Different visual stuff
There is one thing that is extremely annoying, and that is visual culture in Croatian film/visual making.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I like some of the visual stuff Croatia produced over the years, but I look at it and find that mainstream visual film making is suffering from the disease called medium shot
Medium shot
In visual canon of Hollywood style filmmaking, medium shot is used for emotion, scenes with lot of talking, slowing of the visual rithm or producing small space effects (especially in horror movies)
In Croatian canon, medium shot is alpha and omega, at least as I see it.
There is no action worth showing in total or establishing shot, or maybe, god forbid, panoramic shot, since it is boring and you can't see protagonist face in the shot.
Let's aim for money for the buck here, if we pay actors, let's see their faces, shall we.
Live TV
This is most evident in live TV shows, like 'Dancing with the stars'
I will show you American and Croatian example.
Please note, that both shows enjoy huge ratings, big production value and team of people working on it (directors and cinematographers)
I mean, don't get me wrong, I like some of the visual stuff Croatia produced over the years, but I look at it and find that mainstream visual film making is suffering from the disease called medium shot.
In visual canon of Hollywood style film making, medium shot is used for emotion, scenes with lot of talking, slowing of the visual rhythm or producing small space effects (especially in horror films)
In Croatian canon, medium shot is alpha and omega, at least as I see it.
There is problem with focus or depth of the shot. Figures in Hollywood are composed around the middle of the screen, showing part of their figure. In Croatian visual culture, total shot rarely shows figure+floor or ground it is standing on. It cuts at the feet, producing weird effects.
Live TV
American version
Interesting part for this text is 1:30 s dance routine. During which there is 30 cuts, from total shot to medium and tracking shot.
There is 10 medium shots, lasting approximately 1 second, and showing something special that has to be emphasized.
Croatian version
Conclusion
As we can see cutting frequency is similar, differences come in composition of the shot and choice of depth of shot. While American version shows detail in face expression, hand movement, etc., it is never to the expense of dance as whole.
Croatian version is doing lot of cutting, for cutting sake. Pan-and-zoom, rotating, low angles, high angles and one thing that bothers me the most is cut-off shot.
What is cut-off? Notice how camera zooms the dancers, but leaves no space below the feet for the floor. So you get total figure, but cut-away at the feet. American version instead, shows figure in total, standing on floor, focus always to keep the orientation of dancers on floor.
Croatian version is interested in camera work, zooms and pans, going around, showing faces and expressions, but alas, no dance :(
