Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 5.2. The transition fromblack-and-white to color in thefilm Memento is a visual metaphorfor transitioning from the past(black-and-white) to the present(color). (top) The characterpicks up a developing Polaroid.(middle) His POV as the Polaroiddevelops and starts to show color.(bottom) Back on him, the scenehas transitioned to color.Figure 5.1. (previous page) Caravaggio’sThe Calling of St. Matthew.The lighting carries a great dealof the storytelling power of theimage.VISUAL METAPHOROne of our most important tools as filmmakers is visual metaphor,which is the ability of images to convey a meaning in addition totheir straightforward reality. Think of it as “reading between thelines” visually. In some films, things are simply what they are. Inothers, however, many images carry an implied meaning that canbe a powerful storytelling tool. A couple of examples: in Memento,the extended flashback (which moves forward in time) is shown inblack-and-white and the present (which moves backward in time) istold in color. Essentially, it is two parts of the same story with onepart moving forwards and the other part told backward. At the pointin time where they intersect, the black-and-white slowly changes tocolor. Director Christopher Nolan accomplishes this in a subtle andelegant way by showing a Polaroid develop (Figure 5.2).Telling Stories with PicturesIn other chapters we talk about the technical and practical aspects oflighting. In this chapter we look at lighting and other aspects of thevisual image as key elements of storytelling.Let’s divert our attention from film for a moment and look at apainting. Studying classical art is useful in that the painter must tellthe whole story in a single frame (not to mention without dialog orsubtitles). Thus, the painter must employ every aspect of visual languageto tell the story of the painting as well as layer it with subtext,symbolism, and emotional content. As with the films of Kubrick,Welles, and Kurosawa, it is also useful to study the visual designbecause nothing in the frame is accidental. Every element, everycolor, every shadow is there for a purpose, and its part in the visualand storytelling scheme has been carefully thought out.First, let’s look at this beautiful painting that opens this chapter,The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio (Figure 5.1, previous page).Light has a great power to form space. In this case, the single sourceforms a pool of space that envelops the students. Outside it is anotherspace, sharply delineated. Within this pool of light is knowledge andoutside is darkness — ignorance. As Newton said, “What we knowis a drop; what we don’t know is an ocean.”Clearly the light represents knowledge, the illuminating power ofthe great mystery of the universe, but it is not just a symbol — itis also a crucial part of the design. It carries a major portion of thestorytelling as well.H.W. Janson discusses the painting in his book The History of Art:“Most decisive is the strong beam of light above Christ that illuminateshis face and hand in the gloomy interior, thus carrying his callacross to Matthew. Without this light, so natural yet so charged withsymbolic meaning, the picture would lose its magic, its power tomake us aware of the divine presence.” The lighting is chiaroscuro atits best; not only does it create strong contrasts and clearly delineatethe characters in sharp relief but the figures almost jump out at us.The strong directionality of the light guides the eye and unifies thecomposition. What is unimportant falls into shadow and thus doesnot distract the eye.“In Baroque painting, light is an aggressive liberating force. A smallamount of it is enough to reveal the spiritual opportunities that liehidden.” (Edmund Burke Feldman in Varieties of Visual Experience).Here the strong beam of sunlight is the hand of God itself, reachinginto the dusky tavern to pluck Matthew out of the darkness. Thelight coming from outside is clearly the presence of divine truth; itcinematography68