La Haine (1995) Scene Remake Storyboard
For this unit I was tasked to create a storyboard for a sequence inspired by a scene from a film. I chose a scene from the French film, La Haine (1995), where Saïd wakes up Vinz in his bedroom. In my subverted scene, I have subject 1 enter subject 2’s bedroom, waking him up, rolling a cigarette as he gets ready, and looking at each other in the mirror.
In the original scene, the lighting was very soft, and all shots were in deep focus, setting a natural, ‘fly-on-the-wall’ tone. The first element I changed was the quality of the light. In shots 4 and 7 there are examples of hard, high-key lighting in the foreground and background on subject 2. By employing two-point lighting techniques in shot 4, and keeping a deep focus, I was able to create contrasts on both subject’s faces.
However, the foreground key light on subject 2 was comparably softer, which Picture Composition states “other visual design methods to control composition have to be used” (Ward 2002, p. 176). So, to improvise, we hung black jumpers on a drying rack to absorb the light on subject 1’s smart side and stabilise a high contrast. This noir style complex lighting removes the sense of realism and makes it dramatic and staged, which truly reflects the harsh world La Haine is set in.
This is also why I decided to keep the photos in black and white, so I could produce noir- esque level of contrasting by making shadows more evident. Practice of Light states, “The difficulty of approaching ... dark makes it not only fearful but also alluring” (Cubitt 2014, p. 21). Therefore, in shot 7, subject 2 is shown with very dark shadows masking half his face, giving the impression that he is more of an antagonist. In shots 5 and 6, the soft lighting exposes everything in sight, so subject 1 is shown as more of a protagonist as he’s more clearly exposed in frame, supported by the lighter clothing he wears.
The second element I changed was the framing. In shots 5 and 6, the shallow focus pull shifts the viewer’s attention from the back of subject 1’s head, on the right side of the frame, to his face, in the centre of the frame. Picture Composition states, “Framing anything towards the corners gives the impression that the subject matter is slipping away” (Ward 2002, p. 84). Throughout the sequence, subject 1 is mostly framed on the right side of the frame, which reveals that his character seems less static than subject 2, who’s mostly central framed. In shot 1, subject 1 is fully in focus laying on the bed, with subject 2 behind him slightly out of focus. Immediately the viewer concentrates on the facial expressions of subject 1, which allows them to identify with him easier than subject 2.
In shot 1, we have subject 1, right framed, hanging off the bed in focus with subject 2 behind out of focus. Peter Ward (2002, p. 173) states, “dead centre framing drains the shot of any visual interest”. Both subjects are positioned on separate sides, introducing dynamic tension between them and the frame. The same can be said for shot 4, with both subjects in focus on extreme sides of the frame, they not only possess a relationship of tension between the frames but also with each other.
Another element changed was the camera techniques. I used early film techniques in shot 2 by placing the camera on a tripod and placed at the end of the bed with subject 1 in centre frame. Shot 4, on the other hand, was taken by moving the desk out and the camera operator kneeling behind it by the wall. By blending New French Wave filming techniques with the old, I was able to further remove the sense of realism from the scene to compliment the dramatized noir atmosphere. The handheld technique allowed me to shoot POV shots of the subjects, a change from the original scene. Introducing POV shots, like in shots 3 and 7, enhances how the viewer can identify with subject 2, the supposed protagonist.
Ward, P., 2002. Picture Composition [online]. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group.
Cubitt, S., 2014. The Practice of Light [online]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
La Haine, 1995. Canal+.
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