In the visual vocabulary of film, there are few techniques that both serve as both a story point as well as engaging imagery. Traditionally, the reveal shot consists of pulling back from a tightly framed shot to reveal a larger framing, exposing a greater context with often epiphanous implications to the audience – and in some cases – the on-screen characters. There is a bit of delight and excitement when you find out a story is bigger than previously thought.
The Use of Reveals
Regardless of genre, a reveal is an effective story-telling technique. There are many different types of reveals and they can be subtle or a gag. A reveal allows for a quick, economical, visual exposition and can convey story points. Revealing can also allows a filmmaker let the viewer “in” on portions a piece of information that perhaps the main protagonist is not yet aware of.
The Pull-back Reveal:
Pulling back can bring a larger context into focus for the viewer and is a “tried-and-true” reveal shot. Brian De Palma uses a pull-back reveal in the opening of his film Femme Fatale – slowly bringing into focus a greater understanding of situation, which at first appears to be one thing, but is in fact entirely different. It is an elegant opening that ropes the audience in post haste.
As a bonus there is an additional reveal, through a frame-within-a-frame horizontal wipe right at as the shades are pulled back to show the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Most of what I can say about this opening can read on Film Critic Jim Emmerson’s blog. He does an excellent deconstruction of the opening scene of Femme Fatale.
Dramatic/Stationary:
Reveals don’t necessarily have to pan or pull back to be effective. Some clever film-making can keep the camera stationary and still expose a revelation. If there was ever a television show that perfected the reveal as a mechanism to capture the viewer – it was The X-Files. Each episode began with a cold open – that is, no credits, straight into the action. This allowed a story to unfold immediately, drawing the viewer in, and at the right moment reveal a greater context for the story: Fade to opening credits. It was a frightfully effective way to rope in people watching The X-Files on a Friday night.
Assistant Director Skinner deletes rather ominous looking pictures. The viewer is given the impression that Skinner is in his own office. The camera follows him as he stands up to leave the office and rests at table height. What’s clever about the reveal is the use of light in the stationary shot. As the door opens off-screen, light from the hallway spills in and the viewer sees the Fox Mulder name placard. What also makes this an effective reveal is they way in which music is used. The whole scene features low-key single note cello strokes. Then, as the door opens for the reveal, a cymbal crash is punctuated with a four-key piano melody which really adds to the overall mood and effectiveness of the scene.
Intentional obfuscation:
An object or person in frame can be intentionally obfuscated, distorted or out-of-focus. The reveal can be as simple as a rack focus from the foreground to the background. For example: Two crooked cops, seemingly acting on their own, beat a suspect in the hallway of a Police Station after hours. Rack-focus to reveal the commissioner standing at end of the hallway with his arms crossed. Silently approving of the action.
Other times, reveal is set up by intentionally obscuring written type or a visual component that is in frame; Such as on a TV, computer monitor, or tombstone. In this vein, the ending to the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg action cop opus – Hot Fuzz fits the bill nicely.
Sergeant Angel’s shoulder is placed in frame to obscure the first name on the tombstone. In the previous scene [SPOILER!] there is a large explosion and his partner Danny Butterman is presumed dead. The reveal, in this case, is designed to mislead the audience, though playful in its use. The camera pans right to show Danny Butterman is very much alive, and in fact we see the grave is that of his mother Irene Butterman.
For Comedic Effect:
There are also comedic applications where the reveal acts as a punchline, or as part of a visual gag. If done well, a reveal shot can deliver a sharp point to the punch line of a joke. Matt Groening’s shows have a propensity for such reveals and both The Simpsons and Futurama have employed the technique frequently. There are many instances in both shows, such as in the overly-quoted The Simpson’s episode “Mr. Plow” when during a snow storm Homer crashes into another car. Commenting on the damage “Welp, I got him as good he got me.” Pan to reveal his family, cut to birds-eye view of his front yard, and his damaged cars.
Here is a more recent comedic reveal from Futurama.
The space version of the Titanic is sinking into a black-hole [take that Doctor Who writers!] The camera frames tight on Professor Farnsworth’s face as he says “Thank God there are plenty of escape pods! We won’t have to dress up as woman and children.” The reveal is quick. As the camera pulls back, the viewer sees Professor Farnsworth is wearing a beanie and carrying an over sized lollipop. Laughs all around.
In Horror:
Horror is a genre that sees recurrent overuse of the reveal to the level of cliché. However, use at a pivotal moment it can add value and shock to a scene. The Twilight Zone relied on this technique for the climax of “The Masks” and many other episodes as well.
Japanese cinema does a particularly good job incorporating reveals. In comparison to the Western counterpart, Japanese horror cinema is much more cerebral and paced differently. So much of the big scares come from the build up to a reveal.
In Ringu again we see stationary framing used in a reveal. With the camera at knee height, Reiko slides the door aside – the impact is instant – the audience sees her son Yoichi viewing a video which has already killed 4 high school students.
Sound and music are an important element in this reveal, too. Japanese horror usually doesn’t have an over-produced soundtrack, indeed there are scenes where there is no incidental music at all. Much like The X-Files reveal above, the music punches in at the right time further emphasizing the impetus of fear.
See also:
The Turnaround: The sister of the reveal known as the Turnaround. Popularized by Hitchcock, we’ve seen it in everything from Doctor Who to George A. Romero films. Someone is sitting in a chair. “Jim, is that you? Jim, you aren’t responding! I’ll just turn the chair around slowly… OH MY GOD your eyes you’ve lost your eyes!”
Long Take: A long take (sometimes referred to as a “one shot”) can also be the vehicle for a good reveal shot. A lengthy single take can follow a protagonist down the road to his destination ultimately pushing over a horizon line to show a desolate wasteland, room full of monkey’s or whatever shocking revelation is to be had. Here are some examples of long shots in contemporary cinema.
Merrel Davis is a contributing writer for The Film Crusade and working screenwriter/entrepreneur who lives in Los Angeles. You can check out more about him and his work at MerrelDavis.com and ScreenwriterKaraoke.com
