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.