#visual meta

pop quiz time and you will be graded harshly for your answers <3

what is the show saying about dean's relationships with women?

what does the fandom say about dean's relationships with women?

Well, now I see where they got the coupled up bottles from.

Malex Kiss (Pilot) - A Cinematographic Breakdown - Part of The Semiotics of Roswell Meta

So first things first, we see the camera slowly pan up to reveal Alex's prosthetic. He's had to step away to adjust it which gives us an insight into his character; private, may be concerned about appearances. Knowing what we know now, with the benefit of hindsight, there's an even more striking comparison at this moment. As the camera pans up and we see Alex looking at a picture of himself, the music played over this section says "you can run but you won't make it far / you can't hide from who you are". He's looking up at a younger, skateboarding image of himself that we know from episode six with the flashbacks was someone who was Out in every sense other than screaming that he was gay to the world. Every beating from his father made him dig his heels in; another piercing, more eyeliner, another way of shouting fuck you to the world. The line "you can't hide" is repeated again as there's an over-the-shoulder shot of Alex's photo on the wall and we're sharing in Alex's pain and nostalgia here.

What's telling in the next cut though is it moves to a wide shot, when "from who you are" is played over the image as Michael's standing in the doorway. They're sharing the middle of the screen here, true, but they're still each on a defined side; Alex on the right and Michael on the left.

When Michael says "nostalgia's a bitch, huh?" the camera cuts to Michael, a soft-focus mid-shot (soft focus images are typically romantic in nature, which is in sharp contrast to how they were shot earlier - close up almost claustrophobic shots during the 'did it get old for you?'). Michael's on the left-hand side of the screen.

We intersect to shots of people dancing, having fun, Isobel and Max etc. This is in sharp focus again which offers another direct contrast when we return to the blue swamped (because outside the lighting is more neutral with hints of blue, but it's nothing like the blue swamped scene of Male here).

When we return to Malex, Alex is on the left, we're back in soft focus (which means that all those ribbons are blurred). It's a mid-shot, focused on Alex's face which gives us a visual insight into the fact that these two are closer than we anticipated, closer than we might have thought at first. Suddenly, the angles are mirroring the ones used for Liz and Max, though Malex has already claimed their sides of the screen: whatever page they're on, it's closer to being the same one than the ones Liz and Max are operating on.

When we cut to Michael, with the "is that what you want?" the camera's pulled back. We can see the macho cowboy swagger dropping, he's unsure and uncertain and the camera's angled in a way that makes him look small. He shrugs, his hands look like they're in his pockets and it's the textbook body language of someone who's expecting a 'yes' to a question that they really want the answer to be 'no' to.

Though Alex doesn't say no, and the camera stays close again on the two of them, cutting right back into Michael and Alex as they both move towards each other, towards the centre of the frame (where they'll meet each other). The camera is still, and steady, it doesn't wobble or swing, it's focused solely on tracking their movements, keeping close-cropped to their faces which allows us to see and feel how they're feeling in the moment.

(Can I just take a moment to talk about how Tyler swallows RIGHT before he says 'what I want doesn't matter'? Because the answer to Michael's question is 'No', it's always been no. Alex wants Michael, he always has done and he confirms it in that moment.)

ANYWAY. With Alex saying 'what I want doesn't matter' which is a screaming way of Alex saying that he still wants Michael, that he's glad Michael hadn't left (something that's mirrored and repeated when Michael talks about moving to Tennessee and Alex is like wait what you're leaving?!) and it sets up a paradigm of the two of them almost saying what they mean but never actually saying the words. "What I want doesn't matter" -  I want you. "I never look away, not really" - I love you. "It was late, I was tired" - I stayed because this is safe for me, you are home. That kind of thing, you know?

The way they keep the tight angles in the shots (the Michael looking Alex up and down like he's a snack, and Alex's expression - ten years of longing all cultivated in a single look), helps increase the tension. The switching of POVs is actually quite slow; we get a good three seconds on Michael's face, then Alex's as they wind up getting close to kissing. And then. Then it happens (1:07 in the video).

As their lips collide (and god, Michael surges into Alex like he's the oxygen needed to breathe, the way he clings to him and their bodies just crash together (A CRASH LANDING)... find yourself someone who kisses you like Michael kisses Alex after ten years, you deserve it), you'll notice that the camera swings to the side slightly, the shot stays the same, mid/close as we're not meant to be looking at anything else but their faces (and Alex is still on the right and Michael is on the left, we're slightly closer to Alex's side than we are in the middle) before it stabilises and that's something that happens with most of Malex's kisses. That first contact the camera swings to chase them and I read that like Michael and Alex's worlds rock each time, the turbulence of their minds and their lives culminating and then... the camera goes still and the only movement is them, with each other. The camera's still because they're at peace.

The audio over this section is "you can't run from a smoking gun", which narratively tells us that whatever this is, since we've not been introduced to their epicness fully yet, is hot, it's fresh, it's burning and alive and it's inescapable. Alex can't hide from who he is - though it's obvious now that he's been trying - and Michael can't escape how he feels from Alex. They can't run from each other. It sets up a fantastic overall narrative that we don't even see for Echo, yet.

We cut from an almost side on shot to an almost over-the-shoulder, which brings another element into the Malex kisses which I haven't seen many people talk about and that's the way that the camera is almost voyeuristic at points with them. We're experiencing the kiss, sure, but we're also watching it as a third party (the angles are never immediately side on they're always slightly off, and the museum kiss is shot from a distance, like someone's hidden and the toolshed reflection in the mirror, it's all done to amp up the tension, of course, because we know Alex is afraid of being seen, of being caught (again), of something happening because they weren't careful enough).

This is then interspersed with Jesse Manes telling Kyle that the aliens are incapable of compassion and love.

THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT.

"They despise freedom, love"

This line is said DIRECTLY OVER A MALEX SCENE. I cannot stress this enough. We were all hurt by the finale, and so many of us feel betrayed but from the very beginning, they have been set up as equal, if not more solidly signposted, to the primary romantic storyline (Echo). The image of Michael and Alex with their foreheads touching is iconic, not just because of the fact that it's Malex and you can see their Peace here, you can see the line of Michael's shoulders drop, the way that he just breathes Alex in, how Alex's hands have slid down his chest (probably to hook around his lower back the same way it did when they were kids, he kisses like he's a teenager again because that's how Michael makes him feel). The fact that we can't see Alex's hands here is also probably telling; Michael grips him like he's afraid he'll disappear, like he's the port in Michael's storm. And they're still slightly further to the right than they are in the middle: Michael's all in, he's crowding Alex into his side of the screen, they're almost on the same page but not quite and Michael is moving *to Alex*. Alex isn't giving ground here but Michael's conceding and stepping into Alex's space.

They stand together, and you can see them swaying a little, the camera rocks with them: what we've just witnessed is the reconnection of something epic. Dare I say cosmic?

The other thing I touched on briefly was the colour blue. This is used to signify a lot of things, but primarily blue is a soothing colour. It's comforting, calming. It's used to signify contentment, loyalty, fulfilment, peace, security and tranquillity. It's a colour that washes the screen when Malex has their reunion and it emphasises how Michael is seeking something to change his entropy, something to shift him back to calm and order and it's Alex he finds that in. The way this scene is washed out blue compared to the other parts of the party - which presumably have the same kind of lighting as Isobel is half-cast in blue - which are more neutrally lit is a directorial choice to highlight the moment. It's also one of the Colours Of Outer Space. Malex's love story, as we know, is cosmic and honestly, the colour choice helps solidify that. Nothing else in the pilot is colour-washed quite so much as Malex is and that's been done for a reason.