Peter Ho-Sun Chan's He's a Woman, She's a Man

2. Camera, Sound, and Music

● 2 Camera, Sound, and Music “Align your mouth, move to the right, move to the left, move right, move left, move up, move down, open wide and sing with passion.” — Singing Coach to Wing, He’s a Woman, She’s a Man. Comedy often hides its artistry, and this chap ter attempts to reveal it. Credit goes to Chan’s collaborators, director of photography Joe Chan Jun-git, editor Chan Kei-hop, screenwriters James Yuen Saisang and Lee Chi-ngai, composers Clarence Hui Yuen and Chiu Tsang-hei, and lyricist Lam Chik, as well as production designers Hai Chung-man and Lau Man-wa and costume designer Dora Ng Lei-lo, with most of the team reuniting for the sequel, Who’s the Woman?. Chan has always recognized the collaborative nature of filmmaking, as evidenced by his partnership in UFO (United Filmmakers Organization), a collective of directors, writers, actors, and producers who came together and equally contributed to each other’s films. He’s a Woman, She’s a Man became one of its critical and commercial successes. The story, conceived by Chan and UFO ● 14 PETER CHAN HO-SUN’S HE’S A WOMAN, SHE’S A MAN partners Lee Chi-ngai and James Yuen Sai-sang, is not, like Comrades, set against larger world events or dramatic happenings for its background; its grounding is the crazy world of the entertainment industry, the paparazzi, and fandom. In a sense, this makes the film more dependent upon sharply drawn characterization and the telling of more insular stories. Film is primarily a visual medium, and its rich visual language is dependent upon mise en scène and editing. The former, composition within the frame, expresses the essence of a scene and includes not only the manipulation of people and objects, but the distinction of what the camera shows us versus what an unassisted human eye would see. Not only are the photography and lighting of camerawork (including perspective, depth of field, angle, and type of shot) integral to the mise en scène, but also blocking and movement, set dressing, costumes, and make up. The lighting typically gives the setting a feel for the time of day as well as establishes mood. More shallow depth of field is used to attract attention to individual characters or objects pivotal to a scene. Crane shots are used for establishing shots or dramatic emphasis, and Chan normally gets two days’ use of the crane on a month-shoot. 1 Chan is discriminating in the effect of his choice for camerawork, ranging from comic to dramatic. An active camera comically corners Sam (as does Rose) into signing Wing as a singer. On the other hand, several complex mirror shots reveal Rose’s character, and, as Chan intended, create drama and audience sympathy for her. One of these shots features a full-length so-called “trick” mirror, the one in which Rose views herself before going public to insure her confidence (a comment on projecting image). The other is a smaller dresser mirror into which Rose peers, associated with the love card that Sam has given her (which plays “Amore”). One spectator, identifying primarily with Rose, commented this latter shot “worked wonders” for her. ● CAMERA, SOUND, AND MUSIC 15 While Chan occasionally uses some crane shots in the film, such as breathlessly pulling out and up (as Wing practices her singing on the office rooftop, revealing a generic, cosmopolitan cityscape), he favors the close-up to reveal character and emotion, medium two shots and shot-reverse-shots to develop relationships, and top shots to establish scenes. However, unlike many filmmakers today, he does not overuse the close-up to make it essentially meaningless, but carefully chooses close-ups at climactic moments. Sometimes the action or psychologically heightened moments are at a distance, requiring the viewer to stretch towards the screen, to learn more. The close-ups stand out because they are set apart from many medium and long shots. While leaving his actors room to explore in order to nurture spontaneity, Chan is known for giving actors specific instructions regarding their facial expressions, which are duly captured in the close-ups. To assure spontaneity, he averages no more than seven or eight takes. 2 Editing, or the selection and arrangement of shots, is built with dramatic and emotional emphasis in mind, rather than to structure physical action alone, and gener ally mimics t he...