in the surging popularity, the anime series is coming soon. This kinda reminds me of Strike Witches and Girls und Panzer.

This wiki entry will give a general idea on the phenomenon. 

The official website for the anime.

Zankyou no Terror Episode 4

The obvious eye-catcher in this episode was the exquisite motorcycle scene. The best parts of the scene were the use of camera movement to seamlessly transition to a cut.

In this cut the camera pushes in until the tire covers the entire screen. This acts sort of like a fade to black. The camera then zooms out to show the viewers a side view of the motorcycle. This sequence, due to good camera use has a feel of a very smooth match on action cut.

This is my favorite, which was a creative way of doing a graphic match. The camera continues to track the motorcycle until it accelerates pass the camera and all we see are the horizontal lines on the wall. Then it cuts to a graphic match of an extreme close-up of the line formed by Lisa’s eyelashes. The camera then zooms out to complete the sequence.

And here’s the entire scene for your viewing pleasure:

_______________________________________________________________________

Here’s a couple of interesting shots, which use foreground framing to provide a narrower focus on the subjects. This narrow focus strongly directs the audience’s view on the failure and vulnerability of the police department. They were caught and deceived; the resulting humiliation is communicated well in these shots.