So I rewatched the phone call scene (in fact I rewatched the entire episode) to pay attention to the camera angles and you're right. The camera circles around and draws closer to Philip as he's speaking, and it ends with a very cool shot (though out of focus) of an American flag waving in the background. That's pretty wild. The scene is telegraphing that Philip has chosen sides.
Speaking of the camera work, when I rewatched the episode, I noticed that the camerawork in the 'morning after' kitchen scene between Philip and Elizabeth is especially good at emphasizing what's happening between the two. I mentioned it in my Twitter. They're in the same frame together outside. When they enter the kitchen, they're still in the same frame, but the scene itself is divided: they're on one side, the empty house is on the other side. The camera starts to divide them to opposite sides of the frame when Elizabeth first proposes her plan. By the time Elizabeth describes Philip taking Kimmy to Bulgaria, he is almost entirely out of the scene except for the tip of his hand. It cuts to a reaction shot of him and she is almost entirely out of the frame. Then they come back into the same frame when Philip says, "There's got to be another way." Elizabeth starts talking and the camera starts dividing them again when she says, "It all comes down to this." Then they're back in frame together though neither looks at the other when she says, "All you'd have to do is go on a trip." They go back to separate frames when Philip objects and says, "She's just a kid." They stay in separate frames until Elizabeth says, "You're done." The very last shot in this scene is of Philip looking reproachfully at her. Elizabeth is just a dark blur.
That was really terrific staging, IMO. As I said on Twitter, you could watch this scene with the sound off and still know how troubled these two are by the way the camera divides them. There are only a couple of points in the discussion when they're actually together; otherwise they are pulling apart and just reacting to each other.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Camera angles
Date: 2018-04-28 09:26 pm (UTC)Speaking of the camera work, when I rewatched the episode, I noticed that the camerawork in the 'morning after' kitchen scene between Philip and Elizabeth is especially good at emphasizing what's happening between the two. I mentioned it in my Twitter. They're in the same frame together outside. When they enter the kitchen, they're still in the same frame, but the scene itself is divided: they're on one side, the empty house is on the other side. The camera starts to divide them to opposite sides of the frame when Elizabeth first proposes her plan. By the time Elizabeth describes Philip taking Kimmy to Bulgaria, he is almost entirely out of the scene except for the tip of his hand. It cuts to a reaction shot of him and she is almost entirely out of the frame. Then they come back into the same frame when Philip says, "There's got to be another way." Elizabeth starts talking and the camera starts dividing them again when she says, "It all comes down to this." Then they're back in frame together though neither looks at the other when she says, "All you'd have to do is go on a trip." They go back to separate frames when Philip objects and says, "She's just a kid." They stay in separate frames until Elizabeth says, "You're done." The very last shot in this scene is of Philip looking reproachfully at her. Elizabeth is just a dark blur.
That was really terrific staging, IMO. As I said on Twitter, you could watch this scene with the sound off and still know how troubled these two are by the way the camera divides them. There are only a couple of points in the discussion when they're actually together; otherwise they are pulling apart and just reacting to each other.