everything i know about filmmaking i learned watching seven samurai

8/12/2019 Everything I Know About Filmmaking I Learned Watching Seven Samurai

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Published by Michael Wiese Productions

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Copyright 2015 by Richard D. Pepperman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any

means without permission in writing f rom the author, except for the inclusion of brief

quotations in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kenworthy, Christopher.

Kenworthy, Christopher.

Master shots. Volume 3, Te directors vision : 100 setups, scenes, and moves for your

breakthrough movie / Christopher Kenworthy.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-61593-154-5

1. Cinematography. I. Title. II. Title: Directors vision.

TR850.K4633 2013

777.8--dc23

2013015076

Printed on Recycled Stock

for

Akira Kurosawa

and

students of film everywhere

StealingCuts.indb 4 5/14/14 11:57 AM


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C

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Prelude: East Meets West Meets East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x

Foreword: Sidney Atkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

STORY: Teaching and Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxii

D I S C 1 :

. MT:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200:00:01 00:03:09

. ITNG PU :. . . . . . . .300:03:10 00:10:26

. S S:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1700:10:27 00:17:09

. D T:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2200:17:10 00:24:58

. A M H D: . . . . . . . . . . . . .2800:24:59 00:32:56

. SA. PI:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3500:32:57 00:40:30

. S A. PII: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4200:40:31 00:49:50

. T S S: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4600:49:51 01:01:11

. F V:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5101:01:12 01:09:44

. FA:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5501:09:45 01:14:13

. MP: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5801:14:14 01:22:38

. SA C: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6301:22:39 01:26:31

. SA:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6701:26:32 01:34:14

v



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. T SG:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7201:34:15 01:40:25

. T:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

01:40:26 01:46:38

. I:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8401:46:39 01:51:52

D I S C 2 :

. H(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8600:00:01 00:03:30

. NW():. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8100:03:31 00:07:05

. BB(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9500:07:06 00:12:56

. T S(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9900:12:57 00:20:13

. T SA (): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10700:20:14 00:28:07

. F(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11200:28:08 00:30:23

. T F B(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11500:30:24 00:41:30

. NS (): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

00:41:31 00:49:08

. T SB(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12800:49:09 00:56:55

. BL():. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13300:56:56 01:08:23

. T N(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13901:08:24 01:21:36

. T LB(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14701:21:37 01:30:35

. F(): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15601:30:36 01:34:51

Awaken: An Enduring Muse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

W A T C H I N G S E V E N S A M U R A I P E P P E R M A Nvi



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P:EMWME

Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) opened to audiences

in Japan on April 26, 1954, released by the Toho Film Com-

pany. In August of that year it appeared at the Venice Film

Festival; director Akira Kurosawa was acknowledged with the

festivals Silver Lion. American audiences received the film on

November 19, 1956 at the Guild Teatre in New York City,

released by Toho and Columbia Pictures. Te running timethat autumn day was 160 minutes, far too long for comfort

or for the story it has to tell. Te director is annoyingly rep-

etitious, wrote Bosley Crowther in the next days New York

Times. Mr. Crowther was fifty-one years of age on that date,

so it is possible that his discomfort was authentic, though

urinogenitally rooted.

A films actual running time, however exact in measure, is less

a vital figure than its perceived duration: the psychological or

emotional feel of time. I am into my seventy-second year, and

while I understand the distresses of aging, by way of empathy

and regard for Mr. Crowther, Ill give attentive deliberation to

the duration; but I, unlike Mr. Crowther, do not face the edgi-

ness of a critics deadline.

Releases and re-releases accepted running times of 163 min-

utes in Argentina; 202 minutes in Sweden; 150 and 190

minutes in the United Kingdom; 141, 203 and 207 minutes

in the US; and a 202 minute DVD edition in Spain. Te films

original release also the version used for this book was

207 minutes.

Mr. John McCarten, writing for Te Current Cinema in the

New Yorkermagazine of December 1, 1956, under the title,

East is West, suffered the running time not as much

[the] tale meanders a bit in the course of this two-and-a-half-

hour film but nonetheless, he dispensed a flippant and

prickly appraisal:

Te well-known Japanese talent for imitation is readi-

ly discernible in the movie called Te Magnificent Seven,

an importation from the Orient. Directed by Akira

xx



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Kurosawa, the man behind Rashomon, the picture is

supposed to be a depiction of life in a small town in

sixteenth-century Japan, but what it boils down to is a

kind of Far Eastern version of one of our own sagas of

the lone prairie, deficient in only such local ingredients

as six-guns, flap jacks, young ladies in dimity, and nasal

monotones.

Mr. Crowthers review begins:

Te Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, who gave

us that eerily exotic and fascinating picture Rashomon,

is now, after five years, represented by another ex-

traordinary film, which matches his first for cinematic

brilliance, but in another and contrasting genre. It is

called Te Magnificent Seven

Kurosawas film was originally released in the West entitled

Te Magnificent Seven.Te title Seven Samuraiwas reappointed

by Toho following the 1960 John Sturgis film Te Magnifi-

cent Seven, featuring Yul Bryner, Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach,

Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and Horst Bucholtz in the

imitation of (or homage to) Kurosawas film.

Mr. Crowthers appraisal does prophesize Kurosawas and

cinemas universality:

the qualities of human strength and weakness are

discovered in a crisis taut with peril. And although the

occurrence of this crisis is set in the sixteenth century in

a village in Japan, it could be transposed without surren-

dering a basic element to the nineteenth century and a

town on our own frontier.

[Kurosawas] use of modern music, which is as point-

ed as the ballad in High Noon, leads you to wonder

whether this picture is any more authentic to its period

of culture than is the average American Western film.

However, it sparkles with touches that would do honor

to Fred Zinnemann or John Ford

Te Japanese director often acknowledged his esteem for the

work of American director John Ford Akira Kurosawa un-

hesitatingly and gratefully met the West. He was content with

Imperial Japans defeat in the Second World War, ending, as

he saw it, the rule of foolish and dangerous militarists. He was

jubilant with the freedoms offered by the Wests setting aside

Japans severe limitations on the arts.

In the December 29, 1951 issue of the New YorkerMr. Mc-

Carten reviewed Kurosawas Rashomon:

Perhaps I am purblind to the merits of Rashomon, but

no matter how enlightened I may become on the art form

xiP R E L U D EP R E L U D E



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of Nippon, I am going to go on thinking that a Japanese

potpourri of Erskine Caldwell, Stanislavski, and Harpo

Marx isnt likely to provide much sound diversion.

Mr. McCarten was but forty-five years old at the time of SevenSamurai,and according to the recollections of colleagues at the

New Yorker publicly reported in 1974 obituaries and memo-

rials he was a kindhearted gentleman. I suspect that many

Americans of the day were patently blinkered when confronted

by things Far Eastern; most notably Nipponese. Te Great-

est Generation exhausted far more postWorld War II years

scorning Americas Pacific adversary than their Atlantic foe.

In 1964 American director Martin Ritt cast Paul Newman,

Claire Bloom, and Laurence Harvey in Outrage a West-

ern imitation of (or homage to) Kurosawas eighth-century

tale based on two stories by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. In 1951

Rashomonreceived the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festi-

val, and a Best Foreign Film Academy Award. Mr. McCartens

apprehension notwithstanding, Kurosawas film granted Japa-

nese cinema opportunity and approval in the West.

Mr. McCartens Te Current Cinema of December 1956 as-

signed near equal space to Walt Disneys Secrets of Life, and

the Doris DayLouis Jourdan murder mystery, Julie es-

pecially peculiar today, after a half-century of retrospection.

Te Discerning Film Lovers Guide(2004) judges Seven Samurai

a passionate, exhilarating epic that stands alone in the realm

of adventure films. Film & Video Companion (2004)reflects,

Much imitated, still unsurpassed. By critical consensus one of

the best movies ever made.

In his autobiography, Akira Kurosawa tenders his reminis-

cences, summoned up as appreciations of decisive life glimpses.

One early chapter is entitled Storytellers. It includes memo-

ries of movie-going adventures to see mostly foreign films from

America and Europe. At the Ushigomeken theatre Kurosawa

saw action serials and films starring William S. Hart. While

particular images stayed emblazoned in (his) mind, what re-mained of these films in [his] heart [was] that reliable manly

spirit and the smell of male sweat.

Kurosawa honors recollections of his father taking him to hear

storytellers (Kosan, Kokatsu, and Eny) in the music halls

around Kagurazaka, and the bright sway these masters of re-

sourceful tales many told with accompanying pantomime

had on him; and he reports his pleasure eating tenpura on

buckwheat noodles on his return home with his father follow-ing an afternoon of story-listening:

Te flavor of this tenpura-soba on a cold night remains

especially memorable. Even in recent years when I am

W A T C H I N G S E V E N S A M U R A I P E P P E R M A Nxii W A T C H I N G S E V E N S A M U R A I P E P P E R M A N



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coming home from abroad, as the plane nears Tokyo air-

port I always think, Ah, now for some tenpura-soba.

In 1961, William Kronick, a Columbia University graduate

and an independent New York film director, saw KurosawasYojimbo at the Toho Cinema in Los Angeles. Te experience

was so inspiring that Kronick joined with friends Robert Gaff-

ney and Robert McCarty two other independent New York

filmmakers and created Seneca Productions and distribut-

ed Yojimboin the United States.

William Kronick grew up in Amsterdam, New York, with

Everett Aison. Aison had designed and titled Kronicks first

theatrical short, A Bowl of Cherries,and Seneca Productions

engaged Everett to design the opening titles, graphics, and ads

for Yojimbo.

Tetsu Aoyagi, a graduate of the UCLA film school, was being

groomed by Toho to be their American representative in the

newly planned Toho Cinema in New York City. Mr. Aoya-

gis father was one of the original Toho studio directors, and

mentored Kurosawa in his early years as an apprentice andassistant director.

Tetsu Aoyagi came to live in New York City and represented

the Toho theatre, which opened on Broadway in 1962 after the

success of Yojimbo. Impressed by Aisons designs, Akira Kuro-

sawa met with Everett at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Everett

Aison said, Tetsu introduced me to Kurosawa, and I spent an

hour in awe!

Everett Aison retired as Film Chairman (1973), and screen-

writing teacher and thesis advisor at the School of Visual Arts

(2011). For a change of place, he left the East Coast of the

United States and went west for the moist moderate Pacific

climes of the Japanese (Kuroshio) currents. Living in Belling-

ham, Washington, Everett was invited to introduce a screening

of Yojimboto an audience attending Te Masters of Japanese

Cinema series at the Pickford Film Center. Everett met Mr.Sidney Atkins at that film center, and providentially intro-

duced me. Sidney a connoisseur of the East emailed this

books Forewordto me in Long Branch, New Jersey.

And today, following all the many weaves and loops and syn-

chronicities in film and personal histories, I am increasingly

confident that despite mankinds ethnocentric propensities,

and their many instances of cruel foolhardiness, the past 120

years confirm that the lure of cinema is global above allbecause the allure of story paraded on light beams offers en-

during rejuvenation to the world.

xiiiP R E L U D EP R E L U D E



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D



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2

. MT:: ::

Kurosawa begins with straightforward head credits: white text on a black ground.

No designed title fields or drop shadowed letters; no optically produced superim-

posed titles over live action.

A drum thumps in repetitiously sustained tension: a foreboding that will soon be an-

nounced and let loose. Traditional Japanese string and wind instruments offer an

effortless melody accompanying the listing of cast and crew.

L E S S O N L E A R N E D :

Tere is something and possibly many things to be said for simplicity in

opening credits. Te obligation of contractual acknowledgments is fulfilled with no

meddling in the storys images. Te music affords an anticipatory atmosphere, and

all that needs announcing is accomplished; so that storyis immediately underway.



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3

. ITNG

PU

:: ::

Following the Masters [directing] credit, a fade to black holds till transverse Japanese

characters instruct:

Te Sengoku Period was a time of civil wars; it was a lawless era and in the

country the farmers were at the mercy of bands of brigands

And the farmers everywhere were being crushed under the iron heels of cruelbrigands

During the civil wars an endless cycle of conflict left the countryside overrun by

bandits. Peaceable folk lived in terror of the thunder of approaching hooves

Te Criterion Collection DVD translates the last of these, while the earlier banners

are reported in Kurosawas screenplay, and subsequent to East Meets West Meets East,

it is a worthy note that Kurosawa sets the time in part with reference to Cath-

olic brutalities against Frances Huguenots: Around the time of the St. Bartholomew

Day Massacre in France, Japan was in the throes of Civil Wars. Kurosawas passagesupplies an historic and global context.



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A surveying of Seven Samurai sculpts an exemplar in story form:Where to begin, and

why? Kurosawas text puts forward a history a pattern: the enduring peril plaguing

peaceable folk and farmers.Te primitive sound is segued into galloping hooves,

which succeed the fading drum and a dissolve a simultaneous fading illumination

of an initial image with an increasing illumination to the next replaces the text on

the screen.

It is an image split into three horizontal bands: gray clouds high in the frame, an early

light in the sky, and a near-silhouetted lower frame (and foreground) of a grassy hill

and tree. Tis shotwith a slight upward angle soon reveals fast approaching horses

and riders.

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Apan a camera scanning right or left, simultaneous to continuous filming fol-

lows the horsemen across the screen. Several cuts the joining together of selected

filmed moments bring other views of this action.

A long shot (LS) of the horsemenfades out (FO: diminishing illumination) to a black

screen, and immediatelyfades in(FI: increasing illumination) to another shotfrom

behind the horsemen as they hurry away from the camera.


Tis delineation expresses a purposeful ellipse from daybreak to a later time that

morning. Kurosawa also provides delineation in audio: the sound effect(Sd EFX)

of the pounding hooves has been a constant until this shot; with the fade in (FI)

comes an apparent newness to the galloping sound: time passage is obvious! But it isnoteworthy that there are moments in film where the audio can successfully play un-

broken even if images are changed.

52 . I S T H E R E N O G O D T O P R O T E C T U S ?



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A quickdissolve brings a high-angle shot of horsemen and a distant village well

below them.


Kurosawa smartly allows the last lingering movement and hard-riding sounds to

soften the transition to this sceneafter the breakneck images that preceded it. A few

equine snorts and whinnies assist in this!

Te essence of cinema is to be found in the many pieces, separations, and fragments

of images and sounds that need assembling so that the various selections vanish and

bits of moments create an easy form. Here too Kurosawa teaches us techniques to

make inconspicuous the many pieces that are joined together!

We have now a time-honored example of shotto sceneorganization:

Te shotis moviemakings smallest component. Shotsare continuous camera-runs

capturing segments of words and deeds. Tey are frequently replicated via a variety

of setups differing camera positions (visual compositions) presenting alternate an-

gles and distances of the same moments; and takes additional repeats (do-overs)

of setups.In postproduction selectedfragments from shotsand takesare joined into

distinct scenes.




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Bandit Captain: Take this village too!

Off-Camera Bandits: Take it. Take it.

Bandit Chief: We just took their rice last fall. Teyll have nothing now.

Bandit Captain: Very well. Well return when that barleys ripe!


Take note that following the shotof the (sleepy) village, the cutto the Bandit Chief

begins with the Bandit Chief looking downwardand to screen right.

Tis choice provides a visible connection to the shotof the (Sleepy) Village. It in-terprets the cutas apoint of view (POV) the village as observed by the bandit

offering visual logic to the joined shots.




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Selected moments from shotsare assembled and reassembled into a movies final ar-

rangement ofform sceneand sequence pacing and rhythm.

A sceneis a construction of shotsjoined in a continuum in time and place.

Te hard-riding bandits of Kurosawas initial images unite as scenesand combinewith the (sleepy) village to fashion a sequence.

A sequence is an arrangement of scenes that function in concert via inflection (atti-

tude/manner), subject (topic/event), and/or obstacle/cause and response/effect or

correlation. It is a progression of information distributed across shotsand scenescom-

bined at times with visual or aural delineations and emotionally sustained

until a transition replaces the previous concentration forming fresh scenes and

their sequences.

As a cutpresents another high angle shot of the village, a hedge of brushwood, tied

with ragged and fraying rope, lifts above the foreground. A frightened farmer is car-

rying bundled kindling. He has heard the bandits plan, and now turns toward the

village. Te sound of hooves diminishes, signifying continuous time the bandits

have withdrawn.

A wipeurges the retreating farmer offthe screen as it progressively surrenders

from right to left to the first shotof the next scene:




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A bird coos and chirps in synchronization to three ever tighter images of huddled

and crouched farmers and their families on the dry earth of the village square:

Te sorrowful cooing gives way to distressed moans and sobbing.

Te DVD chapters title, Is Tere No God to Protect Us? is derived from the

wailing protest of a village woman. Her off-camera (OC) grievances play against as-

semblages of submissively modeled farmers.


We need not lock dialogue exclusivelyto the character giving voice. Inclusive dialogue

assists in the creation of moment-to-moment reality across related images, and is, inmany vital ways, a powerful distinction between cinema and theatre. It is not uncom-

mon in a film sceneto observe (only) the listener while hearing the speaker. In this case

the audio of ambiance and human sobbing advises the emotional atmosphere.




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Kurosawa reveals the villagers in gathered despair. It is clear from the start of the

scene that the farmer who overheard the plotting bandits has already made the threat

known to the village. Kurosawa grants two significant notions:


Tere is no need for the audience to hear, yet again, of the bandits plan. Previous-

ly known information makes for feeble (and redundant) exposition; and, excluding

the farmers reporting encourages an intimate commitment to the moment at hand.

Te audience is affected by emotional thinking: the entire village is distraught the

news has spread!

More directly, superior storytelling permits an audience to learn of a deed already

known, or suspected, or its result in past tense rather than in present tense. Tefarmer has toldthe village, rather than the farmer is tellingthe village. Tis fact also

grants immediate function to the next scene(s):What will happen next?

Te Villagers Crouched introduces a new scene.And, by giving clear notice to the au-

dience that the village has already learned of the impending peril, Kurosawa makes

the consequence of the subject urgent and immediate. Something analogous to a

chapter divide in literary forms; yet visually and aurally riveting so as to communicate

an emotional breath a new dramatic inhale!




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With this new scene,Kurosawa puts forward conflicts and obstacles: a vital attribute

that prompts the story is the contrast between farmers and bandits: a showingin sub-

stantial inequality, the invincible and the vulnerable. And, as well, a universal aspect:

Good vs. Evil.

Kurosawa finally reveals the sobbing woman. She is crouched low to the wind-

swept earth. Her wide backside and soles of her shoes are all that we view. A younger

woman embraces her in consolation. More sobs of additional complaints:

Woman: Land tax, forced labor, war, drought and now bandits!

Te camera tilts upward and pans right bringing a group of farmers into the frame.

Woman: Te gods want us farmers dead!

Te sounds of sobbing and the song of a bird blend into the settings atmosphere.

Ten one of the farmers stands:

It is Rikichi: Well kill those bandits. Well kill them all!


Kurosawa does not attempt a match cut the joining of two shots across a con-tinuous action so that the result imitates real-life time and gesture nor even a

cut-on-action of the standing Rikichi. Instead, the farmer stands over the huddled

villagers as the camera follows him to his feet in long shot (LS). A brief pause then




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allows a cut to an extreme close-up (ECU) of Rikichis face and words. Te difference

in composition in both scale and axis provides a dynamic join. Te audience has little

choice except to follow Rikichi to his feet; and the aesthetic of the farmers face in ex-

treme close-up (ECU) is not jeopardized by the actors movement upward and into

frame. Actions need not match across a cut or be the impetus for cutting.

Rikichis declaration is received in fearful rejections and practicable assumptions:

Yohei: Not me. I couldnt possibly.

Manzo: Tats crazy talk.

L E S S O N L E A R N E D :Kurosawa covers the scene from outsideand insidethe crouched farmers, and in so

doing, the two-dimensional display of the screen transports the audience into the

three-dimensional space of the village gathering: an example of the intrinsic duality




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of cinema. Te audience moves from observationtoparticipationinstantaneously; and

back and forth yet again.

Yohei looks to screen left after his cowering words. A cut brings Manzo to the screen.

He is looking to the right acknowledging Yohei. Manzos words and eyes now

focus upward and take us to the extreme close-up (ECU) of Rikichi. His eyes now

shift quickly from Yohei to Manzo.

Rikichi: So we can kill defeated samurai, but not bandits?

Te arguing and eventual physical contact occurs in a long shot (LS) until Mosuke

pulls the farmers apart, saying, Stop it. Tis is no time to fight amongst ourselves.

Manzo: Its impossible. What if we lost the fight? Teyd kill us and the pregnant women,

and all of the babies. We were born to suffer. Well give the bandits our harvest. Well begon our knees that they leave us enough so that we wont starve.


Tis scene supplies a beautifully prepared study into the scope (and promising space)

of the two-dimensional screen. Tough moments are captured by the camera in a

three-dimensional setting, they are ultimately portrayed via a flat screen: images pro-

duced in the 360 degrees of a setting are then edited and projected onto a 180-degree

facade.Te proficiencies of the director and cinematographer during production, andthe director and editor in postproduction, can create a participatory space for the

audience; and a curious paradox in its distinctions to live theatre: an on-stage pre-

sentation resides in a 360-degreeenvironment of setting (set design) and characters




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(actors), yet for the most part, live theatre holds a proscenium view that of a

180-degreeworld a look into and through an imaginary fourth wall.

Keep in mind that the villagers quarrel suggests one of two options: fight the bandits

and likely perish, orbeseech the bandits, a bartering of grain for mercy.


Rikichis accusation and near denunciation about defeated samurai com-

municates a subplot. Manzo and perhaps others in the village have a history stained

with the blood of samurai. Tis distribution of information shared with the audi-

ence will eventually tally up to apprehensions. Kurosawa will not let this comment

go unresolved!

Te films title advises what the farmers ultimate determination will be. And so, in

due course, the audience will, along with the villagers, own knowledge that the (soon

to be) employed samurai do not possess: dramatic irony. Simply, it is a fascinating ele-

ment in storytelling: secrets shared with the audience, but not with each character.

Te distraught Rikichi exits the circle of villagers. He crouches alone at the outer

ring of farmers.




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More often than not, a new sequence will be introduced at the start of a scene, yet

here Kurosawa begins the next sequenceat this point in the continuing Villagers

Crouchedscene. Rikichis newposition outside the gathered farmers, and the many

beats of respite from arguing and agitation begin a new sequence a poignant pause

and new proposal to solve the villagers dilemma.

Mosuke moves toward Rikichi, then looks back to the villagers: We should go see the

Old Man.




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Kurosawa directs and edits a magnificent example of cinemas ability to break a pro-

scenium view; and he takes the audience not merely into close-up (CU) and master

shot and varying scaled compositions but to every side of the gathered villag-

ers: depicting east and west, and north and south!


An illustration in simplicity of story: an instantaneous and unambiguous plot! Te

villagers face the threat of deadly assault or starvation at the next harvest. Here

is a conflicting irony. Te farmers must find defenders or face the loss of foodstuff

(and life) when the crop and bandits comes in: a harvest yielding produce and

bandits. Te old man (Gisaku) furnishes advice to appease the desperate villagers

and their impasse: Find hungry samurai.




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17

. SS:: ::

A wipe from screen right to left concurrently announces in composition and in-

strumentation a march of unapproachable warriors. Te camera pans in the same

direction alert to a single samurai laden with warrior trappings assigned firmly to a

long rod carried over his far shoulder.

Here is a transition made visible in its optical effect: a wipe! It provides a clear delin-

eation of scenes:a response to the villagers quarrel, which also merges fresh moments

in conflict, tension, and obstacles, plotting another scene in the sequence activated inthe moment of respite and the isolated Rikichi.


Kurosawa creates a procession in dance: a cinematic choreography. Before the quick-

striding samurai exits frame left, another somewhat taller samurai steps into frame

left and the camera pans with him to the right. He is less burdened with gear. Te

knob of a sword designates a weapon borne slantways on his back.T

e pan ceases,and the camera hold(s) on Rikichi, Mosuke, Yohei and Manzo. Te farmer quar-

tet shifts in near unison: Tey watch him go.



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A cutbrings a frame filled with the face of Rikichi Mosuke is visible just be-

hind in screen left. Te join from the long-shot (LS) preserves an elegant overlap,

sustaining the deferential tracking of the farmers eyes.Te out-of-focus forms of pe-

destrians pass in the foreground, intermittently obscuring Rikichi.


Kurosawa again demonstrates an editing motivation: cuts result from the attention

in the eyes of the characters visual logic. Te overlapping, and various degrees of

focus, of the many passing townspeople contribute to a stimulating illusion of space

on the screen.

When a lens is focused on a specific point in space, objects in front and beyond that

point can appear in precise focus, slight focus, or out of focus, depending on illumina-tion, lens, the cameras distance from the primary object, and distances to background

and foreground objects. Tis range of focus is known as the depth of field.


Tis scene seems to substantiate Rikichi as protagonist. An audience rightly requires

highlighting a character that can be celebrated as central to the recitation of plot and

point-of-view. Feature-length forms allow a flexibility to such determinations. We

shall see how and why it is possible to alter this purpose and judgment.




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Are the farmers taking the Old Mans admonition directly? Are they trying to iden-

tify hungry samurai?

Tey do take note of a particular samurai. Rikichi glances at the others as if to con-firm this must be our samurai, and he dashes off:

No time is spared we hear no request from Rikichi as a wipe reveals a very

angry samurai tossing Rikichi to the ground. Te hopeful farmer is sympathetically

(yet disappointingly) cared for by his village neighbors.

A new sequence begins. It is late in the day, and late in the drenching downpour in

town. Te farmers try to keep dry even as they fetch water wearing straw hats

and matting on their backs.

193 . S H O P P I N G F O R S A M U R A I



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Mosuke, Manzo, and Yohei rush to the foreground and a patch of ripening barley.

Te farmers are alarmed! Te urgency of their mission now in its tenth day is

called to their attention (and the audiences).

Rikichi reminds them: Tis barley is early. Mountain barley like ours is later.

Rikichi enters a house (a rough sort of inn). A few laborers exit and one ridicules

the farmer: You found any samurai yet strong, willing and cheap?

In Kurosawas script this scene ends the chapter and sequence.In the film Kurosa-

wa continues into the night and the inn lodging the farmers, the ongoing derision of

town laborers and their threats against a timid samurai, and sarcasm toward a blindmusician, and a peddler of buns.




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Te many characters encountered at the inn might easily intrude as irrelevant sub-

plot entertaining perhaps, but a distraction to the storys flow. Tis does not

happen because Kurosawa assertively integrates the laborers in the scenes (and

storys) emotion, and action, and its moments setting within the essential scenar-io, here and in coming scenes. Te laborers are assimilated as town antagonists, and

as messengers of sixteenth-century social conflict, and eventually serve as narrators

of impending proceedings.


Te moments and unpleasant lodger-strangers complete the farmers inescapable du-

ress, frustration, and approaching hopelessness!T

is is crucial to the next chaptersopening: an emotional plausibility that tolerates Rikichi and Manzos angry brawl.

213 . S H O P P I N G F O R S A M U R A I



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22

. DT::::

Te chapter opens with a fade-in (FI). While this is not an uncommon transition, it

is worth noting that the fade-out (FO) at the conclusion of Chapter 3 occurs at a late

night moment; and while ending a scene with a fade-out is familiar, there is a simple

yet splendid reason for the choice:


Te optical effect of a fade-out and a fade-in is a sensible visual version of light anddark as opening and closing of a scene; and as phase of day.

Te fade-in also provides a contrastto the farmers fixed-settling composed inside

the darkstable-like shelter described by Kurosawa in his screenplay as a rough

sort of inn, which could refer to either architecture or guests and the brightness

of the new day, thencontrastedin violent argument.

Tere is immediate chaotic action: a clash between Rikichi and Manzo. Mosuke and

Yohei are trying to stop the scuffle, clutching the farmers to keep them apart. It is evi-dent that Manzo has come to believe that Rikichi will return to the village, accepting

the failed effort to secure samurai, and Rikichi is outraged that Manzo has mischarac-

terized his intentions, and is willing (once again) to consider a bargain with the bandits.



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Rikichi sneers at Manzo and threatens that the bandits might accept an offer of

Manzos daughter: Shinos pretty enough, it might work.Manzo is and looks

horrified!

Te scenes distribution of information avoids redundancies of the earlier adversarial

perspectives, all the while disclosing thisdispute with a harking back to the villagersdilemma, with added particulars: Manzos daughter! Kurosawa will not forget Shino.

A wipe addresses a brief duration. Te audio of light wind and ready water holds in a

continuum.Te farmers wash at the side of a minor flat bridge, bordered by timbers.


With the clarity of the plot keeping story and viewer focused, this chapter introduc-

es a storytelling lure: lifes unexpected and unprompted moment of chance whatmight classically and spiritually be considered fate!

Te camera draws back slowly as Mosuke and Yohei take note of something in the

settings foreground. On screen left a few figures enter in near silhouette, and this

grants a straightforward cutto a reverse behind the farmers, and the now fully vis-

ible entrance of a crowd through the gateway of a prosperous house. In the lead

is Kambei.

Te chapters title might well be referencing a ritual execution: a man directed (?) toa ponds edge. Positioned to kneel, he cuts the topknot (chonmage) offof his head. A

blade is passed to a priest, and Kambeis head is shaved.

234 . D E A T H O F A T H I E F



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Te inquiries from the crowd inform the farmers and the audience that this

man, Kambei, is a samurai, and has volunteered to impersonate a priest in an at-

tempt to rescue a child held by a thief in a nearby barn. But, of course wefirst learn

about the thief, and wonder, as does Katsushiro, how one thief can so paralyze

the townspeople.

Tis scene will set a new confidence in the farmers original venture, and will intro-

duce Kambei and the farmers and the audience to Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo two

other samurai gathered with the onlookers.




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Watch the many magnetic moments as the faces in the crowd create portraits in

varied groupings; and Kurosawa gives time to a slow disclosure of the curioussituation.

As requested by Kambei, the childs mother hurries from her house with two rice

balls. Tis moment elegantly proceeds the farmers, townspeople, and Katsushiro ex-

iting the composition to again attend to Kambeis preparations. Wind whips dry

earth about the scurrying mother.

We get our first look at Kikuchiyo. He scowls at the returning onlookers when they

stand behind him.




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An intensely somber Kambei becomes aware of Kikuchiyo.

L E S S O N L E A R N E D :Te intercuttingbetween Kambei and Kikuchiyo demonstrates cinemas expansive

models of dialogue: film dialogue need not hold words!

Kambei is closely followed by the townspeople (back) through the gateway and blow-

ing earth. Kikuchiyo is especially eager and aggressive to get the best view.

Te bandit all but screeches, Stay back! Any closer and Ill kill the brat!




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Tough the action is swift the reactions are anything but; and it is the reactionsthat

empower thescene; then, simply and efficiently, assemble the perfect feel for the next

scene and chapter.




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28

. A MHD:: ::

Seven Samuraiscollective construction is a storytelling progression in absolute chro-

nology; that is, as the story unfolds each scene represents the most current and

present moment in events. Tere may be hefty or slight interludes in time, but at all

times the story travels from the present to the current. Tere will be noflashback!

No scene or sequence that will fracture the enduring now time so as to re-

veal an episode out of the past a depiction of character history; and so, no risk of

a story-break to divulge moments (always) less urgent in substance or competence

in progression.

A medium shot(MS) begins the chapter. We follow a respectful distance behind

Kambei. He is familiarizing himself with the feel of his newhead. Te early phrases

of the samurai theme mimic his stroll and isolation until:

Now, a long shot(LS) drops us back. We are behind the villages four farmers. Tey

are eager to enlist Kambei. Rikichi: [Y]ou cant object to a samurai like that,and

Mosuke: Ask him quickly. Itll be harder in town.

Kikuchiyo swiftly enters the frame and is much quicker than Rikichi to close the dis-

tance to Kambei.



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Watch the three-cutarrangement: long shot (LS) behind the farmers, medium shot

(MS) of Rikichi in profile looking right, and the medium long shot of Kambei from be-

hind at first, then he turns looking over his left shoulder. Kikuchiyo is the focal point

across the cuts: in the actions carrying across the compositions and, as well, the focusof the storys moment. Kurosawa builds a tempo that accounts for both Rikichis and

Kambeis awareness of Kikuchiyos sudden arrival, rather than joining shots that are

onlyconcerned with the action. Tat is, it is possible and likely efficient to maintain Ki-

kuchiyo in each out and in frame of each of the joined shots, and produce an effective

arrangement. But! Tat would be at the (great) expense of context.

Into this composition runs

My name is Katsushiro Okamoto. Please make me your disciple!

295 . A M A S T E R A N D H I S D I S C I P L E S



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Te parade follows the heroic Kambei Shimada.

Kambei advises that he does not take disciples, and that he is a ronin. During the six-

teenth-century civil wars in Japan, many samurai were without a warlord or master,

thereby finding they were without salary. Some of these ronin joined together orga-

nized as bunches of hooligans and bandits.

In modern Japan the etymology of the word roninhas led to its use as wandering

man and between employment.

A wipeand Kambeis laugh introduce the next scene. Kambei and Katsushiro walk

left to right and the camera tracks with them.

Kambei: Im at a loss. You think far too highly of me.

In due course, Kambei forbids Katsushiros pleas to attend him as disciple.


Kurosawas script carefully considers the influences of time and argument on plau-

sibility. Kambei provides good reasons for Katsushiro not to select him as master:

Teres nothing special about me. I may have seen my share of battle, but always on the

losing side. Tat about sums me up. Better not to follow such an unlucky man.Kat-

sushiro rejects these, and jumps in front of Kambei, saying, No, Im determined to

follow you whether you allow me to or not. Plausibility is resolute onlyif the informa-tion and inflections of earlier moments are respected.




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As Kambei moves to pass Katsushiro, Kurosawa cuts to an above-angle long shot

(LS) from behind the trailing farmers. And, as before, Rikichi begins to move toward

Kambei, when Kikuchiyo hurries along the road and shoves Rikichi aside. We now

see all the characters, and that they and we have arrived in town.


By beginning the scenein a medium shot (MS) that focuses on Kambei and Kat-

sushiro alone, Kurosawa recognizes that the following above-angle long shot (LS)

cannot help but distribute an array of additional information. And, there is no bet-

ter view to display the fullness of a setting than an above-angle shot. But! Remember

there is a great number of heights and angles to consider, and the choice must take

into account the other and varied compositions for the scene.

Kambei asks Kikuchiyo, Can I help you? Kikuchiyo scratches his head and wanders

to the front of Kambei. What do you want?Kikuchiyo wanders back to the left of

the frame.

Katsushiro scurries to Kambeis side. He scolds Kikuchiyo, Insolence!Now Ki-

kuchiyo speaks for the first time: Stay out of this, little chick.

Kambei leads Katsushiro away and down the street of the town. Kikuchiyo kicks

high in the air cursing,Bastard!

Katsushiro is now an attendant to Kambei.




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Rikichi once again pursues Kambei:

I beg you sir.

A wipe and we are inside the gloomy rough inn. Yohei is preparing rice.T

e aggres-sively abusive laborers are still lodged there.

While Kambei speculates on battle and defensive strategies, and a likely number of

samurai needed for the tasks, the laborers ridicule the peasants:Better to be born a

dog and Go ahead and hang yourself and die.

Kambei estimates, All you have to offer is food. Only those out to fight for the hell of it

will agree. Besides Im sick of fighting. Age, I suppose.

Te tenor of this moment persuades Rikichi that all is lost, and he breaks down andcries. His whimper is accompanied by deep tones of a solemn slow chant.

It is Rikichis uninhibited sorrow that encourages the full sarcastic attack of

the laborers!




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Katsushiro grabs his sword to combat the insults, now directed at the samurai as

well:Dont make me laugh. If you know about the farmers suffering why dont youhelp?

Kambei shouts, Enough!

A laborer takes a bowl of brilliant white rice from Yohei, and holds it out to Kambei.

Hey, samurai, look at this. Tis here is your dinner. But what do you think these block-

heads eat? Millet. Tey eat millet to feed you white rice. Tis is the best they can offer.

What do you say to that?

Kambei stares across the room. Manzo and Mosuke gaze back in pity. Rikichi has

turned to the wall, his face hidden.

Te firm and noble samurai theme fadesin. Kambei takes the bowl of white rice

from the laborer and says, Quit your

jabbering.He extends the bowl to the

farmers not in offering, but in respect:

I wont let this rice go to waste.

Rikichi turns to face Kambei. He drops to his knees and smiles before bowing.




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It is probable that the preceding two chapters have seen an adjustment to Kambei as

the storys protagonist. Rikichi has initiated more than any other farmer (or char-

acter) the actions that construct the plot, and its moment-to-moment recitation,

and the audiences commitment to the story. Now the characters and audience followKambei.




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35

. SA. PI:: ::

Te musical theme, somber yet heroic, that concludes the previous scene and

chapter wraps with a fade-out (FO). Kurosawa then holds silence across black.

Tis chapter opens with a scene that returns the viewer to the threatened farm village.


Tere are two categories of transitions: Te first is distinctly cinematic; it is visual,

and noticeable in appearance. In Seven Samurai,Kurosawa makes regular use of anoptical effect called a wipethat slides the early frames of the incoming scene across

the screen as it replaces the last frames of an outgoing scene. Tis chapter opens

with a fade-in (FI) a progressive increase in illumination that finally settles and

holds the chosen brightness. A dissolve is another (universally used) visual transi-

tion. I would include in this first category an associate transition, no less valuable to

the filmmaker, but less exclusive to cinema. Tese are the audio designs applied to

designate a change at times they benefit a films structure by creating an appealing

harmony across switching scenes. Te audio (or sound design) can embrace music,effects, dialogue, ambiance, or blends of some or all.

Te second category also used in theatre and literature might be no less ap-

parent, but it is internal: it resides in attitude, inflection, scene subject matter, and



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dramatic performance. Movie moments happen when the two categories and as-

sociate transitions play in concert. Chapter 5 ends in Rikichis grateful gesture

kneeling to Kambei. Te business and sentiments that conclude the scene are in-

toned by the score, and the fading to black.

Tis chapter fades in (FI) with a quiet ambiance, and the sound of speedy footsteps heard off-camera (OC) as the audience is scarcely aware of a straw shelter

in the background. Into close-up (CU) darts Gosaku, who shouts to all the village,

Ahhh, Ahhhand runs to screen right, stopping in the village square:

Manzo and the others are back!

L E S S O N L E A R N E D :As villagers in the foreground hurry into the square, villagers in the background

quickly stride forward, and other villagers appear on screen left moving to center and




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background. It is an unruly congregation. But note the glow on two farmer hats, ap-

proaching from the background. Te reflected light creates an instant focal point to

the extreme long shot (ELS). Te audiences eyes know immediately where to look;

and the chaos assumes (some) order.

Manzo and Mosuke explain the absence of Yohei and Rikichi; and that samurai willbe coming to the village Seven of em!

Te gathered farmers repeat the number, not as confirmation, but as apprehension.

A wipebrings Gisakus darkened mill interior. Mosuke and Manzo face the Old Man.

Te audio is the vibes of thumping beams and flowing water.

Gisaku repeats the number. Manzo makes clear, I was against it because you said four,

Old Man. Gisaku confesses,I figured wed need at least ten. But if Id said ten, wed

have ended up with fifteen.

376 . S A M U R A I A U D I T I O N S . P A R T I



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Manzo is worried: Te village girls will go crazy over the samurai. If the samurai touch

em all hell will break loose. Te Old Man responds:

Bandits are coming, you fool.

Manzos close-up (CU) in shamed expression brings the sceneto an end.

On a cut, the samurai parade theme returns us back to town.

Rikichi summons the servicesof a ronin. Katsushiro and Yohei watch at a dis-

tance a scheme of sorts has been calculated.

Kambei, seated in the center of the lodging, hands Katsushiro a cut tree branch, as-

serting, Dont hold back. Give him a real whack.




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Yohei takes shelter behind stall-like timbers and Kambei is calmly settled as Katsu-

shiro takes his stand to the right of the doorway, the tree branch high above his head.

T

e unsuspecting samurai enters the inn. In an instant he identifies the threat, andin half an instant he grabs the branch, twirls, and, grabbing the back of Katsushiros

neck, throws him across the room.

Kambei calls out, Excellent!

Getting to his feet he apologizes: Please dont take offense. I am Kambei Shimada. We

are seeking expert swordsmen and have no time to waste. Forgive me.

All in all, the samurai finds the query to join in a fight against banditson behalf of

farmers the only rewardto be food ABSURD.

Kambei exits into the street. A disheartened Rikichi remains outside.




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A screenwriter or a screenwriter/director can demand anything of the script and ac-

tors, but the storys credibility and the storytelling qualities are expected to embrace

consistencies made plausible by all previous information about characters, places, and

the story being told. Kurosawa does not make it easy for Kambei to overcome theburdens and obstacles of his task.

Rikichi, Yohei, Kambei, and Katsushiro watch as another ronin passes the rough

inn.

Te samurai theme music reflects the unsuccessful attempt thus far.

Te music carries the cut to the village. Streaming water adds to the audio. Manzo

and Mosuke stop near the villages cemetery, and debate concerns about the character

of the other sixsamurai.

Now, the bold samurai parade theme strikes on a cut back to the town. Te camera

again pans right with a lone samurai and then left picking up two samurai; and then

finding another lone samurai, the camera pans right again. We hear Kambeis voice:

Tat one there.

And the tree branch/doorway scheme is again enacted!




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Tis time the samurai pauses, steps back, and does not enter. He smiles, then laughs:

It is Gorobei!

Im with you.

Gorobei credits Kambeis character for his acceptance and adds, In life one finds

friends in the strangest places.




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42

. SA. PII:: ::

Te opening shotis contained by the dark interior of the inn. A square of light fea-

tures the outside in background with Rikichi fruitfully setting a cooking fire.


Te composition commands a precise focal point. Rikichi is framed within the il-

lumed square; and so, while a foreground object might more easily secure our eyes,

Kurosawa gives proof that light, character, and motion are the prevailing fundamen-tals that seize our attention. Te darkness of the interior is acceptable and appealing

because of light reflected offtextured and soft surfaces. Te planking tenders visi-

bility as a result of light skimming the wood grain, and/or reflection resulting from

moist (if not wet) surfaces. And, as well, the scenes shadow and light establish a vi-

sual contrast: an effective addition in cinemagraphic design to the many contrasts in

Kurosawas story and characters.

Tis opening moment does not exist in the screenplay, and without it in the film

and its continuation to Rikichi and Yoheis stolen rice confrontation, the filmsstructure becomes abrupt and inadequate as, far too quickly and therefore, much

too easily samurai are enlisted during this and the previous chapter.


R k h ll Y h d h h h h l R k h


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Rikichi calls to Yohei, Hurry and wash the rice.When he gets no reply, Rikichi en-

ters to see Whats wrong.

Yoheis anguished response: Someone stole the rice.

Yohei pleads to the fuming Rikichi, I slept all night hugging that rice jar.

Rikichi resolves to go back to their village and return with more rice; but of course,

there will be no provisions till then. A motivating irony: bandits are intending to

pilfer the villages food supplies; farmers are seeking the shelter of samurai, and some-

one has made offwith the nourishment needed while securing samurai guardians.

And a skillful turn on the irony: Katsushiro (the youngest samurai) extends coins to

a thankful Rikichi and Yohei!

Note that Katsushiro concedes little sympathy or appreciative acknowledgement of

their respect: Stop being so (acting) foolish.

Kambei returns to the inn, followed

closely by a new samurai. It is Shichiroji!

Kambeis words are presented in senti-

ment and motion: But this is wonderful.

It is so good to find you alive. Id given you

up for lost. How did you get away?

437 . S A M U R A I A U D I T I O N S . P A R T I I


L E S S O N L E A R N E D


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Te integration of the physical action of Kambeis forward strides and his blissful

line reading cleverly restrains blatantly severe exposition. Tere is a lucid and affect-

ing subtext of chance, spontaneity, and back-story.

At a short distance from the inn, Gorobei sits admitting surprise to the Stall-Keep-er: I never knew they were so few.

Te identification in the script likely means an innkeeper few if any livestock ap-

pear to warrant a reference to a stable-keeper. Te Stall-Keeper asks,What is it

youre after? Gorobei announces, Samurai. And the Stall-Keeper explains that a

samurai is at the back of my house.Heihachi is chopping firewood in compensation

for food.

We now see Kambei and Katsushiro In the town square. A group is gathered towatch two samurai in the grounds of a temple, preparing to start a practice bout with

long bamboo shafts.


Here is a master class in coverage. Kurosawas camera presents the samurai with the

gathered crowd and Kambei and Katsushiro in long shot (LS), and following medi-

um shots (MS) and medium close-ups (MCU) of Kambei and Katsushiro, we see

their point of view (POV) as their eyes fix left and right the cuts then display set-

upswith the camera situated betweenthe crowd and the fighting samurai.




53/53

Te Tall Samurai (so described in the screenplay) in due course challenges Kyuzo:

Lets use swords.Kyuzo offers fair warning, but upon the Tall Samurais deaf ears.

A single swipe of Kyuzos blade finishes the stupid samurai.


Tis chapter holds the enlistment of three additional samurai, but Kurosawa con-

cedes only that of Shichiroji; and thatby the old friends accepting reaction to

Kambeis, Are you ready for another fight?

Te very smart non-reply of the firewood-chopping samurai to Gorobeis, Inciden-

tally are you interested in killing twenty or thirty bandits? is a simple technique that

poses what will happen next? and thus instantly furnishes incentive for the audi-

ences eager participation in the scenes to follow.

457 . S A M U R A I A U D I T I O N S . P A R T I I


everything i know about filmmaking i learned watching seven samurai

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