Visual Language
VISUAL LANGUAGE - WAR OF THE WORLDS
No introduction is needed in this latest Visual Language article. Yall know the deal. Let’s get started and then let’s get to the shots.
Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski. Masters. This film went into pre-production in August 2004, with shooting dates of December 8, 2004 through March 7, 2005. It was released, June 29, 2005. Thin about that and the scope of the film. 10 Months from Pre-production to Theatrical Release. This is because these guys know exactly what their doing and why it’s so important to understand the art of filmmaking.
The Machines.
War of the Worlds is a 2005 science fiction disaster film based on H. G. Wells’ original novel starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It was released on June 29, 2005.
If you are serious about learning the art of film’s visual language, keep in mind this Quote from Steven Spielberg:
“I’m more interested in concept shots and money shots than I am in tons of MTV coverage, which certainly takes a lot of time. But if I can put something on the screen that is sustained where you get to study it and you get to say, ‘How did they do that?’ That’s happening before my eyes and the shot’s not over yet, it’s still going and it’s still going and my God, it’s an effects shot and it’s lasting seemingly forever. I enjoy that more than creating illusion with sixteen different camera angles, where no shot lasts longer than six seconds on the screen. To pull a rabbit out of a hat, because you are really a smart audience and you’re in the fastest media, the fastest growing new media today and you know the difference between sleight of hand visually and the real thing. I think what makes War of the Worlds, at least the version that we’re making, really exciting, is you get to really see what’s happening. There’s not a lot of visual tricks. We tell it like it is, we show it to you, and we put you inside the experience.”
War of the Worlds
I want you to look for certain elements and techniques, as I have noted in the breakdown.
Camera Angles - One of the hardest things to absorb is the 180/30 Axis and Line rules (Google it), Spielberg wields his wand and smacks the line around, using angles that flirt with the line.
Hand Held - The camera is the mind of Tom Cruise’s character. His mind races, as does the camera. The camera dictates to the audience and Tom what we’re going to do next.
Alright check it out, I have to get back to writing my feature.
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If you like this then please subscribe to the CHRISTINE - John Carpenter’s visual peak.
John Carpenter’s Christine is a 1983 horror film about a supernaturally malevolent automobile and its effects on the teenager who owns it, adapted from a novel written by Stephen King. One of my favorite films of all time and John Carpenter’s most underrated and least talked about films.
The original theatrical One Sheet.
The movie starred Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, the typical high school nerd with only one friend, a childhood companion named Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell, who is a director now; Turistas (2006), Into the Blue (2005)) a popular jock. Arnie’s life changes when he discovers Christine, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury. Arnie begins to restore Christine to her original beauty, but as he spends more and more of his time repairing her, those in his life notice that he is changing as well.
Arnie metamorphoses from timid and insecure to confident and assured. But this transformation is filled with an evil streak and a very jealous, supernaturally possessed car.
As the film develops, we discover the car the car has a deadly past. The previous owner, Roland LeBay, became consumed with Christine and he paid for it with his life. Dennis and Arnie’s new girlfriend, Leigh, played by Alexandra Paul, try to save Arnie from a similar fate. They realize that the only way to save Arnie is by destroying Christine. Christine, however, isn’t ready to give up Arnie without a fight.
I thought this was Carpenter’s last real good work and showed him at the top of his game in visual terms. After that, he seemed to have lost the edge. As much as I like his body of work, yes, even Vampires and Ghost of Mars, Carpenter seems to have peaked with this film. His glory years being from 1976 to 1983 when we were given the masterpieces The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog (okay, campy, I know, but I love it), Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13, Carpenter gives us such wonderful visual language and efficiency in this film. A true Auteur of his time.
What I want to look at in the following scene, is Carpenter’s use of the P.O.V., Blocking and impressively, his use of generally longer takes that keeps the camera moving and actors staging in a constant flux, changing the frame and composition.
Finest smell in the world, except for maybe …
VISUAL LANGUAGE - Jaws
Jaws. The defining film in my life. The first film I remember seeing as a child remains my favorite film of all time. Steven Spielberg was a Welleian 26 years old when he directed this masterpiece and it forever changed the landscape of the Worldwide Box Office, the film formula and Hollywood’s marketing machines.
Theatrical One Sheet
Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws tells the simple story of a small New England town terrorized by a great white shark but it’s in the 2nd act with what starts as a simple horror story turns into a Moby Dick tale at sea fueled by the 3 archetypes of Chief Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint, our salty Ahab.
As much as it’s been compared to Melville’s Moby Dick, I don’t recall Dick giving people true fear. What Hitch did with Psycho and shower curtains, Spielberg to this day makes me think of what’s underneath me whenever I step foot into the ocean.
The film is perfect and I chose a very simple sequence too look at. A sequence which on the page was 3 sentences long. Keep this is mind all of you