Andrew and Marc - Critique of The Table

Andrew Sullivan and Marc Ambinder, two bloggers at the Atlantic, videotaped a conversation in Ambinder's office. I like this kind of thing, particularly since it combines two of my passions, moving images and politics.

Here they are:



I have a couple of notes, and I am going to ignore, for the moment, the actual content of their discussion and talk about the production design, just because I feel like it.

I'm sure they shot this with little if any attention to details like costume or production design. Oddly enough, however, the attire of each actually matches the background quite nicely. For Sullivan, this works, but for Ambinder, unfortunately, it doesn't.

Sullivan is wearing a vertically striped shirt, and is sitting in front of a bookshelf. The books are also vertical stripes, but different enough to be a contrast. I like it; it's busy enough to be interesting, but not so cluttered that we are distracted. Sullivan has dark eyes, and the lighting on his eyes isn't great, so when he leans forward, there are slight shadows on his eyes, and you can't see his eyes as well as you can see Ambinder's. This is vaguely reminiscient, at least for me, of the opening scene of The Godfather, when Marlon Brando's eyes were intentionally hidden in shadows, which gave him a decidedly sinister look. With Sullivan, he occasionally squints when he is laughing or his brow is furrowed, which hides his eyes that much more. It's nto a huge problem, but I noticed it. Ambinder seems to be lit a little brighter, although he doesn't have a beard and Sullivan does, which might make a difference.

Sullivan has his shirt open, and the camera seems to be closer to him, and at an angle closer to straight on, so the shots of him feel slightly more intimate. Ambinder seems to be shot at a vaguely more obtuse angle. He has his shirt buttoned up and he's wearing a jacket, so, although the lighting is brighter on him, he seems a tad more formal and corporate, even though, from the conversation itself, he seems like a wonderfully open guy. Ambinder's lighting, however, washes out his face a bit, which is too bad, because Sullivan seems quite expressive, and his face seems to have more character. That's might be the beard. One little detail bothers me about Ambinder: for most of this we can really only see his left eye, with only glimpses of his right eye, which makes eye contact on the part of the audience a little more difficult.

What really caught my attention, tho, was the almost perfect match between Ambinder's outfit and the background. This does not work for me. He's wearing a yellow shirt and dark jacket; the background consists of a blank wall, which is uncomfortably close to the same shade of yellow as his jacket. It does his face no favors to see it floating between custard and cheesecake (with apologies to Jennifer Garner in Juno). What really bothers me, tho, is that the other large blocks of color are dark blue/black - the thing over his shoulder, his jacket, and the computer monitor. It's also a little distracting that the monitor changes back and forth between sleep mode and active. When it's in active mode, it's a source of brightness, like the wall behind him. Not good. It's ironic that a bright yellow ends up coming across as almost cold, but it does. I haven't seen one of Stephen Colbert's interviews with a member of Congress recently, but I associate the background with warm dark browns, like leather upholstery and a library.

This is clearly a small space, and it feels a little cramped, a tad claustrophobic. Like the cameras are as far away as possible in this small office, but that's still a little close. Maybe if they went to a Starbucks it would feel a little more open. Or maybe if they just walked down the hall.

Finally, a note about their performances, so to speak: Sullivan is very animated, bobbing and weaving, raising his hands, etc. It's fun to watch him, because he's so passionate. Ambinder is also obviously having a good time, and I like him as the interlocutor, but he's not as active.

All in all, a good thing to watch, and I hope they do it again. Next time, tho, please pay a smidgen bit of attention to the actual production. Stephen Colbert does this well when he has a guest on.

A great example of costume matching background is the dinner party scene in Notting Hill, when Anna (Julia Roberts) meets Will's (Hugh Grant's) sister and friends, particularly when they are discussing who should get the brownie. Starting at about 2 minutes into this clip, notice that Honey's bright red, flyaway hair is in front of a very busy wooden cabinet, with some red accents, while Bella (Gina McKee, in the wheelchair), is wearing a somber pattern, has her hair tied up, and is in front of a brick wall. Julia Roberts is wearing a silvery jacket, in front of mostly white. Hugh Grant is wearing a light green, and there's a plant behind him. Bernie, the stockbroker, is before a black and white window, rigidly framed. And everywhere there are candles, which flicker just enough to provide some eye candy. And it's all in the same room. That's great production design for some talking heads.



One note about content: I loved Sullivan's comment about Bush as two terms of the Republican Carter. Great line. Now just please work on the lighting, and get Ambers some poster or something.