A+Separation

This was the scene where Termeh and her father Nader were quizzing each other, and Razieh comes into the house to help take care of Nader’s sick father.

> > > > > > > > > > >  > > > > > > >
 * 1) When Termeh and Nader were quizzing each other, the shots were cut back and forth between Nader and Termeh. Each time Nader says a word, the camera immediately cuts to Termeh answering him. This was used because Termeh was in another room trying to prepare to go to school while Nader was in the kitchen doing something else. At the end of the shot sequence, Termeh and Nader meet at each other in the kitchen (being in one whole shot), and Nader tests her on one last word. However, Termeh responds to him in (what he thinks) is wrong. Nader says that the word is right when Termeh said that the word was wrong, she also said that if she used the word Nader suggested, the teacher would take off points. Nader responds back saying that he’s always right. This was used to emphasize one of the main themes of this movie: the different rights between men and women. Even though Termeh was right, she has to say the word that Nader said because hes the head of the family.
 * 1) Throughout this scene, the movie is filmed like it was a documentary. There were no special effects, special sounds that were incorporated in the movie. But rather a simple vide of the family’s daily lives, making the audience feel like it was realistic than just a movie for entertainment. There were rarely any worm eye/birds eye, but more of american angles and medium shots. The whole entire film was shot with the most basic angles, so that the audience would focus more on the story rather than the variety of shots. The purpose of the director doing this was because not only did he want to entertain us, he wants us to learn about the cultures of Iran/Middle East.
 * 2) The camera itself was shot in a “purposely casual way” By this I mean that the camera was occasionally wobbly throughout the movie. This gives us a sense of a reality television show, sometimes, the director wouldn’t even edit the shots, but rather have the camera connect the whole entire scene together filming it in one take. This was used to mimic the eyesight of a bystander in the movie; which is the audience. This type of filming was used to let the audience incorporate themselves in the movie, as if they were part of the scene as well.
 * 3) The temperature of the lighting that the director put in this scene was Tungsten lighting. The scene itself was displayed in a warm color, showing the close relationship between Nader and his daughter. Even though they get in a slight argument on Termeh’s quiz, the warm lighting was able to ease the argument and make it look less tense. Through this lighting we can also realize that the argument is some sort of a warm family bond. If this shot was in a different lighting such as Day light, it could make the argument much more intense than it is suppose to be.
 * 4) The whole film (including the scene) was shot through soft light. There were shadows in the film but they were really faint. This was because the director chose to shoot the film in a more realistic way rather than exaggerating what is happening. The shadows in the film were simply show because of the camera angle filming the character, and to add a 3D depth of the characters to show their intentions/personalities/etc. In the scene, Razieh’s daughter was playing with Nader’s father’s oxygen tank. There were barely any shadows set on her other than her neck. This was to illustrate the fact that she was completely innocent, and that she didn’t know playing with the oxygen tank can affect Nader’s father.
 * 1) In this scene, the director used over the shoulder shots to incorporate with the argument. This gives us as audiences to be in the argument as well. At the same time, we’re able to see how the Nader reacts to what Termeh says and the other away around. The director also blurs Termeh so that the shot would focus on Nader.
 * 1) The director also used the edit of graphic match. In the same scene, Razieh was bringing the blankets to the toilet to get them washed. She yells out to the living room asking her daughter if she could bring out the trash. Then, the shot immediately went to the daughter dragging the plastic bag downstairs. The director took away the shot where the daughter responds to her, and these two shots matched together sends us the same message of the sequence as the shot of the daughter included. The same thing happens right after this shot too. We see the daughter picking up the trash bag that she dropped on the stairs, and immediately we see Razieh scolding her. We can also know that Razieh found out what her daughter did without incorporating the shot in.
 * 1) The director also used eyeline match of Razieh’s daughter and Nader’s father in the scene as well. When Razieh’s daughter went too far in playing with the oxygen tank, there was a medium of Nader’s father looking at Razieh, and then the shot transitioned to a medium shot of Razieh’s daughter looking downwards, which lets us know that shes looking at Nader’s father.
 * 1) The director also uses the paths of characters as transitions from one encounter to another. When Termeh leaves the door, the camera follows her out the door where she sees Razieh and her daughter coming up. The camera then follows Razieh back into the house, transitioning between the two characters. Later on in the scene, the camera does the same with Razieh’s daughter. When she walks out of Nader’s father’s room, the camera follows her into the living room where she sees Razieh cleaning the blankets. This lets us know what is going on without cutting the shots in pieces.
 * 2) The camera also used familiar shots to go with the scene as well. When Razieh was cleaning the room, the director incorporated 3 different shots of Razieh pulling the curtain down. This lets the audience know that Razieh’s process of cleaning the house.