When I was in college
and everyone was writing papers about Hitchcock or the French New Wave,
I wrote about Spielberg.
I remember studying a scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Within a minute of starting the scene,
I forgot that I was analyzing it.
I got so caught up in the film
that I watched it straight through to the end.
I had to figure out how Spielberg hooked me.
So I studied every Spielberg film I could.
Over time, I noticed a particular pattern.
Spielberg`ing secret, if you will.
Once I figured it out, I applied this technique to my own films
and it made me a better filmmaker.
Let me show you what I'm talking about.
No, you're right.
This is not a Spielberg film,
but to understand Spielberg's technique,
we've got to look at where it began.
So here's a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest."
Hitchcock is known for his reliance on the point of view shot or POV.
This famous scene is composed of 133 shots.
A whopping 46 of them are POV shots.
Here`s one.
And there's another one.
And another one.
It's not very hard to see what's going on here.
Hitchcock shows us a character.
Then shows us the character's point of view.
Then shows us the character's reaction.
It's a sort of POV sandwich,
and it's everywhere in Hitchcock's films.
The POV sandwich serves a very specific purpose.
By showing us exactly what a character sees,
Hitchcock puts us in their shoes, so to speak.
We get drawn into the story
because it's key moments are shown to us, literally, through the character's eyes.
So what does this have to do with Spielberg?
First of all,
Spielberg isn't shy about using Hitchcock's technique.
Check out this famous POV sandwich from "Jaws."
There's Chief Brody,
and Brody's POV,
and his reaction.
But if you watch most Spielberg films,
you'll notice there are very few POV shots.
Somehow Spielberg draws us into the story and characters
without relying on Hitchcock's signature tool.
How does he do it?
Let's take a look at another Spielberg scene for a clue.
Here's part of the basket chase scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Here's our hero. He's looking for Marion
who has been kidnapped and carried off in a basket,
and there she is
and this is our POV shot or is it?
Look at that.
Indiana Jones`s eye-line doesn't match the POV shot at all.
He's looking off to the right of frame,
not straight down the alley.
So what is this shot?
Let's watch this moment one more time.
But this time listen.
Indiana Jones hears Marion's call for help.
He turns and runs towards her voice.
Spielberg didn't just show us a point of view.
He showed us a thought.
The very next shot Jones
runs up from a wide shot to a very tight close-up.
It's a perfect opportunity to cut to a POV shot to show us what he sees,
but no instead the camera holds then pulls back
and follows Jones into the chaos of the marketplace.
Why does Spielberg denies the point of view?
And what does he give us instead?
Jones has no idea where Marion is,
he wants to see Marion, but he can't.
And in the shot,
we want to see what Jones sees, but we can't.
We share an emotional moment with Indiana Jones.
And everywhere in Spielberg films,
characters stare in wonder at something off-screen.
The thing they're looking at is often mysterious.
And since it's off-screen, out of frame,
it's just as much of a mystery to us.
"I think it's ahead of us."
In "E.T." nearly every shot of the film is from a child's eye level.
We're presented with the world as Elliot experiences it.
"-Only little kids can see them. -Give me a break."
Spielberg does this a lot.
Again and again, he shows us the world
the way his characters think it,
rather than how they see it.
We feel what they feel.
We feel their thoughts.
That's what makes Spielberg such a powerful filmmaker.
That's why we lose ourselves so easily in his world.
I promised you a technique, something you can apply
to your own filmmaking.
I call it "Point-of-Thought."
If the point of view shot puts your audience
in your characters literal position in space,
the point of thought gives your audience a visual expression of your character's mind.
It draws your audience deeper into your character`s world,
which makes the experience of your story much more direct and personal.
The key is this.
Use your camera to express your character's thoughts.
If your characters tense, try close up.
If your character feels threatened, use a high angle shot.
Ever since I figured this out,
I've been using the point of thought technique in my own films.
Like this shot from "The Pirate Captain Toledano."
The captain has just found this unusual silver cup.
It's very significant to him.
It dominates our field of view,
much like it dominates the captain's thoughts.
Now that you've learned Spielberg's secret.
You should go back and re-watch your favorite Spielberg films.
Watch for the way his shots consistently express a character's emotions.
And when you do start shot listing,
check out the shot listing and storyboarding modules in StudioBinder.
And, if you want to learn more great visual storytelling tools,
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Keep making movies and I'll see you next time.