That Perfect Shot

 When it comes to storytelling, the cinematography makes a difference in the quality of your story. It can immerse your audience into the emotions you want to convey. Let's say I want to make the audience feel the tension between the two characters, like Iris and her mother. The best way would be through unsteady shots, dramatic dim lighting, and the shot composition. I'll probably frame Iris's mother right in the middle of the thirds because she is focused on receiving that emotional support from her mom -- she's the center of her world in some way. For shots that involve symmetry, I think any works from Wes Anderson can be an inspiration. 

Both of these shots come from one of Wes Anderson's most ubiquitous movies, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" created in 2014. Symmetry not only creates symbolism for a character, but it makes your story easier to follow. Our natural eyeline focuses on whatever is placed in the middle of the frame. Typically, the last thing a viewer wants to do is search around the frame for the subject, so I think revealing Iris's mother by using a symmetrical shot will imply how stoic and straightforward her mother is, but also how deeply Iris seeks her emotional validation. 

The next scene I was hoping to get inspiration for was my opening scene in the living/dining room. I've mentioned this a couple times in my previous blog posts, but I think the reason I'm so drawn to A24 movies is partly their cinematography. Take this scene from "Everything Everywhere All At Once":

When you first glance at this scene in their apartment, it feels melodramatic because of how cluttered everything around these characters is. It could also be the subtle motivated lighting, like the ceiling light, the television screen, and the lamp on the left third. None of these sources of light make the setting seem brighter, but only add depth to the room. The one thing I often overlook when lighting my scenes is taking advantage of other sources of light to add that depth to my shot, so I will make it a point to do that with my very first scene when taking the viewer through the dining/living room. 

My main character, Iris, is someone I want to light thoughtfully throughout my opening because she has a lighter personality than her mother. Going back to my initial inspiration, Sophie from the recent A24 movie, "AFTERSUN" is similar to how I hope to light Iris.

One thing I noticed throughout the movie was that Sophie wears colors on the more vibrant side of the color spectrum, such as yellow in both of these shots to highlight the optimism and vitality she carries, another method of symbolism I plan to use. What's more is that she is always being lit by the sunlight, which makes her seem like a softer character. However, I wouldn't want the natural light in my shot to be harsh on my subject's skin. I want to maximize the natural light that I get from my house to light my subject to make filming less of a hassle because I have a feeling that lighting won't be on my side when I want it to be. On that note, this next week I'm going to decide on the actors for my opening and I have a couple people in mind. I'll be contacting them and reporting back with, hopefully, a confirmed cast in my upcoming blog post. Talk to you soon!