Dallas Buyers Club

 Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 drama directed by Jean-Marc Vallee. The film is centred on Ron Woodroof, a Dallas cowboy who is diagnosed with AIDS in the mid 1980’s. The film’s stand out points were its achievements in lighting and in makeup.

Makeup was a necessary and well executed aspect in this film. In order to achieve the look of an AIDS patient, Matthew McConaughey’s character Ron used thick white makeup to achieve a gaunt, skeletal look to his character. His cheekbones were contoured to make them look more visible and moustache and hair were made to look a deep black, which contrasted vividly to his skin colour. The makeup under his eyes was also extremely thick, to portray a sunken eyeball look. Cameras focus a lot on the eye area, which is why the eyes and cheekbones were so enhanced. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2012) This makeup worked to  realistically make him look like a sick person. Through this makeup, Ron realistically accomplished the look of an AIDS patient. However, the best achievement in makeup is that of Jared Leto’s character and the other transgender women in the rodeo. Leto’s Rayon is a transgender woman, and the look is achieved with bold eyeliner, blush, eyeshadow and lipstick. Despite this lurid makeup, thick foundation is also applied to Rayon’s skin, and dark shadows are placed under his eyes, giving him the same sick appearance as Ron. For the other transgender women, makeup helps to portray the feminine men realistically and respectfully.

The lighting in Dallas Buyers Club was very effective in setting the mood for the film. As the film dealt with heavy issues such as AIDS, sexuality and death, the lighting was often had a dark and gloomy feel to it. The beginning scenes contrasted Ron’s smoky, dark apartment with the sharp, bleak white of the hospital. The two lightings were very different, but were equally as uninviting. The lighting in these scenes is a hard sidelight (Bordwell & Thompson, 2012), focusing on Ron and highlighting his emaciated features. The scenes that follow are often lit by very dim lighting, giving each place a cheap and dirty feel to it.

However, in one of the last scenes of the film, Ron returns home heavy in defeat to a house full of his friends congratulating him on trying his best. The lighting is forefront lighting (Bordwell & Thompson) with no shadows and his bright and inviting, one of the few times for the film. The return of Ron as a hero is shown in the bright light and one of the first true smiles that Ron ever gives in the film.

This film dealt with the very important issues of acceptance, sickness and sexuality, with the main stand out’s of the film being its impressive use of both makeup and lighting.  

Gravity

Gravity is 2013 space thriller directed by Alfonso Cuaron. The film’s storyline revolves around Ryan Stone, an engineer in space who becomes detached from her satellite due to flying debris. The film’s setting in space and vastly different camera angles were the particular stand out in this film.

Camera angles and shots were used very effectively in this film. To emphasise how tiny both Ryan and Matt Kowalski, her partner, were against space and earth, extreme long shots were executed. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008). These shots showed the immense size of Earth while tiny white figures moved around on the space station. These shots also established tension in the audience as they appreciated how one wrong move could mean death. When the debris hits from the Russian station, extreme close up shots are applied to Ryan and Matt’s faces to show the terrified facial expressions and beads of sweat forming. This is contrasted with another long shot of the Earth and white figures. These quickly contrasting shots articulate the terror of the astronauts, but then show how insignificant their terror seems against the grandness of the universe.

Other shots executed were different angled shots, which gave the viewer a sense of Ryan and Matt’s experience living, and rolling through space. For instance, when Ryan becomes detached from the rope holding her to the space station, she rolls repeatedly through the air. The camera follows her from all angles, particularly going upside down, in a close up shot. The shot begins to blur a little bit, but Ryan’s expression is still seen, and the audience can appreciate the confusion and helplessness Ryan feels from the blurring of the camera and Ryan’s confused and terrified face. These camera shots gave the film a true thriller aspect; by giving the audience a true sense of the horror the characters were experiencing.

In Gravity, the setting was always at the forefront of every scene. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008). The view of dark blank space, with a space station and the Earth in view does not change throughout the film, which adds to its terrifying plot. The colours of the Earth and the space station are enhanced to look brighter and safer, which emphasises the deep blackness of the universe even more. In the scene where Ryan detaches herself from the space station, her bright white space suit is seen plunging back into the darkness. This contrast of the colours makes the blackness of space seem more menacing, like she is rolling back into a black mouth swallowing her up. The unfamiliarity of the setting also helps to create a threatening element to the plot. While Ryan and Matt remain helpless in space, the audience feel their despair about not knowing what to do. The sheer size and the foreignness of space helps make the audience feel uneasy about the fate of the two astronauts, a feat that a thriller seeks to achieve.

Through these two aspects of cinematography, Cuaron effectively creates a tense and well-crafted film. 

The Theory of Everything

The Theory of Everything is a 2014 biopic directed by James Marsh. The story follows the life of Stephan Hawking and his first wife Jane, as they face the challenges of his motor neuron disease. The film was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor and was nominated for Best Sound, which are two aspects, which particularly shone in the film.

Sound was a film aspect that stood out particularly in this film. The film relied on emotion to help the audience appreciate the story, and the music was executed perfectly to conjure up emotion in the audience. The score, written by Johann Johannsson, consists of classical music to create feelings of happiness and deep emotion. As the story progresses, there are several montages that simply show Stephan’s day by day life, such as his wedding to Jane, his research on black holes and playing with his children. These montages contain no talking, merely orchestral, diegetic sound to create the mood of the film. (Corrigan & White, 2012). The sound evokes stirrings of happiness in the audience, that despite his downward spiral, Stephan’s life still contains joy and fulfilment. Score was also a key factor in capturing audience’s interest in the science work of Hawking. Black hole theory was a major storyline in the film that would have had audiences bored if it weren’t for the score. By using style, blending the images and sound together, audiences’ interests were sparked. (Corrigan & White, 2012). For instance, Stephan pours milk into a cup of coffee and watches it slowly evaporate, symbolising a black hole. While this is playing, a flute and piano combine to create an orchestral sound to articulate the grandness of Hawking’s newly discovered theory. 

Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal of Stephan Hawking was another highlight of the film. Redmayne created a stylized performance, in which he was forced to learn new skills, to respectfully replicate Stephan Hawking’s ALS. This included speaking, walking with sticks, jerky hand movements and exaggerated facial expressions. Redmayne also used method acting (Bordwell & Thompson, 2012) to prepare for the role, such as working with a chorographer for four hours a day on simple every tasks such as eating and picking up objects. He practiced for hours sitting in a wheelchair with his legs crossed and his mouth slack and head bent, making it difficult for him to breathe. (Weisman, A. 2014).  To make sure he was respectfully playing a victim of ALS, he visited patients in a neurology clinic and talked with them about the disease. (Weisman, A. 2014). Redmayne retained a small frame to show a deteriorating state, and wore Hawking’s signature thick glasses to create the Hawking look. Before becoming diagnosed with ALS, Redmayne employed typage, in which he dressed according to 1960’s fashion and spoke with a very clear English accent.

Through sound and performance, audiences were able to appreciate the struggles of Stephan battling a large disability, but were also able to appreciate the wonders of his discoveries in physics despite his disability.

The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game is a 2014 historical drama directed by Morten Tyldum, based on the life of Alan Turing. The film was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Film Editing, which were two aspects of the film that particularly stood out.

In relation to mise-en-scene, the performance of Alan Turing by Benedict Cumberbatch was a particular stand out. Cumberbatch used a method acting technique, and became a stylised character that was realistic and appealed to audience members. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008). The real quality to Cumberbatch’s performance is that Alan Turing is at first not an endearing character, quite socially awkward and unintentionally rude. However, Cumberbatch creates a complexity to the character, when as when he reaches out to Joan Clarke, a woman and an underdog in a man dominated science programme and confides in her about his hidden homosexuality. Cumberbatch also adapts typage into his performance. He adopts the clearer, posh speaking of the 1940’s English accent and creates awkward movement and speaking patterns associated with Asperger’s Syndrome or a socially awkward person. This is achieved without ever exaggerating too much or being too stereotypical. In doing all this, Cumberbatch creates a fantastic performance in which he respectfully recreates a much respected World War Two cryptographer and makes it unique and powerful.

Another aspect of the film was that of editing. Good editing was crucial in this film, as the film was set at three different times. The first time sequence was when Alan was a young boy in school, the second was breaking the Enigma Nazi code at Bletchley Park, and the third was Alan being brought for questioning about his past and his homosexuality. In order for the time sequences to flow smoothly together, editing had to be used. Editing the different time sequences to run between each other blended all the stories in together. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008). Alan’s schooling days in which he fell in love with a boy called Christopher, and his arrest after the war were minor story points, but they helped to create Alan Turing as a complex individual, rather than just a scientist. The mixing of different storylines also avoided repetition of scenes, and boredom for the audience. A lot of the film focuses on the building of the Turing machine, which would have become tiresome if other stories had not been factored in. Through this editing, and Cumberbatch’s performance, the audience watches Alan’s growth from adolescence to adulthood, and are able to appreciate the terrible way in which he was treated after the war.

After breaking the code, Turing was arrested for indecent homosexual acts and given the option of prison or hormonal drugs to ‘cure’ him of his indecent ways. Turing eventually committed suicide in June 1954. The triumph and eventual sorrow of Alan Turing’s life is brought to life through many aspects of film, especially performance and editing.