#You see I'll pass my media exam but I'm procrastinating my maths revision so --

[thetardisisnotourdivision]

I Am A Media Student And Will Therefore Overanalyze This Shot Pt1

Right I just want to talk about this shot here:

From Transmission. 

So the first interesting thing here is their outfits - one of the most interesting things this series has been the antagonists' designs. Gabriel has always worn light colours, but before there was red too, like with Nathalie. Red is often used to connote danger and villainy, but there is now not a trace of the colour on Gabriel's outfit. The new outfit that he has designed for himself is entirely white, even his hair and glasses. White is often used in conjunction with purity and innocence, suggesting that Gabriel is trying to put forth an angelic image of himself - fitting, as he refuses to admit that Ladybug and Cat Noir aren't the cause of his problems, and continues to refute the idea that he's the bad guy in this situation. Nathalie, on the other hand, is very different. Her outfit is black with red, both colours typically associated with darkness and villainy respectively. We could otherwise see this as a very businesslike, coordinated, sophisticated style (typical business attire) with a streak (the literal red streak in her hair, the stripe on her glasses) of villainy, of vengeance, spite, malevolence, whatever word you want to use - either way, she's not making any attempt to hide it. She hasn't made any attempt to change this outfit at all, and the only addition in S5 is the back brace, aligning with the idea that she knows that she is the villain, and acknowledges the severity of her crimes. Even the lighting is significant - there are far more shadows on Nathalie and her side of the shot than Gabriel, who is almost haloed in this light. However, when you look at their eyes, you get a very different story. Gabriel's eyes are very, very dark, a sort of greyish-black, whereas Nathalie's are bright blue - which seems at odds with their design otherwise, and you'd expect them to be the other way around. However, this serves to emphasise the truth - the eyes are often described as being the windows to the soul, and eyes are commonly used in animation to tell us whether or not we are supposed to sympathise with a character (I can't find it now but I saw a post about Bruno from Encanto that summed this up perfectly). Blue eyes are normally associated with clarity, innocence or youth, here - which makes a stark contrast to everything else about Nathalie's design, and implies that there is more to her story than we know. Gabriel's eyes, however, are dark, and we can't quite tell what he's thinking. 

The next thing is the composition. Gabriel has just said the line, "I'm not a monster", but the shot makes it glaringly obvious who is in the right here. Nathalie is higher up than Gabriel, having a literal "moral" high ground. Both are looking at the other - Gabriel looking up, obviously, and Nathalie is quite literally "looking down" on Gabriel - just as she's looked down on his recent attempts to get the Miraculous, and his attempts to "be a better father" to Adrien. The light directly between them gives the idea of something separating them - that something being the heroes, who are the reason they were driven apart (Gabriel's obsession) but also are the reason that neither can betray the other (because of mutually assured destruction - neither can accuse the other without implicating themselves). However, Nathalie being the one closer to Adrien's room implies that she is blocking Gabriel's path or "guarding" the entrance to Adrien's room. 

Finally, the symmetry of the shot gives the impression that these are two characters who could easily have followed the others path. They're wearing similar clothes - high-necked shirts and blazers, both have glasses, and their hair is at a similar angle (if that makes any sense). Even their stances are similar here, which is significant as Nathalie usually stands slightly hunched over ever since the beginning of S4, when she started walking with the brace. (Edit: I've recently noticed that this is something that is present since S1.) This implies that both of them could have gone either way - Nathalie could have continued further and further in assisting Gabriel, either as Mayura or potentially (now that they have all the Miraculous) with another power, and continued to be the "monster" that she thinks she is. On the other hand, Gabriel could have realised that his actions were monstrous, rather than denying it, and put aside his battle with Ladybug and Cat Noir the way that Nathalie has. Either of them could easily have chosen a different path. 

Anyway, there's my over-analysis! I love this shot so much.