Cine-Speak, Analysing ‘The Ugly Truth’ (Week 3)

I did something yesterday that I don’t usually do, I went and saw a romantic comedy, and not on DVD either, but at the cinemas! Strange I know and why would I spend money on seeing something as predictable as a romantic comedy? I mean they do all pretty much end up the same anyway with the guy and the girl getting together after going through various trials and tribulations. In my defence, it was after much objection on my behalf but even more persuasion by my partner and close friend that I finally succumbed to the excess peer pressure that was bestowed upon me. We ended up seeing the ugly truth and too be honest the film wasn’t quite as ugly as I thought it would be. Compared to other romantic comedies I’ve seen in the past, this one is certainly up there with the best of them. Dare I say, it quite possibly could be the best one I’ve seen (although in all honesty I haven’t actually seen all that many).

It is about "a romantically challenged morning show producer, Abby Ritcher (Katherine Heigl) who is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent, Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142988/plotsummary

Actually this "unexpected result" is just BS. It was predictable in terms of the lead characters (Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler) getting together in the end, however the many amusing parts of the film definitely made up for the cliché ending. Although even the ending was funny. I think that any film that can get me laughing, smiling and talking about it long after it’s over, is more that ok in my books.

"The Ugly Truth" Preview


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlA3nr1AwE8&feature=related


Now since it was suggested, in the previous lecture, that we could write our next blog about the uses of the various screen shots, I took the liberty of analysing 'The Ugly Truth', to see if what was mentioned in the lecture did in fact hold true to this film.
There were six questions that were discussed in the lecture with eight possible shot sizes that could be used as answers.

The questions were: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?
The shot sizes (possible answers) were: VLS/WS (Very Long Shot/Wide Shot), LS (Long Shot), MLS (Medium Long Shot), MS (Mid Shot), MCU (Medium Close Up), CU (Close Up), BCU (Big Close Up) and the ECU (Extreme Close Up).

The Who: The CU shot was used in most instances to emphasis each characters expression in detail so we could get a better understanding and insight about each character (what makes them happy, sad, puzzled etc.).
A Close up shot of Mike Chadway's (Gerard Butler's) to emphasis his mischievous expression...

http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/1833225.bin?size=404x272

The What: The MS was used every time a character would perform an action to emphasis hand gestures like Abby Ritcher (Katherine Heigl) is doing in the scene in the elevator.

http://blog.nj.com/entertainment_impact_tv/2009/07/large_ugly-truth-review-katherine-heigl-gerard-butler.jpg

The Where: The LS was used at the beginning of each scene to establish where the action was taking place (overview of the city, landscapes etc.). This is a similair Long Shot picture of the air balloon scene at the end part in the film.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Hot_air_balloons_over_Cappadocia_1.jpg/300px-Hot_air_balloons_over_Cappadocia_1.jpg

The When: This was discussed in the lecture to be the most difficult to capture on screen. During the film the WS was used to emphasise whether it was night/day and the CU was used to show specific time (as in the hands on a clock or watch).
This is an example of a Wide shot of a sunright to show the when...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3473072491_dcfe263ab9_o.jpg

And an example of a Close Up shot of a clock to also show the when...

http://thekools.net/images/Clock%20Face.JPG

The Why: The BCU was used well to answer this question because it showed the feelings that were expressed through the faces of both Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.
It was difficult to find a good Big Close Up shot from the film, but this is Katherine Heigl in an interview about the ugly truth...

http://www.accesshollywood.com/content/images/98/300x300/98657_katherine-heigl-talks-the-ugly-truth.jpg

The How: The MCU was used on occasion but it was more so a series of close ups that was used to explain the how, for instance when Abby Ritchter (Katherine Heigl) was getting to know Colin (Eric Winter) who was Mike Chadway's (Gerard Butler's) competition in winning Abby's heart. A nice set of close ups were shown in a montage.

http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2009_The_Ugly_Truth/2009_the_ugly_truth_010.jpg

Overall, the shot sizes mentioned in the lecture were the same or very similair to the ones used in the ugly truth to answer the six questions.
It was quite apparent that each of the shots used did serve a purpose and did drive the narrative forward, all the way from the beginning of the film to the end. So well done to the director of the film Robert Luketic for achieving this and coveying everyone in an understandable and often humorous manner.

(All websites viewed on 14th of August 2009)