Cinematography is a form of visual storytelling. As cinematographer for my short film 'Flight', I felt that it was necessary to conduct some research into the cinematography used within the social realism genre - within which my own film belongs. 'Fish Tank' is a social realist film focusing on the struggles of a young youth, named Mia, who aspired to be a dancer. Although there is no theme of drug culture within 'Fish Tank', it seems to share many of the same themes as my own film. Because of this, I decided to analyse some of the key moments of cinematography within the film, in the hope that it may inspire my own production. I decided to analyse the trailer for the film, shown on the Youtube video below, to gain an insight into what type of cinematography is used within the social realist genre.
Above is the video for the 'Fish Tank' trailer.
The shot shown above is an establishing shot. This effectively shows to the viewer the location within which the film is set. I feel that this is an effective shot as, not only is it visually appealing, but it shows the urbanised area within which Mia lives - the sink estate. It also shows the contrasting visual imagery of binary opposites - by showing the nature scene in the foreground and the urban location in the background. Upon creating my own film I will ensure that 'Flight' contains all of the necessary shots to convey to the audience where the narrative takes place. I will also consider the importance of binary opposites to convey meaning. This may prove to be especially important upon conveying the lifestyle choices that Sophie faces.
The shot shown above effectively shows the struggled lifestyle that Mia leads. The positioning of the frame is very effective, as Mia is shown to be directly in the centre, showing that she controls the progression of the narrative. The ambient lighting behind Mia also holds connotations about her character. The dark clouds with the strip of light behind Mia show that she is struggling to escape a troubled lifestyle. The theme of urbanisation is also effectively shown once more, with the long shot of the city beneath Mia. I will ensure that I used a wide range of nature shots to portray meaning, which will allow audiences to connect and understand my own protagonist effectively.
The next shot that I found to be both effective and visually appealing is the close up of Mia (shown above). The entire shot is purposely blurry, which I feel conveys the themes and the mental state of Mia effectively. The blurred shot represents Mia's confusion as to which path she should take. The blurred trees behind Mia represent the distance between herself and her primal roots. I feel that this effects the audience by allowing them to see the themes which reside within the film. When I create my own production, I will consider using the blurry technique to convey meaning to the audience. However, I may do this with the urban shots which are set within the town location.
The long shot of the birds flying represents Mia's ambitions of freedom and 'flying away' from the lifestyle within which she currently resides. The colouring of this shot is relatively subdued, despite the blue sky. The way in which the birds move together is visually appealing and shows a binary opposite to the urban area where Mia lives. This shows that colour is an important aspect of cinematography and mise-en-scene as it can be used to portray the character's emotions within the narrative.
Gone Goodbye
I then decided to conduct some research into a short film shared on the video-uploading site Youtube. Similarly to my Fish Tank analysis, I have picked out the key shots which convey the most effective form of meaning.
Above is the short film 'Gone Goodbye'.
I felt that this shot from the short film effectively conveyed the overall tone of the product. The subdued colours - mainly being dark green, brown and grey, show the isolation of the character in question. The framing of the shot is also effective, as it shows the protagonist being directly within the centre of the shot, despite the long shot meaning that it is difficult to locate him. This shows that he is still in control of the narrative, yet portrays his isolation. I will ensure that I use a similar technique within my own short film as Sophie loses control of her lifestyle.
This shot continues with the theme of nature shown in the previous shot, yet shows the viewer a closer glimpse of the protagonist. This is the closest shot that we have seen of the character so far, and this occurred at 2:03. I feel that introducing the character earlier within the short film would heighten viewer interest more effectively. However, the mid shot of the man in the foreground and narrative being behind him also looks visually appealing.
The cinematography used in the shot is visually appealing. This is because the shot is divided into two distinct halves - the lake on the left, and the mountain with the man on the right. This shows an equal balance between the two entities, suggesting a balance between man and nature. Seeing as my own short film will deal with the ideas of binary opposites, I feel that using a division of screen framing may be an effective tool to use to convey the theme to the audience. The colour within this shot is also interesting, as the bright yellow balloon is the first thing that the viewer's eye is drawn towards. This takes away from the previous theme of nature dominance explored throughout the beginning section of the film. The yellow balloon also hints at freedom, as it is not tied down.
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