Might as well finally take part in this! A lot of ground has already been covered so I doubt I'll have that many comments.
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109: this type of nigh-static slo mo shot is real anime cliche and especially common in older shows. This is one of the few instances in NGE when tricks like this are used.
114: This is one of my favourite shots in whole show. Coupled with nigh-identical 123 it beautifully summarizes much of Rei's personality and place in the world. I guess it's not as iconic as various "Rei and the moon" shots throughough the show but for me it's just as classic moment.
149: I guess the presence of many "animesque" elements throughout this scene are explained by the fact Junichi Satoh (director of Aria, Princess Tutu etc.) made the storyboards (credited as Kiichi Jinme). Platinum booklets specifically draws attention to this:
"
The storyboards were done by Kiichi Jinme, a.k.a. Junichi Satoh, the same as for Episode Four. Rei's girlishly delighted look when Gendo appears and the comedy during the dinner scene where Misato pours curry into her ramen are distinctively Jinme's storyboard style."
Those of us who have seen man's own works propably go "ahh, figures" upon reading this.
158: More Junichi Sato faces by Misato.
176: The whole 174-177 sequence is highly reminiscent of Anno's second live action film Shiki Jitsu (2000) in terms of cinematography and editing. 176's striking use of architecture in composition is particularly reminiscent of style Anno depicts similar staircases and rundown apartment building in the film with. The never stopping sound of building demolition is another link between two works. Given that SJ takes place in Ube, Anno's childhood hometown, I wonder if the look and feel of Rei's apartment block was influenced by his own past.
195: [If I ever get around continuing/finishing my goddamn ginormous Eva analysis I'll propably go in further detail but I guess my theory about Gendo's old glasses in "Rei Arc" (eps 5-6) is worth a brief rundown here] Whatever the in-universe reasons for the act were (I think simple curiosity is enough) I think there's important thematic subtext in this scene/act and with Gendo's old glasses in general and what their usage says about relationship between Shinji and Rei in this two-ep "Rei Arc". For one there's Shinji's symbolic "identification" with Gendo by the act of putting glasses on - given what follows right after the Oedipal overtones are hard to miss.
More importantly however Gendo's glasses work as a medium that conveys what defines relationship between Rei and Shinji at this point. Or to be more specific, how they see each other. The previous scene[link to 127] in the episode where Shinji literally observed/gazed at Rei was defined by Gendo's presence and bewilderment and jealousy Shinji felt when he saw Rei talking with Gendo.
"Who is this girl and what is her relationship with my father?". This is the main driving motivation behind Shinji's wish to know more about Rei.
In other words:
Shinji sees Rei first and foremost through "Gendo" and nature of his connection with Rei And
in this scene Shinji sees Rei through Gendo's glasses which symbolize him throughout the series! The fact Shinji put on his glasses also is literally the trigger for the first real interaction (haw haw) between the two.
( And of course the fact they needed something that would get us the uncomfortableness of what soon happens is important factor ;) )
196: [Continuation of the above theory] ...and right next we get pov shot from Shinji's perspective in which we see blurred figure of Rei through said glasses. They went to the point of blurring the shot and adding cracks as if the glasses were pressed against fictitious "camera". This level of accuracy in pov shots isn't very common and calls attention to itself - they really went to extra lenghts to give us shot of Rei through Gendo's glasses.
The ramification of the motif and "countershot" for this cut must wait 'till ep 6, however.
204: Editing through this whole scene is marvelous but I'd like to give a shout out to the way cuts are spliced together through 202-209, something even platinum booklet noted:
"The eccentric way the cuts were split up when Shinji visits Rei's apartment was also memorable."219: kyaa~
221: I find it funny they felt need to put in censoring obstacle in this shot as it's far less revelatory than anything we saw before. Maybe they inserted it because the lamp returns in final shot of the scene as major part of the composition. Then again, common sense says that lamp is in 236 because it is here, not other way around.
225:
*JIIIII*236: By having the same lamp and only slightly changed angle from 221 minus Rei really drives the point home that Shinji was just left there behind as if the embarrasing sequence had never happened. Nice shot too
238: If we didn't know Shinji is incredibly awkward socially this sequence would be incredibly creepy. Oh wait, it still is
285: Anno really has a fetish for putting phones down. I can't even count how many times they change scene or focus of the scene by inserting quick cut of somebody putting the phone down and usually reporting whatever just was discussed.
This is one storytelling motif that will become very, very familiar for us through the series. It does add a nice "punch" to proceedings though so it's not a bad habit.
This habit is also present in his other works, in fact Anno used it already back in Return of Ultraman tokkusatsu parody film he directed back in early 80s
298: how delusional I am if Rei's expression or something about her face reminds me of a frickin' owl?
310: @jetatomic: could've happened between 309-310
317: This scene was terrific in Rebuild. Yes it does convey Shinji's pain in original too (thanks to Ogata's screaming in large part) but 1.0's take was downright
torturous to watch.
Tsuzuku: *DUN DUN DUN*
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It's a bit hard to elaborate on my take on Gendo's glasses and Rei and Shinji in this format, especially since ep 6 is not avalaible yet (when is it coming out?) but I think it came out ok :)
As you can see I focused on cuts without much commentary yet and in general tried to bring less-used perspective in my comments (FreakyFilmFan is one that offered the most cinematic commentary too so I avoided parts he discussed :) )
You can put 204 comment on any shot between 202-208 if 204 is a bit crowdy (I guess 202 would be second best option) if you want to include my comments.