In 2018, Variety introduced a Hollywood cinematographer Jonathan Sela as
a "billion-dollar cinematographer."
It was because he was involved in sequels of blockbusters
such as Fast & Furious, Transformers, and Die Hard.
Under the restrictions of continuing the format of series that left a mark in the audiences' minds,
Sela not only infused the films with his style, but also shot
visually engaging action scenes that the audience could fully enjoy.
Another reason why Sela became recognized can be seen in
Variety's praise on Sela, a "Master Storyteller."
In various interviews with Sela, he emphasizes that
the first thing he thinks about is story.
And his love for storytelling is the driving force.
His philosophy on cinematography is best shown in the 2014 film John Wick.
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John Wick is a directorial debut of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch,
two prolific stunt performers/coordinators.
Having been acquainted with them during The Matrix series,
Keanu Reeves approached them on directing John Wick.
The two directors wanted to diverge from the trend of
modern action films that relay on fast cuts and handheld shots,
so they often employed long takes for the audience
to fully take in the progression of the action in the frame.
They also took framing and composition from action films in the 60s-70s.
They wanted to show the flowing action artistically,
and Keanu Reeves was best suited for the role due to
his extensive experience in action performance.
Keanu Reeves had the belief that action should be rooted in
character's emotions and story, so he naturally fitted into
the directors' goal of differentiating John Wick from the modern trend in action genre.
With his story-oriented cinematography, Jonath Sela could
artistically convey these wishes of the directors and the lead.
In this scene when Russian crime boss Viggo Tarasov's team of hitmen are storming John Wick's house,
everyone is dressed in black, including the protagonist.
And since the scene takes place during nighttime,
it has a risk of bringing confusion to the audience.
But the camera enables the audience to easily follow the situation
through a consistent framing of the characters.
When the frame is split in half, the audience will mostly see
John Wick on the left,
and Viggo's men on the right.
After sending his team of hitmen to John Wick's house, Viggo sits and starts singing.
Here, Viggo is always positioned on the right side of the frame.
This framing establishes that the Right Side is Viggo's territory.
The Left Side could be the territory of John Wick, who is "opposed" to Viggo.
Now Viggo's men are approaching John Wick's house.
They are closing in from left and right of the frame,
as if they are locking John Wick in the middle.
Then, they emerges from the Right Side (Viggo's territory),
and enters the Left Side (John Wick's territory).
In a scene that is being crosscut with this hitmen scene,
Viggo leans forward and invades John Wick's space himself too.
In the next shot, John gazes at the Right Side, Viggo's space.
John then crosses from his territory Left Side to the Right Side,
preparing to face the Viggo's men on that side.
Now Viggo's men have filled John Wick's house,
and emerge from left and right just like the earlier shots,
giving the impression that they're surrounding him.
But John manages to secure his space,
and removes all of the invaders in that area.
Having become dominant, John jumps into Viggo's space and kills many more men.
John Wick retreats back into his territory on the Left.
That is because he has to reload.
In the following shot, John brings one of the men to the Left Side,
subdues him, invades Viggo's territory again,
and takes scare of two people including the man.
Again, Viggo's men emerge from Viggo's Right Side and approach Left Side.
But in a smooth movement almost like a straight line,
John moves from Left to Right and eliminates all of them.
There may be fights that bring a brief confusion,
but John mostly appears from Left and the middle,
and his enemies from the Right.
Interestingly, when John faces a slightly challenging opponent,
you can see their fight positioned right in the middle of the frame.
It is as if you are watching a tight tug of war.
When John Wick takes care of all of Viggo's men, a policeman arrives.
Here, the policeman is positioned on the Left, John Wick's territory.
This means he is on John Wick's side.
The policeman, who seems to be acquainted with John,
regards the incident at John's home as "noise complaint" and leaves peacefully.
After Viggo's men have been taken care of, the technique of using
Left and Right of the frame is no longer in use as frequently as this scene.
Why is John Wick always on the Left Side of the frame?
Usually, the Right is reserved for strong protagonists
or characters who are in possession of superior strength in that moment.
The Left is for antagonists or weak characters.
The audience wants John to succeed in his vengeance,
yet interestingly, John, who is the protagonist, is on the Left.
In the film, John Wick is considered a fearsome, legendary hitman.
So after the audience hears the anecdote of John killing three men with a pencil,
they see John's true nature and ability being revealed for the first time.
And since the invaders become instantly helpless at John's hands,
he is placed in the Left, the villains' territory in this scene.
After the success of John Wick, Jonathan Sela
continued working with one of its directors, David Leitch,
and let his talent shine in well-received action films
such as Atomic Blonde and Hobbs & Shaw.
In the interview with Variety, Sela reveals that action is actually not his favourite genre.
The genres that he's interested in venturing into are musical and fairy tale.
He is a cinematographer who makes me look forward to
seeing what kind of new stories he will unfold in his new projects.
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