Cinematography technique · used in 2 films
Using a handheld camera in tight indoor spaces like apartments, offices and hallways. Private arguments feel witnessed as they happen, and nothing looks staged for an audience.
Examples
Robert Benton · 1979
Nestor Almendros shoots the Kramer apartment from close up, watchful and unhurried. The camera is there in the kitchen, the bedroom and at the breakfast table, and you believe these are real rooms.
Where to see it: Ted and Billy's morning French toast routine. The camera follows their tentative ritual as father and son learn each other's rhythms.
Asghar Farhadi · 2011
Mahmoud Kalari shoots handheld, with the camera carried by hand, and that gives the film its key quality: you feel like you're overhearing all of this. The camera moves with people through doorways, follows arguments around corners and presses in close during confrontations. Everything looks like it's really happening, and nothing feels staged.
Where to see it: The confrontation at the flat door, where Nader pushes Razieh out. The camera pushes into the tight space, and its handheld movement makes the confrontation feel as close as a documentary.
Questions
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