Okay, so Jennifer and I were having a little discussion in the Hi, Infidelity thread about my problem concerning the lack of shot-reverse-shot dialogues between Logan and Veronica this season. I've been trying to figure out why they're always in the same shot, frequently not facing each other while they talk. I wanted to know why that intimacy isn't portrayed very often.
I was going through vm-caps.com today to look at the scenes in "slow motion" to see if I was just mental, if I was just making it up . . . What I found was that, no, they really don't look at each other much . . . although both did it a lot in this episode rather than just Kristen. But, there's something even better which explains why they are keeping LoVe side by side so often and it is freakin' great. I don't know if they do this intentionally or if Kristen and Jason are so synchronised that it happens naturally (it has been there for a long time after all) but it was all over the place in this episode which completely explains the shot-reverse-shot drought in my eyes.
Of course, I'm talking about the freaky acting symmetry between Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell. We've noted it many times before but I was astounded by how often they mirrored each other in Hi, Infidelity. Whether it be facial expressions, body manneurisms or clothing; they pretty much mirrored each other in every scene. Which puts a great spin on something I've been dissatisfied with. I'd still prefer some more intimacy but this makes me feel a lot better about it and I wanted to share what I mean.
So, I found all these pics on the great vm-caps.com but I've shrunk them down because I only want to illustrate what I'm doing not gush about the pretty or use their pics in any other way. A couple refused to shrink, hopefully that's just a glitch and they'll fix themselves in a day or so.
There are so many caps from Hi, Infidelity, where Veronica and Logan's facial expressions just match perfectly. We've talked about their physical symmetry in scenes before (especially in episodes like Plan B) but it is really obvious when you look at caps:
Scene One: Cafeteria
"If that's your idea of bad, you need to turn in your badge."
Amused smirks, only showing us one cheek, curving toward each other . . .*sigh*
"Hey, do you want to go bowling tomorrow night?"
I think this one's pretty self explanatory.
"Parker's all alone."
I LOVE this series of shots. Leaning against each other, both dangling one hand lazily, both gazing off and focusing on the same target . . . mmm.
"Did you just make a Jane Austen reference?"
Scene Two: Inside Sources
"Mmm."
Do I really need to say anything about this shot? The lighting in this room really contributes to making her look like his detachable limb, their clothing blends that much. And I love how the reds in their clothing also match the bedspread and pillows - nice erotic symbolism.
Same thing with this shot. They're sitting so close that Logan's leg acts like a dividing line for siamese twins. Both of them have one arm mostly invisible and with her leaning towards him the arms that are visible are positioned symmetrically opposed to each other. Then you have the symmetrical lamps glowing behind them . . . Tre pretty.
"Inside connections like what?"
Holding their arms in a similar bow (especially in the second shot), looking at each other with a lean . . . *sigh*
"Like, someone on staff you're pals with who might sneak you info they're not supposed to?"
This one's all about the mirrored FACE. Leading in to the best scene for that:
Scene Three: A Favour . . .
Love the matching facial expressions throughout this scene. It's like Veronica is using Logan as her mouthpiece but they're both in sync the entire time.
Lip suck/nibble. Hee.
*Convincing We're-So-Innocent Grin*
Uhhhh . . . *thinks*
"This isn't illegal, is it?"
Hee! What do we call this? The Since-When-Has-That-Mattered-On-This-Show-Before face? Classic.
*Conspiratorial We're-So-Devious Grins*
The "Ergghhhh-Dammit" Face.
It's all about the hand gesture and lean. Oh, and the eyes - focused and determined.
"Any friend of Logan's."
*Indulgent-Slightly-Uncomfortable Smile*
"Girlfriend of Logan's."
Hee, I love the embarassed look on Logan's face in contrast with the wary grin on Veronica's. But symmetry wise I love the positioning of their arms. She's letting the claws out and gripping his arm to drag him away, but both their other arms are folded on top of the table in the same way. They have similar natural body movement.
Scene Four: Bowling
"Logan. Her boyfriend. We've met."
Not only are they still sharing similar manneurisms in this scene but it is a perfect parallel to the scene that came before it.
"So where's Wallace and the rest of this . . . gang?"
Hee. Matching dimples.
*The Look*
I just really like this shot. With the same purple light in their hair, looking toward Parker in a similar staggered pose with their hands around their hips. Hee. Do they rehearse this or does it happen by accident?
"Darling, what size are those dainty feet that I love so much?"
Honestly, come on! Both hands tucked into their waistbands, heads tilted, purple light, jeans, the shirts! It would be creepy if it wasn't so cute.
"Dearest darling?"
Hee. It's all in the head tilts and matching sarcastic stares.
Scene Five: Chillin' Like A Villain
The Tired Sprawl. Both with one leg bent up, framed by glowy orange lights again.
What I like about this is that they so clearly find it most comfortable to put their hands above their head when they're chilling out and sinking back into the couch. But they can't because they're snuggled so close to each other that they would end up elbowing each other in the face. So he he's got one hand tucked up and as soon as he gets off the couch, that's when Veronica puts both her hands above her head.
The "Fresh Meat" Grin. Both looking so amused as she's about to go in for the kill. Ah, so sweet.
Target acquired must capture and destroy!! I like how they're both so focused and frowny. Hee.
They were pretty much symmetrical for the entire episode up until the most pivotal scene which returned to the standard shot-reverse-shot dialogue technique. But kept them in matching colours again. What is it with that? Are they calling each other up to colour-coordinate this season?
Scene Six: Trust Me, Veronica
Shot-Reverse-Shot Dialogue:
Can I say I love how he was strategically positioned before the Western sign so that is spells out 'stern' behind him? Totally irrelevant to this analysis of course, but it amused me.
"Trust me, he's innocent."
Yipes. This is the scene that needed to be more emotional than the others so I'm glad they used the shot-reverse-shot format but I also find it interesting that this is the scene that broke the pattern of them being in sync with each other throughout the episode (aside from the clothing). I wonder if that was intentional.
**
Anyway, since I did think the direction of their scenes was partially responsible for my disconnection with their emotional intimacy in the early episodes. . . I thought I owed the board some positive energy. This is me being positive about the choice of direction in their scenes this week. After reflection, I think that we were meant to perceive a steady, give-and-take rhythm that kept them synchronised in the early scenes so that when their opinions differed at the end it would have more visual impact and an obvious contrast.
I really like that KB and JD seem to be on the same wavelength in their scenes, so that they can mimic each other so closely. 
I was going through vm-caps.com today to look at the scenes in "slow motion" to see if I was just mental, if I was just making it up . . . What I found was that, no, they really don't look at each other much . . . although both did it a lot in this episode rather than just Kristen. But, there's something even better which explains why they are keeping LoVe side by side so often and it is freakin' great. I don't know if they do this intentionally or if Kristen and Jason are so synchronised that it happens naturally (it has been there for a long time after all) but it was all over the place in this episode which completely explains the shot-reverse-shot drought in my eyes.
Of course, I'm talking about the freaky acting symmetry between Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell. We've noted it many times before but I was astounded by how often they mirrored each other in Hi, Infidelity. Whether it be facial expressions, body manneurisms or clothing; they pretty much mirrored each other in every scene. Which puts a great spin on something I've been dissatisfied with. I'd still prefer some more intimacy but this makes me feel a lot better about it and I wanted to share what I mean.
So, I found all these pics on the great vm-caps.com but I've shrunk them down because I only want to illustrate what I'm doing not gush about the pretty or use their pics in any other way. A couple refused to shrink, hopefully that's just a glitch and they'll fix themselves in a day or so.
There are so many caps from Hi, Infidelity, where Veronica and Logan's facial expressions just match perfectly. We've talked about their physical symmetry in scenes before (especially in episodes like Plan B) but it is really obvious when you look at caps:
Scene One: Cafeteria
"If that's your idea of bad, you need to turn in your badge."
Amused smirks, only showing us one cheek, curving toward each other . . .*sigh*
"Hey, do you want to go bowling tomorrow night?"
I think this one's pretty self explanatory.
"Parker's all alone."
I LOVE this series of shots. Leaning against each other, both dangling one hand lazily, both gazing off and focusing on the same target . . . mmm.
"Did you just make a Jane Austen reference?"
Scene Two: Inside Sources
"Mmm."
Do I really need to say anything about this shot? The lighting in this room really contributes to making her look like his detachable limb, their clothing blends that much. And I love how the reds in their clothing also match the bedspread and pillows - nice erotic symbolism.
Same thing with this shot. They're sitting so close that Logan's leg acts like a dividing line for siamese twins. Both of them have one arm mostly invisible and with her leaning towards him the arms that are visible are positioned symmetrically opposed to each other. Then you have the symmetrical lamps glowing behind them . . . Tre pretty.
"Inside connections like what?"
Holding their arms in a similar bow (especially in the second shot), looking at each other with a lean . . . *sigh*
"Like, someone on staff you're pals with who might sneak you info they're not supposed to?"
This one's all about the mirrored FACE. Leading in to the best scene for that:
Scene Three: A Favour . . .
Love the matching facial expressions throughout this scene. It's like Veronica is using Logan as her mouthpiece but they're both in sync the entire time.
Lip suck/nibble. Hee.
*Convincing We're-So-Innocent Grin*
Uhhhh . . . *thinks*
"This isn't illegal, is it?"
Hee! What do we call this? The Since-When-Has-That-Mattered-On-This-Show-Before face? Classic.
*Conspiratorial We're-So-Devious Grins*
The "Ergghhhh-Dammit" Face.
It's all about the hand gesture and lean. Oh, and the eyes - focused and determined.
"Any friend of Logan's."
*Indulgent-Slightly-Uncomfortable Smile*
"Girlfriend of Logan's."
Hee, I love the embarassed look on Logan's face in contrast with the wary grin on Veronica's. But symmetry wise I love the positioning of their arms. She's letting the claws out and gripping his arm to drag him away, but both their other arms are folded on top of the table in the same way. They have similar natural body movement.
Scene Four: Bowling
"Logan. Her boyfriend. We've met."
Not only are they still sharing similar manneurisms in this scene but it is a perfect parallel to the scene that came before it.
"So where's Wallace and the rest of this . . . gang?"
Hee. Matching dimples.
*The Look*
I just really like this shot. With the same purple light in their hair, looking toward Parker in a similar staggered pose with their hands around their hips. Hee. Do they rehearse this or does it happen by accident?
"Darling, what size are those dainty feet that I love so much?"
Honestly, come on! Both hands tucked into their waistbands, heads tilted, purple light, jeans, the shirts! It would be creepy if it wasn't so cute.
"Dearest darling?"
Hee. It's all in the head tilts and matching sarcastic stares.
Scene Five: Chillin' Like A Villain
The Tired Sprawl. Both with one leg bent up, framed by glowy orange lights again.
What I like about this is that they so clearly find it most comfortable to put their hands above their head when they're chilling out and sinking back into the couch. But they can't because they're snuggled so close to each other that they would end up elbowing each other in the face. So he he's got one hand tucked up and as soon as he gets off the couch, that's when Veronica puts both her hands above her head.
The "Fresh Meat" Grin. Both looking so amused as she's about to go in for the kill. Ah, so sweet.
Target acquired must capture and destroy!! I like how they're both so focused and frowny. Hee.
They were pretty much symmetrical for the entire episode up until the most pivotal scene which returned to the standard shot-reverse-shot dialogue technique. But kept them in matching colours again. What is it with that? Are they calling each other up to colour-coordinate this season?
Scene Six: Trust Me, Veronica
Shot-Reverse-Shot Dialogue:
Can I say I love how he was strategically positioned before the Western sign so that is spells out 'stern' behind him? Totally irrelevant to this analysis of course, but it amused me.
"Trust me, he's innocent."
Yipes. This is the scene that needed to be more emotional than the others so I'm glad they used the shot-reverse-shot format but I also find it interesting that this is the scene that broke the pattern of them being in sync with each other throughout the episode (aside from the clothing). I wonder if that was intentional.
**
Anyway, since I did think the direction of their scenes was partially responsible for my disconnection with their emotional intimacy in the early episodes. . . I thought I owed the board some positive energy. This is me being positive about the choice of direction in their scenes this week. After reflection, I think that we were meant to perceive a steady, give-and-take rhythm that kept them synchronised in the early scenes so that when their opinions differed at the end it would have more visual impact and an obvious contrast.
I really like that KB and JD seem to be on the same wavelength in their scenes, so that they can mimic each other so closely.
