Productions Aspects - Film By Film [Cinematography | Art | Sound Direction | OST]
Remaining Sense of Pain III | Cinematography
Remaining Sense of Pain III | Cinematography
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| Mitsuru Obunai [III Film Director] |
[Rule of Thirds & Golden Ratio Applied W/ Film Grain on Top] - [Clever Correlation Between Foreground & Background]
In addition to that, Mitsuru splices in more central compositions of his subjects and has less of an emphasis on frontal framings than Takuya as well. Something I noticed was Mitsuru’s use of vignettes in some of his foreshadowed events which was a nice touch for the audience to be able to distinguish different temporal leaps back and forth in time, as well as higher noise levels with more distortion. Not to mention the telephoto shot makes a return utilized with blocking techniques as well as natural diegetic frames within the frame in addition to adjacent line compositions with acute angles to narrow one’s focus. Though in terms of lenses, he only occasionally utilizes the wide angle, but for the most part it’s the standard and or the telephoto that gets the most use. The use of dissolves and eerily slow pans and zooms are a bit further in between though, albeit not used as distinctively and creatively as Takuya in terms of the parallelistic and metaphoric value each transition or move has.
Being that while shots are not terribly short, Mitsuru certainly does cut more and is a little less creative, in terms of the implied sequential editing techniques and such. So in the end Mitsuru could work a bit more on mastering his transitions, as well as his sequential editing techniques and the use of more distinctive lighting. As I found his use of lighting wasn’t as masterful as Takuya’s use of it was, along with not being as aware of who’s perspective the camera is shooting from, how to use it, and the awareness offscreen elements.
[Wide Angle Lens] - [Deep Focus Profile Telephoto Shot W/ Bokeh Isolation]
Art Direction |
[Wide Angle Lens] - [Deep Focus Profile Telephoto Shot W/ Bokeh Isolation]
Art Direction |
The film's third adaptation as you might know received a personnel change, as Kazuo Ogura was appointed as Art Director for this film & Kusanagi illustrating the films backgrounds, along side Emi Chiba once again as Colour designer as she remains so as colour designer in every Kara No Kyoukai film. Though set in the entirely same relative setting of Mifune city, and having the familiarity of scenes set in Tōko's Garan No Dou like many of the other films, it really is a beautiful film that sets itself apart from the first film. As under Kazuo Ogura, we're privy to more open & well lit "set locations" (If you will), as this film is visually much less dry than first, with Emi Chiba's colour compositions including quite a bit more complimentary colour compositions, to contrast the dark, neon lit scenes of the city's hard boiled nights. Emi Chiba has a beautiful balance regarding the diversity of her colour palette, as the film goes through several tone's and shifts in colour to correspond with each given segment within the film, as Emi Chiba is given quite a bit more creative freedom on this film. She's however still able to pace her progression and use of colours, allowing her compositions to sink in for a scene before moving on to the next thing.
In that you can find a lot of various colour compositions ranging from pale low intensity analogous hues, saturated primary colours in poor and medium lighting conditions, to exposed and well lit lighting for more complimentary and tertiary colour palettes. Colour composition is rarely ever to complicated as the rule of thirds here especially take precedent in this film, as each given stage of film is a steady progression with colour composition often having a predominate colour, in addition to 1 or 2 more contrasting highlights, as well as having more monochromatically lit scene's for more the simple and mundane scene's such as at Tōko's office, the Garan No Dou. Though not as distinct and starkly lit as the second film, here Mitsuru Obunai's sense and depiction of lighting from scene to scene is quite balanced and seemingly fluid, as it compliments both the tone of the film and Emi Chiba's flexibility regarding her colour composition.
Sound Direction |
The third film definitely would be one of the more fun films in the franchise, as it's a film that has good production values, with visuals and good sound direction to go with it, however flawed some of it's characters may be however. The way Yoshikazu Iwanami & Mitsuru Obunai tackled this film told the story in a more subjectivist fashion, as narration & monologue in this film is quite common in this film. In that Iwanami is carefully aware of how to use dialogue to run counterpoint to the edit, and the visual storytelling of a scene. Though the film was carefully balanced between objective "Show Don't tell" and the subjective opposite, as there are several scenes in the third film Remaining Sense Of Pain that respect that silence and diegetic continuity of a scene, for the films more uncompressed & unfiltered moments. As Iwanami often cues a score really to capture the overriding feeling or narrative of a scene, utilizing cues within the dialogue or perhaps epically staged and shot scenes to segway upon Yuki Kajiura's commissioned arrangements.
However like many other of the Kara No Kyoukai films there are several instances where the nominal level of the cued track is often very quiet and virtually unnoticeable relative to the ongoing dialogue, as he's keenly aware that the audio component of the film also provides a story and an environment that the viewer will usually be aware of, as he can easily turn a seemingly unassuming montage of shots to seem like a subjective romp of the mind, as the dialogue runs counterpoint to the visual, which alludes to what the dialogue could actually mean - As the experience is often visually impressionistic & metaphorical, shot from the perspective of the one who may be speaking. In addition to also knowing how to either continue on a line of thought, by cuing the dialogue before a cut happens, overlapping the two corresponding stories and respecting the temporal leap of a jump cut by syncing the cut in unison. Really utilizing the dissonance and abruptness of the cut, to emphasize the psychedelic and unnerving aspect of the film, being keenly aware of temporal relationships between the audio and visual component in how to transition, segway or introduce a new scene entirely.This of course goes without saying that he also has access to a great recording department in mimicking the necessary sound information in a scene as well, as the film has all the necessary components to remain a relatively sound rich film, from information regarding the primary action of the staged subject, to the ambient environmental noise happening beyond camera.
OST |
The third film, "Remaining Sense of Pain" has collection of songs ranging between dissonant & resonant synth from arrangements layered on keyboards, in addition to the signature Kalafina Gregorian chant & instrumentals on top. With the full mix of instrumentation found in the previous score, this time with Kyoichi Sato on Drums & Tomoharu "Jr" Takahashi on Bass. The first track (M01) used in the first minute & a half after the introductory scene accompanying a scenic montage as Yoshikazu Iwanami often does is a display of this, as the arrangement really is the center piece of the entire film. Just like "The garden of sinners" is for the first film in particular, being further used later on down the line. It's starts off with a crescendo of reverberating synth, then introduces a lonesome chant with members of Kalafina, then slowly introduces an electric guitar voice that's resonant, in addition to extra small instrumental parts in the background. It's an indefinitely dark track utilized fittingly in suburban night where the film starts off.
One such example of the a bit more intimate instrumentals are used in one of Fujino's flashbacks, & while not entirely notable or amazing, the song (M09) plays like a lullaby, nicely depicting the youth and innocence of the scene, contrasted by the red colour pane as a young Fujino is completely oblivious to the blood. Either played by an actual vibraphone or mimic'd by something coming from a keyboard, which is probably the later, since no "Vibraphonist" if you will was listed in the credits of the record. This of course is contrasted a couple scenes afterwords as one of Fujino's assailants recalls his story about Fujino, as the track "M10+11" starts off with the familiar unnerving synth we're used to, later on introducing an equally unnerving and dissonant violin arrangement.
The scene afterwords in the "Garan No Dou" has an almost demoralizing & intimate piano arrangement (M12), cued when Touko starts talking about Fujino's unfortunate circumstances, as the score is a nice mix between the more progressive bgm's and instrumentals, this being a short 40 second example of such practices. As the next scene after words, is quite unnerving & bittersweet, in that the track M13+14's dissonant synth were used to build into crescendo, then is dressed up by high a voiced arrangement that sounds a little bit bittersweet, contrasted by the accident that's about to happen, as the screen fades to white. In another one of Fujino's flashbacks a beautiful piano arrangement (M16) is voiced, depicting the sweetness & in turn sorrow of the scene. Contrasted by slowly building towards the impending climax (M17+18), as the next scene after is introduced by a stringed ensemble by the likes of Kiyo Kido Strings, later on accompanied by Pianist Haruki Mino as the entire track slowly builds into a crescendo as each of the individual melodies start running counterpoint to each other in a wave a anxious momentum.
As the playful sassiness of the track in these parts is perfectly used in conjunction with one of Touko's signature rants, going on about the irony of the Asagami family compared to the Ryougi's, with all the sarcasm we love about her character as she reveals the plot twist caused by the trivial misunderstandings they've had up until now. Then the broad bridge scene, as it starts off with the track's (M19+M20) disquiet & unnerving synth, just as Shiki appears before Fujino, with the resonant tone of a lonesome guitar, then Shiki confronts her, and as she says it she exposes her - & in that moment a rush of a newly found piano arrangement, with a quick succession of triplets, and as Shiki finally admits her claim, seizing the opportunity to exact her justice, shortly after the main chorus hit's in grand fashion with Kalafina's gregorian chant, and a quickly afterwords with a gritty distorted guitar progression of chords and finally unleashing the percussion & bowed stringed ensemble on this track - Just as the chorus is finally revealed, so is Fujino's demons as her intentions can no longer be hidden, as the piece symbolizes something about to be lost in the piano interlude, in that it's Fujino's prospect of living a normal life and her humanity that's discarded in a fatalistic fashion, as that naive ideal is ripped apart as she's finally called out by Shiki, as both of them finally let loose.
It's an absolutely epic & fantastical moment, as it's probably the most memorable in series, however the rest of the track is somewhat ruined by the intrusive expository dialogue, as it totally saps you out of the moment, and in turn the battle. Soon after the next piano arrangement is a deferential one as Kokuto desperately tries to bid for a way to save her attempting to salvage whatever he can from the situation, though Touko continues to spell out the reality of it & and the futility of his efforts as well. In that track M21 perfectly accompanies the environmental factors such as the typhoon's rage of rain and wind. And of course what would a Kara No Kyoukai film be without the "Garden of Sinners" theme being included as well? In this case, it's just another spun off version that's mixed with the meter of electronic 808 bass kicks and synth accompaniment - Twice I might add, just another rendition that's striped down to a lone piano arrangement at the end.
Finally one of the last pieces M23, is a resolvingly clear piano arrangement that has distinct micro dynamics in addition to more grand macro dynamics as well, as the track is equally explosive and calm, as it's the scene where Fujino quite literally "Blows it all up". In the after math the film comes full circle as the track M24 is just a stripped down version of the first track M01, as Fujino finally experiences the phenomena of pain, coming to terms with herself, finally discovering what pain means, the phenomena that alluded her for so long, finally gaining something when she finally is able to "feel", as she also discovers bliss in her memories of her "Senpai", instead of living in the limbo state of ennui she has for most of her entire life, also in place of seeking the thrill of murder to feel alive as well, as the track accompanies her desperately personal soliloquy of regret and wanting to live on.
The final track here, which actually has a title this time "Ahnen Erbe", is a track that's used quite literally after the storm, as the piece is another piano arrangement that's melancholic & promising in a way. In that the third film chronologically takes place after the fourth just after Shiki wakes up in the hospital & in this scene she's finally able to reconcile with Kokuto, symbolizing the promise of what's to come, while they rebuild the relationship they had from two years ago.
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| The Garden of Sinners: Ever Cry, Never Life [III Film Soundtrack] |
Vocals :
Kalafina - Main Group -
Wakana Ōtaki, Keiko Kubota, Hikaru Masai
Supporting Vocalists -
REMI, Yuriko Kaida, Hanae Tomaru
Former Members -
Maya Toyoshima (Left in 2009)
Musicians :
Keyboard & Programming - Yuki Kajiura
Strings - Kiyo Kido Strings (Group)
Rie Akagi, Yuriko Kaida
Strings - Hitoshi Konno Group
Guitar - Koichi Korenaga
Drums - Kyoichi Sato
Bass - Tomoharu "Jr" Takahashi
Piano - Haruki Mino
- Overlooking View
- Murder Speculation [Part 1]
- Remaining Sense Of Pain
- The Hollow
- Paradox Spiral
- Oblivion Recording
- Murder Speculation [Part 2]
- Epilogue
- The Future Gospel
- The Future Gospel [Extra Chorus]
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