Thursday, May 31, 2018

Muted Bells

I like the precision of "Better Call Saul" shots. Just really hard to fine-tune these views. For example, in the episode 'Nailed,' an agitated Nacho calls Mike, asking to meet. The view faces out the windows of Loyola's Restaurant, with Nob Hill's bell-shaped street lamps in the distance.

In general, in "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul," bells signify danger, but despite Nacho's agitation, there is little real danger here: Mike has the situation fully in hand. So, how to defuse the danger symbolism of the bells seen in the distance?

What the film crew has done is to arrange that the mouths of most of the bells are obscured by the Venetian blinds. There is some danger here, of course, but it is muted.

Just arranging this shot must have taken some doing.

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