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Dear Roger, James, Team Deakins, and Friends,
The establishing shot that kicks off the ambush scene at the border crossing is clearly “coming from” a surveillance camera on one of the helicopters. The audience understands, maybe subconsciously, they’re seeing what the camera in the story world is seeing. This keeps the viewer inside the scene, connected to the action, and further establishes the scope of the operation and “the Beast”. Is this considered a “diegetic” visual story element? Or is there a more correct way of describing this kind of shot? I don’t think it’s considered found footage because it’s taking place in the “now” of the story. It’s perfect for the scene and it’s not in Sheridan’s screenplay so I’m also curious as to how it came about.
Totally Unrelated to the Above: I got hooked on Cormac McCarthy years ago after hearing Roger mention him on one of the podcasts. Are there any specific scenes or scene types you especially like or is it his overall storytelling style? I know you and the team have many other favourite writers. What is it about their work that really speaks to a cinematographer? And what writers present action scenes particularly well?
Thank you Roger, James and Team Deakins for this forum and the great podcast. It’s just wonderful and very generous that you take the time to do all of this.
Best Regards,
Greg Westfall
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Yes, the overhead could be from a helicopter or it could be God looking down on his creation. Who knows? There was a need to establish the geography of the action and this shot is just a repeat of one that followed the team across the border in the first place.
I loved Cormac’s writing style. His descriptions allude to so many more things that what he is immediately referring to. Robert Olmstead’s writing has similar qualities as does Richard Flanagan’s of course. Flanagan’s latest book, Question 7, is a marvel.
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