Camera Work and its Development of Lionel Dobie in Life Lessons

by Maya

“The camera is doing a lot of wild things, which is great for an actor, because sometimes that camera can bring across an emotion as much as the actor himself!”(Nick Nolte, Martin Scorsese: A Journey by Mary Pat Kelly, Chapter 9: Gangster/Priest). Life Lessons is a short film directed by Martin Scorsese, which is apart of the New York Stories anthology, produced in 1989. This anthology was produced in 1989. The film, Life Lessons, revolves around a famous artist named Lionel Dobie and his toxic relationship with his assistant/former lover, Paulette. Within Life Lessons, the cinematic elements of the movement and placement of the camera, as well as the types of camera shots, is key in understanding who Lionel Dobie is as a person, as well as what is going on inside of Lionel Dobie’s head, including his feelings and desires. 

Within the film, there is a scene that depicts Lionel Dobie painting on his giant canvas, with intensity and passion in his eyes, which is brilliantly captured by the placement of the camera. In this scene, the camera is placed from the perspective of the canvas as a medium shot. The shot switches back between medium and medium close up shots as Lionel moves back and forth, painting all around the camera. From the location of the camera as well as the type of shot, the viewer is able to clearly understand what Lionel Dobie is feeling when he is painting, as the camera is in line with his face, and captures him cocking and turning his head in frustration. The audience is able to see the seriousness and zeal he holds towards his craft through the arrangement of the camera. The location of the camera in this scene focusing on Lionel Dobie specifically, greatly develop his character, through the fact that the positioning of the camera is in line with his eyes, which are the best parts of the body in which to understand how someone is feeling about something, as the saying goes, “the eyes do not lie.” 

Scorsese shows Dobie’s intensity towards his art through the use of camera movement and shot type, specifically by having the camera move back and forth between the brush and canvas, and using a series of close up shots. In the same painting scene, it is actually pretty hard to understand what Dobie is making because the jumping from the brush shots to canvas shots move very fast, and again, all the shots are close ups. All that matters is the energy and vigor in the moment, which is much easier to show through fast-paced close up shots. Additionally, when Dobie is very angry or painting away furiously (this happened a few times within the film), the camera parallels those emotions through visual dips and abrupt movements, as well as through medium close up and close up shots. The camera movement and shot type conveys the intensity and passion Dobie has towards creating art very well. The camera does this through paralleling the movement of Dobie’s body, as well as using closeups and extreme close ups to capture the rawest of emotions. 

The cinematography within the film conveys a lot about what fuels Dobie and what he wants most: sex. In a sex dream/flashback sequence that Dobie has, the cinematography uses close up shots of Paulette’s body, specifically focusing on her stomach, arms, and neck. Naturally, close up and even more so extreme close ups hold very sexual innuendos, when capturing a part of the body. Because these shots are framed in the point of view of Dobie, there is even more of an implication that Dobie wants to have sex with Paulette. Likewise, in the scene during Dobie’s art show, Dobie meets a woman. Her name is unknown to the audience, but the types of shots used during this scene create a sense of sexual tension. Dobie’s point of view, close up, and extreme close up shots of the woman at the end of the film and of Paulette throughout the film, greatly imply Dobie’s desire to touch these women, as well as to have sex with them. 

In the film, Life Lessons, the movement and placement of the camera, as well as the types of shots used, are critical in communicating with the viewers of the film, everything he/she needs to know about how Dobie feels and what runs through his head. In a broader sense, the technique of cinematography can really bring out and parallel characters’ emotions and thoughts, no matter the character, as long as the movement, placement, and shot type of the cinematography are carefully designed and connected specifically with the character and the way they feel or are acting in a scene. “...it seems that the camera is like God. It can be in the weirdest places. It can be everywhere.”(Nick Nolte, Martin Scorsese: A Journey by Mary Pat Kelly, Chapter 9: Gangster/Priest)