Aesthetics

By looking into aesthetics, I have learnt how colour, lighting, patterns, symmetry and composition can have a psychological effect on the audience and can display symbolism. Learning about how these techniques can be used in film has given me a better understanding of how to utilise aesthetics to their fullest, using them can completely shift the mood of the scene. Wes Anderson creates aesthetically pleasing films; his visuals are one of my favourites in the film industry and I am keen to use them in my own films.

Colour

colour PYSCHOLOGY

Colour has the power to influence your emotion and even psychological reactions, colour can also have symbolic meanings. Warm colours evoke emotions of warmth and comfort, on the contrary, it can also make you feel angry and hostile. For example, red can be associated with passion and love, but it can also represent anger and evil. From studies, red has been shown to raise your blood pressure. Cool colours can make you feel calm, but can also evoke sadness, blue is an example of a cool colour that can either make you feel at peace or it could make you feel miserable. Colours have different meanings in different cultures, in Asia, red symbolises luck and happiness, whereas in Western cultures, green symbolises good luck.

cOLOUR pALETTES

Monochromatic is a consistent colour scheme by using a single base hue that is extended out using shades, tones and tints. By using a main colour to set the theme of the film, the audience can associate that film with a certain colour. For example, The Matrix uses the green colour palette, the green hue represents the virtual world and refers to the look of a monochrome monitor. It can also be used to associate with a character, such as the Bride in Kill Bill can be associated with the colour yellow. Kill Bill includes elements of the Japanese culture, in which yellow symbolises courage. However, the negative connotations of yellow are of betrayal and egotism, which are also common themes in the film.

Analogous colours use colours that are next to one another on the colour wheel, which looks pleasing to the eye. Analogous colour schemes establish a parallel story to connect them to each other and it gives us a sense of harmony because the colours are balanced. In Traffic, it is used to establish the setting of the scene; in the desert, a yellow tint is used and in the modern settings, a blue tint is used.

Triadic colour scheme is when three colours that are evenly spaced around the complimentary colour wheel are used. There is one colour that is chosen to be dominant with the other colours being used to compliment. The colours are bright, vibrant and balanced, and it gives off a cartoonish look. For example, Superman’s suit is of the colours red, yellow and blue.

Transitioning colour palettes suggests a shift in mood or tone, or the characters themselves. In the beginning of Breaking Bad, Walter White is just a science teacher and his colour palette is bright and soft, but when he transitions into his alter ego Heisenberg, a drug kingpin, his colour palette is dark and gloomy.

Complementary colours are a contrast of colours that are on opposite sides of the colour wheel, which represents duelling opposition, internal or external conflict and sets a tense atmosphere. In Star Wars, the use of red and blue highlights links to the key trope of good vs evil. You associate Darth Vader with red, an intimidating colour and Luke Skywalker with blue, a comforting colour. Combining warm and cool colours produces a high-contrast, vibrant tension in the film. Colour discordance like the colour red and green in Amelie, captures the attention of the audience. It can be used to make a subject appear more prominent, such as the girl’s red jacket in Schindler’s List, whilst everything else being in black and white.

The triadic colour scheme is the colour palette that I am most interested to use. Contrasting pops of colour with dark and dull backgrounds, draws your attention to the bright colour, which can be used to highlight a key element in a scene and create aesthetically pleasing visuals for the audience. At this stage, I am keen to produce a spy movie and I think this colour palette will compliment it quite well. In this project, I want to focus more on cinematography and my aim is to achieve eye pleasing visuals to captivate the audience. In my opinion, aesthetics is an important factor for me when watching a movie, it draws me in, grabs my attention and keeps me watching. Therefore, I have researched into aesthetics to broaden my knowledge on cinematography techniques and types of visual elements, their importance and how to effectively use them.

Lighting

Lighting tells the audience where to look to guide them, it reflects the character’s emotion and conveys mood clearly. Artificial light is man-made, e.g. streetlights, LED lights, flashlights. Ambient light refers to any light on set that the crew didn’t bring, which can be artificial or natural. Light source that appears in the frame of a scene is called practical lighting. Motivated lighting is a light source that has a reasoning for appearing the way that it does, it is meant to imitate natural light like the moonlight.

Exposure = A good exposure will include highlights and shadows, it is neither too dark or bright. However, underexposing the image will create high contrast and amplifies a mysterious and tense feeling for the audience. Overexposing can be used to expose film grain, making the image look denser, flatter and have less contrast.

Three-point lighting = Uses key, fill and back light. Key light is twice as bright as the fill light, it is the primary light source, it can be placed anywhere around the subject. Fill light is the secondary light source, it fills in the missing light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. The backlight is the third light, commonly placed on the same side of the key light, behind the subject and faced towards the fill light.

Side lighting = Exposes one side of the subject and shadows the other side. It adds contrast and creates more definition in a subject. It can be used to set a dramatic tone, add dimension and create depth. Using just a key light on the side of the subject will create a harsh shadow, but if the shadow needs a bit more exposure, a fill light can be used to soften the shadow.

Up lighting = It distorts the face of the subject to make the audience feel uncomfortable and disturbed. The light source is placed below the subject, similar to the way people use flashlights under their chin when telling ghost stories.

High key lighting = Creates a brightly lit scene with soft lighting, minimal shadows and low contrast. It is used to make a lively, light-hearted and joyous mood. The audience are clearly able to see everything in frame.

Low key lighting = Accentuates shadows, high contrast and dark tones, achieved by hard light sources and fill light is not usually needed. It enhances the mystery in the scene, used for a dramatic effect and adds suspense.

Soft lighting = It is natural looking, makes the subject look warm and friendly. There are few hard shadows, it’s bright but it is balanced.

Hard lighting = It adds dimension and depth to the subject. The high contrast makes the image look dramatic and edgy.

Patterns Symmetry

Patterns attract the attention of the viewer and they feel mesmerised by the sight of them. They have a soothing psychological effect on us because pattern recognition is what allows us to understand our environments. Noticing patterns allows us to recognise individuals and their emotional state, solve problems and adapt. Seeing patterns in art satisfies and captivates us, it is pleasing to look at it has a stress-relieving effect on us. On the other hand, irregular patterns that appears out of place can leave us feeling disturbed as something doesn’t feel right.

Symmetry can be therapeutic because something that looks perfectly structured and aligned just feels right. Alan Lightman, scientist, states that “the human brain strives to see things symmetrically.” Symmetry represents order, it plays by the rules and our brain are programmed to recognise symmetrical imagery easily. Asymmetry has connotations of illness and danger, whilst symmetry is a sign of good health.

Composition

Composition refers to the way elements of a scene are arranged in a frame. Shot composition means the arrangement of visual elements to portray a message to the audience. Composition is important to engage the audience and have a greater impact on them.

Mise-en-scene refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting.

The 180-degree rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle.

The rule of thirds separates image into two rows and three columns. By placing elements at the cross points, the audience’s eyes are drawn to these points. Important elements in the scene are placed at these points so the audience looks at them straight away. Symmetrical shots break the rule of thirds, it is used to put the subject at the centre of the frame to intensify the scene and for a dramatic effect. Symmetrical shots often reveal character traits and power dynamics.

Blocking and staging refers to the way actors move in a scene for a dramatic effect, portray an intended message or to show a power dynamic, and it keeps continuity between takes. Blocking is the scene’s choreography, it tells the story by using the character’s actions to give context of what is going on in the scene and tracking their movement with the camera. Components in blocking and staging are space, shapes and lines. Utilising space in a scene through the use of camera angles, camera movement, body language and staging of actors keeps the audience hooked and engaged. If the scene is taking place in one room, have the characters move around and use the camera to track their movement, commonly used with a tracking shot, pan or dolly. The three basic shapes, circle, square and triangle, can portray a message. Circles makes the audience feel safer and inclusive, squares create limited space like boxing someone in, and triangles are sharp and aggressive. Lines can show a difference in power dynamic, for example a character in a vertical position is more dominant than someone in a horizontal position. Leading lines also help to direct the viewers eye to pinpoint a key element in a scene, which can be created by a subject’s movement and the camera’s movement.

Camera shots

Researching a variety of shots, angles and movements, and their purpose has developed my understanding on what popular camera shots filmmakers use and when to use them. I will use this knowledge to create scenes that are well thought out, use a range of camera positions to engage the audience and emotionally impact the audience.

angles

Eye level = Subject is placed at eye level at a straight angle. Eye level shots are used to break down boundaries between the audience and story, humanise the character and to simulate human vision. It connects the audience to the character so they can understand the emotions that the character is feeling.

Low angle = Frames the subject below their eyeline, pointing upwards. A low angle displays the character as superior and intimidating, thus makes the character out of frame seem inferior and powerless against the imposing character, it can also increase the perceived height of an object.

High angle = Camera points down at the subject so it looks like you’re looking down on the subject from an elevated perspective. It can convey narrative information, giving context to a scene and can establish the scale of a location and crowd. It can provoke an emotional response, often used to show the fear of falling from heights, and it can be used to show how insignificant or vulnerable a character may feel.

Knee level = Camera is placed just below knee level of the subject. If used with a low angle, it emphasises the character’s superiority. It doesn’t reveal the face so it can make the character appear mysterious and intimidating.

Ground level = Camera is placed at ground height with the subject. Commonly used to show the character walking without showing their face, it can make the viewer more active and uses the actor’s performance to build an idea.

Shoulder level = Camera is as high as the subject’s shoulders, at a slightly low angle, placing the actors head at the top of the frame eyeline slightly above the camera.

Dutch angle = The camera is slanted to one side to create an abnormal and disorientating effect. It makes the character appear mentally unstable, increase tension, evokes an emotional response and can be used for action shots. Using a Dutch angle can unsettle the audience as it is in an awkward position, which makes it seem like something is out of place and wrong.

Basic shots

Extreme long shot = It makes the subject smaller in comparison to their location so they appear distant and isolated. Useful to use when you need to emphasise the location and create a visually impressive shot.

Long shot = The full body of the subject is visible and allows the audience to identify the setting. A long shot connects the character to their surroundings and gives the audience a better idea of how they fit into the area.

Full shot = Allows the subject to fill the frame and shows details of the background. It can be used to display multiple characters in the frame as a group power dynamic or to show the characters are connected in some way.

Medium wide shot = Frames the subject from just above the knees. It connects the character to its surroundings, reveals context in the scene and can show emotion. As well as the full shot, it can be used to feature multiple characters in a frame.

Medium shot = Frames the subject from about the waist up through the torso. It shows the facial expression of the character whilst keeping their surroundings visible. The audience are able to understand the context of the scene.

Medium close up = Frames the subject from roughly the chest up. The character’s face is the key focus in the frame but they are still kept at a distance. The audience are able to understand the character’s facial expressions and the interactions that the character is having.

Close up = Reveals the character’s emotions and reactions so the audience understand what the character is feeling. A close up intensifies the scene

Extreme close up = Fills the frame with a chosen feature of the subject, often showing eyes, mouth and gun triggers, to emphasise the feature and set it as a key focal point. It exaggerates emotion to show it in great detail so the audience can understand what the character is feeling.

Stylistic shots

Overhead shot = Taken above the subject, also known as a bird’s eye view. It gives context to the character’s surroundings and can effectively capture action so the audience can easily follow what is happening. It can hide the face of the character to make them seem mysterious and obscure. Overhead shots can represent a character’s POV and make the character, that the viewer is looking down on, seem inferior.

Over the shoulder shot = Camera is positioned at shoulder level of a character, whilst another character is in full frame.

Over the hip shot = The camera is positioned at hip level of a character, whilst another character is in full frame. It often suggests a power imbalance if one character is sitting and the other is standing.

Establishing shot = Shows context to the location so the audience are informed of the setting that scene is taking place in. Usually is of an important building that is at the centre of the story and the characters tend to revisit.

POV = Allows the audience to see through the eyes of the character and you feel connected to them. It can be used to show a character hunting down its victim to make them seem mysterious and unusual, especially if they’re wearing a mask.

Aerial shot = Captured by a helicopter or drone at an elevated vantage point. It gives context to a location and shows the large expanse of scenery to give the audience a unique experience. Often used in the crime genre to gain understanding of action happening from a high perspective and to reveal as much detail in a scene as possible.

Cowboy shot = Useful to use when an action occurs at waist-hip level, like a weapon being drawn. It can present the character as heroic and confident, such as when a superhero is in a stance with their hands on their hips.

Focus

Focal length is the distance between camera to thing in focus. A short focus shows shallow depth of field and a long focus shows more depth of field. Depth of field describes the size of the area that the image is in focus.

Rack focus = Shifts the subject that the camera is focusing on to a subject that was previously blurry. It is used to draw the audience’s attention to a particular detail, to show something that was hidden in frame, move one scene to another, establish important details and to heighten drama.

Soft focus = It creates a dreamy effect as nothing is in sharp focus and the image appears to glow. It highlights a faded memory or something that is slightly unreal like a dream.

Split dioptre = An additional lens that allows for two simultaneous focal lengths. There is a shallow focus in the foreground and background, whilst the middle ground remains out of focus. It looks unnatural and captures the attention of the audience.

Movements

Dolly shot = Achieved by handheld, Steadicam, crane or dolly. It is used for a smooth, precise movement, to emphasise dialogue and emotion, and to capture the environment around the character.

Zoom = Changes the focal length during the shot, either a zoom out or in. A dolly zoom will change the focal length, whilst also moving the camera to create a distorted effect. A crash zoom is a fast and sharp movement for intense, action shots.

Pan = Rotates the camera left to right on a horizontal axis, to sweep across the landscape or to follow a character. A whip pan is when you pan the camera from one shot to another, creating motion blur.

Tilt = Moves the camera up and down on a vertical axis, it can be used to reveal a subject and change the position of the camera from a low angle to a high angle. A whip tilt moves the camera up or down, from one shot to another, creating motion blur.

Tracking = The camera moves with the subject, can follow their movement by using a dolly, Steadicam or gimbal. It brings the audience along the path of the subject to feel almost as though you are following them.

Arc shot = Moves in a semi-circle around the character to show their surroundings, centralize the audience’s focus, create a dizzy effect and to add dynamic. It draws the audience’s attention and is used for a dramatic effect.

Crash zoom, commonly used by Quentin Tarantino, is a camera shot that I am keen to use in the Final Major Project. It has a cartoonish effect and is effective for creating dramatic and intense action scenes. I have looked into how to recreate the crash zoom shot. Premium Beats shows how to achieve the shot on a low-budget, shown in an article and a YouTube tutorial, which will help me to practice the shot and get it down.

How To Create a Low-Budget Crash Zoom from Two Shots, Jason Boone (2020) - How to Create a Low-Budget Crash Zoom from Two Shots (premiumbeat.com)
How To Make a Crash Zoom Effect with Two Clips - After Effects Tutorial, Premium Beats (2020) - How to Make a Crash Zoom Effect with Two Clips – After Effects Tutorial - YouTube

Cinematic films

Analysing recent films that follow the 70/80s cinematic style that I am keen to use in my own has given me an insight in how the cinematographer achieved this look through the use of filters, props, settings and camera equipment. As well the techniques that were used by the directors to create a captivating storyline and how they portray underlying messages and symbolism.

i'm thinking of ending things BY cHARLIE kAUFMAN (2020)

It is a mind twisting and anxiety inducing movie, it uses the enigma code and there is a deeper meaning to the story. When first watching the film, the story seems to follow a young woman who goes to meet her boyfriend’s parents and she has doubts about the relationship. Throughout the film, you feel as though all will be revealed but it is not until the ending that some things are clear, but it still isn’t apparent what it could all mean. Kaufman leaves the audience to figure out the puzzle of ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things.’ I thought about the whole movie and tried to piece together what it could be about, I came to realise that the old janitor, that the story focuses on now and then, is actually the women’s boyfriend (Jake) when he is older, and he plays a much bigger part in the story than what I first thought.

The storyline is based on the janitor’s memories of when he was younger and portrays the inner workings of his mind. The woman is a figment of Jake’s imagination; she seems faultless and the relationship is based off how the media portrays romance to be, which shows that it is his idea of a perfect relationship. The janitor appears to be lonely so he ponders what relationship he could’ve had, it seems that he does this a lot and actually prefers this fantasy rather than living in the real world. The message of the film is to show how people want to deny they are getting older, as they lose their youth and energy; “it displays a lot about our lives, our fears and the things we love.”

Lukasz Zal, cinematographer for ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things,’ wanted to capture “something strange and disturbing.” To show how chaotic memories can be, there is not much continuity, the costumes and props change colour, alongside strange effects to make it look like a dream. Zal states that “because this world is so unpredictable, and the story uses a mosaic of POVs, we decided the camera should often anticipate what happens.” The framing of the film is in a 4:3 ratio so draws your eyes to the centre of the frame, which disorientates the viewer. Zal used a Panasonic H-series lens for a retro quality, he wanted to make the film feel “somewhat flawed, human” so tweaked the lens to lose its sharpness at the edges.

white noise by Noah baumbach (2022)

A film adaptation on Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel, White Noise. Set in 1984 and focused on Jack Gladney, a middle-aged professor, his wife Babette and their children. Jack is the head of the Hitler Studies department, he tries to help his colleague, Murray, to set up an Elvis Studies department. All the while this is happening, an airborne toxic event causes a toxic cloud to sweep over the city. Jack’s children are transfixed on the TV, wanting to find out everything there is to know about the disaster. Even when everyone in the city is told to evacuate, Jack still can’t believe that a disaster would happen to someone like him; the TV has put him at distance to reality. The fascination with buying goods, watching catastrophes and being media obsessed, distracts us from the realisation that we will die. Jack and his family regularly go on a shopping spree, an escape for Jack from death, which represents that humans consume and then die.

The reoccurring theme of the film is death. Jack and Babette’s biggest fear is death. Jack learns that because he was exposed to the toxic cloud, he only has about 15 years to live. He fears that he hasn’t done enough in life, he hopes his existence would have meant something in the end. Murray suggests to Jack that killing someone could alleviate the fear of death. Babette takes a drug called Dylar, which is supposed to cure her fear of death. Jack finds out and discovers that Babette cheated on him in order to get a prescription of the drug from Mr Gray. Jack seeks revenge, resulting in him shooting Mr Gray. Jack plants the gun to make it look like a suicide, however Mr Gray awakes and shoots Jack; he suddenly realises how senseless his actions were.

Lol Crawley, cinematographer for White Noise, shot on a film camera using an “anamorphic 35mm lens” to create an 80s, lo-fi aesthetic. Crawley stated that the driving scenes were captured in a “warehouse with an LED screen that could project images of American roadsides, the vehicles were rigged to a moving electrical lift to simulate a motorway.” Noah Baumbach prefers to shoot using one camera so a lot of the scenes were shot this way. Steadicams were used a lot for tracking shots. The dialogue represents white noise, everyone talking over one another and having their own conversations. To set the film in the 80s, the colour palette is vibrant, the costumes are associated with the 80s like the jogging suits and it is hyper-saturated. In the ending, there is a choreographed sequence in the supermarket that breaks out in full-blown song and dance, shown alongside the credits to make the audience watch them all the way through.

Similar to White Noise, I think it would be great to shoot a dance sequence for the ending credits. A dance scene will entice the audience to watch the credits, instead of switching off like most people normally do, and it will make a memorable scene so the film stays on the audiences' mind. For example, the iconic scene from Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon's unforgettable dance routine to the song 'Canned Heat' for the film's finale.

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