Out of the Furnace (2013)

After watching a DP/30 youtube interview with Christian Bale I found that he spoke about making films from an actors point of view and what film set he finds most ideal to perform within. He went on to explain that he found acting within a false or green screened environment difficult to portray a character as his surroundings didn't exist, he spoke about acting within an actual location where you can turn the camera around and the backdrop is all real being a far better scape for his performance much like a documentary, giving him something to act to, encompassed in the bounds of the environment. This statement became is easily understood in his most recent film 'Out Of The Furnace' where he plays a brother to a recently returned soldier whose leading a reckless life waging himself in illegal bare knuckle fights. 

This idea of a 360 degree stage in which to perform can be seen in the film where Christian Bale playing Russell is released from jail following his man slaughter sentence. The scene begins with a profile shot of Russell looking out of the prison gates between two guards, the shot continues from here down to when he runs and hugs his brother, looking back to the prison doors, he then walks around the car before his brother Rodney offers him the chance to drive.

The scene is captured in a long take from a medium CU, this method of using a long take with framing that isn't too close allows Christian Bale to move around the frame without being over constrained to his positioning, creating a more natural performance. The camera man learns his movement and finds the best possible position in which to frame him, this seems unconventional as generic shooting usually frames the subject and applies taped lines to ease the focus pulling and increase the control over the scene. This idea of allowing the subject the latitude to act within a larger space relates to the notion of rejecting rehearsals and shooting spontaneously, this is a technique I will be utilising when directing my actors, I trust that their calibre and confidence will be displayed without any concern of the performance being impaired. 

Once the shot cuts from a spontaneously shot scene like this the director can see which part of the performance he likes and/or take pieces in or out to use in the next take, I understand that simple direction in addition to this method will create fresh performances giving the director the choice of what he thinks will work best, the takes become more diverse which will prove to be beneficial at the editing stage.