The vampire diaries is a drama, fantasy, horror series that has been airing from 2009-present. It’s based on the popular book series of the same name written by L.J.Smith. The television series was developed by Kevin Williams and Julie Plec.
In the episode 12 “Prayer for the Dying” we see Caroline walking down the stairs and there is a close-up of her feet, to emphasize her cautiousness in not making the slightest sound. The lighting is impeccable for a night scene, as it gives her silhouette a bit of a predator edge to it. I love this aspect because one can clearly see it’s daytime, and the fact that it was easily achieved is quite good.
I also love the way the sound effects has been used in the second part of the episode to heighten the tension when she first hears the sound of something breaking. However, there are shadows in the very beginning which make it impossible to see Caroline’s face clearly.
In the second scene of the same episode, Elena, Damon, Liz and Kai are in hospital having a conversation and though the panning is good, and a close up of Liz is achieved, because we can tell she’s obviously skeptical of Kai and at the same time anxious to let him drain off the vampire blood from her, there’s too much lead space, which diverts the attention of the viewers from the main subjects to the things surrounding them.
It’s safe to say also, that the two-shot of Elena and Damon has too much head room. The angle in which the audience is supposed to see Elena from Damon’s point of view hasn’t been well delivered either due to the fact that although you can see a bit of the shoulder, the head has been cut in such a way that you only see the neck.
In episode 13 “The Day I Tried to Live” after Kai and Luke merge, Kai is the one who survives. Kai is the villain, so naturally Damon tries to finish him off. The visual effect of Kai disappearing into thin air right before the moment Damon gets to him is both unexpected and spectacular, seeing as it means Kai has acquired more power, which makes him even more dangerous than before, and in general improves the whole production.
Additionally, the way in which fade-out/fade in has been used after Damon’s scene is impeccable. The next scene where Bonnie is stuck in the 1994 prison world, the genre of the music poses as a problem as it doesn’t go hand in hand with Bonnie’s emotions. It’s more of an up-beat song you’d normally find in a club (or maybe, the crew might have wanted to portray Bonnie as a carefree soul).
One advantage of the genre of the music is that it fits the 90’s era perfectly. It’s also amazing to see Bonnie in a high angle which gives the effect of her being so tiny in her surroundings. Nonetheless, the lead space is a bit too much in that, one finds themselves focusing on the beautiful chandeliers, the lovely cabinets behind Bonnie, and the very polished kitchen countertop, totally dismissing her in the process.
In episode 14 “Stay”, as Liz Walks side by side with the investigator, one can see them coming towards the screen, and later them walking directly away.
In episode 15 “Let Her Go” scene 9, after Caroline switches her humanity off and kidnaps Stefan’s niece Sarah, she agrees to let her go on the condition Stefan switches his humanity off too. An extreme close-up of his eyes is taken and we see the exact moment he closes his eyes to indicate him shutting it off. True to the fact, when his eyes open again, they give off ‘I’m-a-ripper-and-I’m-ready-to-rip-your-head-off’ aura, and it’s just an intense moment.
In episode 16 “The Downward Spiral” when Caroline has just finished singing on the stage and is waiting for the director’s evaluation, we see Stefan mock-clapping her, and his left side is cut off so we don’t get to enjoy his view fully; and when he’s outside the school and he’s just realized Caroline has just dismantled his bike, his frame is too close to the edge making it look like he’s going to run into a wall.
Another scene that impresses me is when Stefan literally lights some sort of gas cylinder and it explodes in Caroline’s face. The angle in which she’s lying down and Stefan is looking down at her makes it look like he’s two seconds away from falling off the frame. The dutch angle is just a nice touch as it portrays uneasiness as there is no knowing what Stefan will do next.
In the same scene, there’s one jerky shot of Lily as she talks about bringing other vampires she considers her family from the 1903 prison world. Alaric and Enzo’s scene is way under lit. I understand it’s a vampire show and it’s all about darkness and blood, but still…
The same goes for Episode 7 “A Bird in a Cage”, scene 5 when Damon and his mom are talking about what must be done to connect Stefan with his humanity again.
Looking at the season as a cohesive whole, the ambience was good; there were no weird noises in the background, or the music being louder than the character’s voices. The music and sound effects were just enough to set the tone. There wasn’t a time I saw equipment I’m not supposed to see, for example, the boom mic, and apart from one scene where it’s a bit shaky, the scenes were neither dragged to the point of getting boring, nor the shots not being in focus.
I noticed the entire season used the fade in/out which was a good transition seeing as it’s a vampire show. There wasn’t also a time I felt the panning was so fast. The camera movements were consistently stable, and the visual effects were successfully achieved with all the vampire super inhuman speed going on.
emerralde 