Rotation shot in anime is a very impressive part of a
singular scene. it is usually shown to hammer down the resolve of the character
in question or spike the intensity between more than one character. It is also
a very useful tool to highlight the conflict between the characters.
In the previous introduction, I have hammered the basic usage
of the rotation shot, but what exactly is a rotation shot? However, to fully
explain, the camera should pan around the character, not the other way around.
To tell the truth, I am very low on industry terminology,
and may bend basic language rules to suit my theory. But in this case, a
rotation shot is literal. It is a shot used around a character, mostly the
protagonist or an important secondary character, where the camera revolves
around it. Some may pass it as yet another camera trick, whereas I see it as a ‘make
or break’ factor of a scene.
Bad CGI can really take you out of the experience, but a 2D
animation which looks unnatural or jumpy (or choppy) plays the same role. There
are several examples where the rotation shot either fails, or the scene emphasizes
the lack of knowledge of the staff at how to execute one.
The Master of Ragnarok
& Blesser of Einherjar has an opening which is the culprit of the laughable
rotation shot of the characters I can not even name. Opening songs are the
forefront and representation of the whole show, so why would you choose to use it
poorly in the section which has to be played 12 more times?
The other criminal who
uses the rotation shot to poor effect is Tokyo Ghoul:re opening. First off,
what is even the song? I can’t make heads or tails of the song! If you want
beat changes, take some lessons from Kendrick Lamar (DNA from DAMN) or Travis
Scott (Sicko Mode ft. Drake from ASTROWORLD).
Just on principle, I hate Co Shu Nie by Asphyxia. Back on the track, one
moment has CCG’s ex member turned ghoul standing on what seems to be a
telephone pole, and camera rotates around him, when the desired pose is in the
camera, it suddenly zooms out the shot, giving us a visual whiplash. Same happens
with Akira Mado. It seems like she is standing on a pedestal which is rotating
on its own, and the camera is moving around her. When it reaches behind her,
the camera is pulled again, giving everybody a slap to our eyes for looking at
her too much. This is such a painful and rushed method of making them seem dark
and deep. What they come out as are clowns. However, the OP handles it and the last
shot of Ken Kaneki looking over the city is much more bearable, only because they
did the actual rotation when they focused on Ken’s eye completely thereby
eliminating the environment completely.
But even in the garbage
dump of bad CGI and unbearable concepts of anime, handful of diamonds shine
brightly. Direction in any Fate iteration by ufotable is basically god tier
animation. I will use a scene from ‘Fate/Zero’ that will convince everyone that
ufotable can pull sexy animation. There is a fight between Kotomine and Kiritsugu
at the tail end of the whole show. Kirei is charging towards Kiritsugu (who I
will be calling Emiya because it is easier!) with his blades hanging in the air
around him. Emiya has his gun pointed at Kirei, which is almost at blank range.
The camera starts panning from the left of Emiya, rotates from behind and
speeds up around Kirei. Then, it rotates from Kirei’s head and goes towards the
ceiling.
We see a close up of Emiya’s face, then a close up of Kirei’s face, which are both emotionless and exceptionally detailed. Behind Kirei’s shoulder, we see Emiya standing sternly, with his gun pointed towards him. When the shot zooms out, we see Kirei’s blades targeted towards Emiya. Also, this is the last we see of their fighting. LEMME TELL YOU ONE THING BOI, WATCH FATE/ZERO, JUST TO SEE THIS FIGHT!
We see a close up of Emiya’s face, then a close up of Kirei’s face, which are both emotionless and exceptionally detailed. Behind Kirei’s shoulder, we see Emiya standing sternly, with his gun pointed towards him. When the shot zooms out, we see Kirei’s blades targeted towards Emiya. Also, this is the last we see of their fighting. LEMME TELL YOU ONE THING BOI, WATCH FATE/ZERO, JUST TO SEE THIS FIGHT!
Another moment which
highlights the rotating shot used this efficiently comes from Haikyuu! Now,
this show has a lot of good camera work. Kageyama’s set in season 1 episode 24
was captured beautifully. So is Hinata’s smash in the end of S2 OP2 ‘Fly high’
by Burnout Syndromes. But one of the best moments using Rotation shot features
in Season 2. The match is getting intense by the moment, and the momentum is
wavering. At that moment, Hinata gathers the courage and sets a solid footing
for the whole team. What follows is typical Haikyuu fashion sports rumble. What
matters is the camera rotation, going from the back of his head to a rapid movement
to his side.
I know it does not
sound much, but give Tokyo Ghoul:re’s OP to see how to misuse a camera, and
watch Kotomine vs Emiya to savour the greatness that is ufotable.
Let me know if you
liked this Anime Essay on Twitter by hitting me up @rishabh_SSW
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