This document provides information about various filmmakers and their works that may inspire the filmmaker. It discusses the cinematographer Roger Deakins and his skill at using light and atmosphere. It also mentions Christopher Nolan films like Memento that play with concepts of time. Directors like Chris Cunningham, Kevin McGloughlin, and music videos they have worked on are analyzed. Composers like Chopin that may provide influence are listed. Color theory and how it can guide emotional tone in scenes through color contrasts and matches is briefly explained.
3. Roger Deakins
Roger Deakins has become one of the most
notorious cinematographers in modern cinema for
his keen eye on how light works and how it affects
the atmosphere and setting of the scene. Working
on titles like, blade runner 2049, 1984, Skyfall, Fargo
and prisoners, just to name a few.
4. Skyfall
1917
Blade runner 2049
It is impossible to miss the similarities in Deakins' work, his
perception and intimacy with the character and their light
sources present a shot where the audience must feel close to the
character. This type of filming is important for character study
and will accelerate the process of the audience feeling they know
them and start to have empathy towards them, this creates raw
tension and gripping scenes that we see in the films he has
worked on. A similarity between the three is, for the most part
anyway, excluding wide and world building shots, is that the
camera is at a very level landscape medium shot of its characters
which increases the audience's involvement with the character.
5. Christopher Nolan&
Tenet.
Christopher Nolan's movies, in more recent years, excluding his Dark Knight triology, are pieces of cinema that please the eye and play with the concept of time and continuety. After his
breakthrough movie "memento" he showed he can do a lot more than just a straightforward lineal story. He showed that he can make a story as complicated as it can be and still be able to pull it
off as any other movie. Memento takes what would be and could be a start to finish movie but it does a lot more than this, Guy Pearce's charcter in the film has a disorder where he wakes up
every morning forgetting who he is and wht has happened in his life, now, Nolan could have just shown his disorder in the eyes of the audience watching the lineal story that was this few days of
this person's life, however, he takes this concept and turns it into how the character would have experienced this collection of events. Showing flash backs and flash forwards throughout,
completely reimaginin the way audiences can view stories. The movie requires full attention from the audience and possibly multiple viewings to fully understand what is going on. Nolan's
obsession with the concept of time can then be seen in his later works like interstellar, Inception and most recently, in his currently unrealeased film, Tenet, where I believe Christopher Nolan will
fully explore time travel and I also think this is what he has been wanting to do for a number of years. Before this, he never explored time travel, only dabbled in what could be possible like in
interstellar where time dialation next to a black hole is encountered. But Tenet is about time travel, the trailer shows people existing in what seems to be time going backwards, it's difficult to put
into words, however in the trailer this boat is moving backwards through the water and people can be seen to interacting and doing what they would be doing so time for them is forwards but
the world around them is moving backwards. Other than a few other scenes where we can see this happening with a crashing car and fight scenes that are in reverse, it will be interesting to see
Nolan's justification for the actual science of the type of time travel he uses to see if what's happening can be believable as a concept. Nolan does not just focus on these visuals; he incorporates
these visuals into his fighting and action scenes; the most notable being the inception hallway scene.
Wally Pfister and Hoyte van Hoytema are a couple of Nolans go to cinematographers with Pfister being involved in Inception, The Prestige and the dark knight trilogy whereas Hoytema was
involved in projects like interstellar, Dunkirk, Memento, and although it is not a Chris Nolan film, however it is a film I am using in my inspiration, Ad Astra which is visually similar to this genre I
am using for inspiration.
Memento
timeline depicted
by Nolan himself
8. Chris Cunningham
From what I have gathered and researched I have deduced that Chris Cunningham is slightly
insane, however his style is variable to the project he is working on. But some of his camera
moves and shots can be spotted in his other similar projects, his videos can either be
delinquently tranquil or some can be massively intense, incorporating lenses glares, flares
and using a wide-angle lens for the chaotic ones.
He usually follows a pattern to what sort of music he is producing the video to. Each video
he oversees is subjective to a specific audience. Now some of the music groups he makes
videos for are not mainstream and their concepts usually consist of somewhat disturbing
images, like the PlayStation advert in 1999 with a girls face computer generated to look
wide like a depiction of an alien, but not talking about playstation?
9. Bicep-Glue
-Joe Wilson
• The song, "Glue" by the group Bicep
is notorious for being tranquil, yet
being part of the techno community,
which can be calm, however most are
chaotic. The music video for the song,
made by Joe Wilson, perfectly reflects
the atmosphere of the track. Still and
slow forward moving shots of the
Northern English countryside and
some of its industrial urban areas. My
influence for the video come from its
filters so that the image impictured is
very quaint in how saturated the
colours are or would be seeing the
same place with the human eye.
10. Kevin McGloughlin
During my research I came across the music video "repetition" Directed by Kevin
McGloughlin The video shows places like huge highway crossroads, crowded apartment
blocks and wind farms (ect) and editing them to look like they are infinate pieces of
construction. The thing that amazes me is the cleaness of the editing used, The fact that
they are infinate is seemless, the screenshots I have included don’t do the video
justice as in the video all the places are moving.
11. Andrew Goodwin
Andrew Goodwin is a renowned media theorist who published a book called dancing in the distraction factory and in this book,
he mentions that there are 6 basic features to a music video.
He states:
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur
across their work (a visual style).
There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of
the female body.
There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
12. Composers and pieces that will influece me.
Chopin - Nocturne op.9 No.2
Click to add text
13. Colour theory
colour theory consists of the way colour is interpreted by
the brain and what coloyrs we associate with different
emotions, feelings, and in movies, scenes in which the
colour contrasts or matches the specific situation. This will
help guide me.
