#AKJDSAKJDAJSKDHASKDJ

[ohcoolnice]

Okay so some people (read: one person, and it may have been jokingly) asked me to continue so y'all Imma break down some of my favorite scenes that I'm thinking of off the top of my head:

Starting off with episode 1:

holy hell so many SO MANY scenes but i'm going to start with the scene where Pablo's men come to kill Vincenzo.

Right before this we have the shot with Vincenzo sitting alone on his couch. He's thinking. Close-up on the lighter and all that (SERATONIN). Then parallel to the dark, empty same room, it's nighttime.

Now we've seen so little of Vincenzo but we know he's clever, and we also know that if he was sleeping, we would get that shot. Camera isn't here to trick us (well, not yet anyways), the camera is here to trick them. They think he's sleeping. He's not.

And the shot when he's coming out of the bathroom: SO MANY THINGS HERE:

- first of all, stunning, gorgeous, brilliant.

- secondly, let's talk wardrobe, because this is what I live for rn. The costume design in this show good lord:

- He's in pyjama's. GOOD GOD HE IS IN PJ'S. Why is this such a big deal to me? Think of James Bond movies, or really any movie with a similar scene. The assailant would be dressed in a suit or at least daytime clothes. So they could leave after. But the SHEER AUDACITY of this man showing up in his silks, sweeping the robe wide around him when he spins, and then shooting his would-be killers without changing his expression, not even BLINKING when the gun goes off (idk how sjk does this time after time but that's massive testament to his acting as well).

- the pj's are so symbolic of his character. This shit is his life. He knew it was coming, he didn't give any shits. It wasn't hurried, he didn't at the last minute hide pillows under the blankets: no no no. BOY WAS WAITING UP FOR THESE DUDES and fully was ready to just go back to sleep after. Gives no shits. It's kill or be killed, so he's adapted and accepted it's his life. Later in the show when they're betrayed, Cha-young asks Vincenzo if this (them being betrayed) doesn't bother him.

"I'm used to it." is his expressionless answer. GOD. So genius.

Now i don't like talking about this because I don't want to spoil for anyone who hasn't seen the show so SPOILER WARNING for the early episodes IM SERIOUS LOOK AWAY.

k cool.

so Junwoo. What caught my eye in episode 4 was not only his shirts but the angle at which he is shot at. Now this might just be me reading into it but i don't think so. Everything (mostly) is deliberate in this show, and shots are so carefully chosen i refuse to believe it's a mistake.

Before filming, camera angles are measured in reference to actors and the scene, to get their "good side" or to capture the feel of the scene and whatnot etc. SO tell me I'm crazy when all of a sudden we're no longer getting these simple, leveled shots of junwoo, but all of a sudden the angle is lower, or higher, we see him from what I feel is close to cha-young's eye level, and the shadow and lighting in the scene gives him a sharper profile, highlights the fact that he's buff.

I remember saying out loud to myself while watching for the first time "why is this random intern dude so buff" and then putting it down initially to just the actor being buff. And then I was wondering why they wouldn't just cast someone whose body fit the personality a bit more.

And then the end of the episode came and i instantly got it. That simple change in shot forces you to focus more on that character, even if it's irrelevant or brief, that character is now in the back of my mind. and as the blur subsides at the end of the episode and he's revealed, IT"S A SLOW SHIFT IN BLUR, but you KNOW for a good part of it, who it is. And during the shift you have time to think about that scene, or any scene with him, but you look and you think "oh shit. I should have known."

phenmominal. I love that so much.

And (last one okay sorry i know these long posts are probably annoying) I mentioned in the last post about the camera being the narattor. Don't believe me just yet?

Let's look at the scene where we find out Mr. Nam has been listening to their plan the whole time (episode 4 i think?). You think nothing of it because the whole scene is shot like a normal scene, you genuinely believe that the characters you see are the only characters in the scene. And because that's what they also believe, and we're still getting to know them, that makes sense. We see what they see from episodes 1-4 because after that point, everything is revealed, and we know everything (basically) we need to know about these characters, and now the show can really begin.

So when Mr. Nam pops up, yes, it's comedic, but you're also kind of startled because it's been hidden from you too, and it's yet again another warning: Pay attention. There's more going on than what you see.

SO BRILLIANT. SO ASJDKHASLKJD.

I might be overanalysing okay but I've wanted a show this ingenious for my entire existence it's so goddamn perfect.

So much 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌 when I think about this show. I literally watch and just 🤌🤌🤌🤌