Essay: Storytelling in films analysis

Why do people love cinema? Some go to the movies to experience the adventure of distant lands and galaxies otherwise inaccessible to us. Others might seek an emotional journey of living a different life, laughing and crying with the characters of the film. Yet few would say, "I go to the movies because I enjoy the beautiful dolly shots..." It is the talent and achievement of film directors to seamlessly weave together various cinematic techniques to deliver an engaging and memorable story. The viewers are often unaware of "what hit them," and that is the great art of filmmaking.

To further investigate the magic behind the camera I have chosen to analyse three films, which employ a number of filmmaking techniques to deliver their story. During cold winter afternoons my friends and I huddled around a projector screen and watched "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" directed by by Pedro Almodóvar (1990), "Spellbound" by Alfred Hitchcock (1945) and "Ridicule" by Patrice Leconte (1990). The aim of this exercise was to look past the acting and the drama to really understand what makes these films so potent and what could have been done better.

The film that was most successful in my opinion in telling its story was "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" Alfred Hitchcock is well known for being "the master of suspense" and his "Spellbound" is no exception, yet I found Almodóvar's film to be a well-rounded package of romance, humour, adventure and visual stimulation. One of the most dominant filmmaking techniques used in the film was the colour palette selected by the director and the colour grading. Most of the shots are utilising a palette of primary colours red, green and blue. Additionally, the colours are highly saturated and very vibrant. Right at the beginning of the film Almodóvar sets the tone by opening with an extreme close-up of a painting of Christ and Holy Mary predominantly in reds and blues. As the camera zooms out we see fragments of the wall on which the paining is hanging, red to the left of the painting and blue to the right. The scene soon cross-dissolves into another painting in saturated reds and greens of a building where the action will take place.

The colour that is used obscenely frequently in "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" is red. Everything from actor's clothing to furniture, cars, napkins, telephones, even toilet seat are red. Scenes devoid of red alternate with highly saturated red elements that bring energy and live to the film. The viewer is constantly surprised and stimulated by these splashes of red. The story of the film is that of intense love and romance, even if with a twist, and in Western society red is often associated with passion, sexuality and love. Hence, I find the dominant colour selection of red very fitting and supportive of the story. During the group discussion following viewing of the film, we pointed out that perhaps the director used red whenever he wanted to bring our attention to a particular object or space.

The contrast of red, green and blue was not the only contrast apparent in the film. Almodóvar used a number of symbolic contrasts as well to push the already bizarre story to new heights. As mentioned above, the film opens with a painting of Holy Mary (or "Maria" in Spanish), which is a very strong religious symbol. Then, the main character's name is Marina, only one-letter difference. She is a loving and nurturing person, and she is also a junkie and a pornographic star. This combination of being "holy" and selling your body has been used in literature by many classics, such as Dostoevsky in "Crime and Punishment" and Shakespeare in "Pericles." Throughout the film we see many religious icon paintings and images of cross. For example, when Ricky and Marina are crossing the street to go to a pharmacy, there is a glowing sign of a medical cross, but it looks very much like a shining cross on top of a church. Yet, the culmination of this contrast is presented in the scene where Marina is taking a bath and playing with a vibrating scuba diving toy. There is not a hint of shame in sexual pleasure for Marina, only play and joy. The POV of the camera is from Marina's eyes and the scene composition is such that we can see Marina's body with all its intimate parts, the toy and the cross she is wearing. This scene is a visual summary of contrasts within Marina and in life.

Alfred Hitchcock in "Spellbound" has also made use of colour as a method of story telling, even though his film was made in black and white. It was John Ballantine's fear of white, and more specifically black stripes on white, that has created great tension and suspense in the film. Every time John (counterfeit Dr. Edwardes) saw dark stripes on white his face would change, everyone around would pause, the music would become very eerie. The viewer expects something awful to happen. This feeling is heightened by extreme close-ups of threatening objects, such as a sharp blade and John's unseeing disturbed eyes.

The impending horror of seeing white is demonstrated with great intensity in the scene, when Constance and John are staying at Alex's house. John is preparing to shave and he sees white foam on the black hairs of the brush. He becomes very agitated and this is followed by a series of close-up shots of white objects around him: sink, chair, counter, cups. The viewer feels the claustrophobic fear of the character. Then there is a panning shot along the white blanket to Constances' sleeping face. John is breathing hard with the shaving blade bared in his hand. The scene is accompanied by the Hitchcock-style gripping and supernatural music, and the viewer is sitting at the edge of the seat worried for Constance's life. Walking past Constance John goes downstairs and faces Alex, who offers him a glass of white milk. While Alex walks to the kitchen, the POV of the camera is from John's hand. The close-up of the shaving blade fills half of the screen, while Alex's walking figure is in the other half. The camera pans across the room to follow Alex as he walks and then without cuts returns to the hand to show a close-up of the glass of milk and the blade in the same frame. John raises the glass and begins drinking the milk, his eyes are cold and ruthless. The scene concludes with a fantastic extreme close-up shot from inside the glass of white milk drowning Alex's figure. The music creates impending mood. This is the end of the scene, and the viewer is left to draw his or her own conclusions on whether John killed Alex or not, which is another cinematic technique employed.

Hitchcock makes notable use of lighting in "Spellbound." When Constance first meets "Dr. Edwardes" during the dinner at Green Manors, we see a close-up of her face lit from a side as if by sunshine. The light is soft and her face seems to be glowing. This technique notifies the viewer clearly of Constances' enchantment by the newcomer. This technique is repeated when Constance comes up to John's room later that night. We see a mid-shot of Constance with a shallow depth of field, which softens everything around her. The lighting is coming from the right, and there is that same effect of her figure glowing.

There was also a number script techniques utilised in "Spellboud." One of them was ringing of a bell to interrupt the scene and turn the story in a new direction. When "Dr. Edwardes" asks Constance to join him for lunch and she is debating, the phone rings and he has a strange conversation real Dr. Edwardes' secretary. This plants the first seed of doubt in Constances' mind. Then when Constance and John are at the Empire Hotel and she is quizzing him about what happened, the hotel doorbell rings to bring in latest newspapers, which make the duo leave the hotel immediately. And again in Alex's house while Constance and John wait for Alex to return in the company of two men, the phone rings and the conversation introduces Lieutenant Cooley as the lead on Dr. Edwardes' case. These unusual and seamless transitions once again expose Hitchcock's unconventional brilliance as a film director.

The third film, "Ridicule" by Patrice Leconte, was stunning in its elaborate use of sets and costumes to bring to life 18th century France and the court of Versailles. Most court scenes were shot on location at Versailles. The combination of clavichord music, intricate costumes and highly detailed interior environments instantly transport me to the time and place of the film. The colour palette of the court sets is warm and predominantly burgundy and golden-brown. It conveys the mood of luxury and leisure. The warm and soft lighting simulates candles with which the rooms are meant to be lit. The illusion of the decadent French court is completed by the make up and hair styles of the actors. Both men and women have powdered skin, coloured lips and wigs with curls in the style of 18th century.

There are two major environments presented in "Ridicule." One is of the complex and busy Versailles court, described above. The other is the setting of beautiful French countryside, which is in sharp contrast with the court. In the nature scenes the predominant colour is bright green, and the vastness of space is conveyed through long tracking shots of fields and lakes. The two environments reflect the duality in the personality of the main character Le Marquis Grégoire Ponceludon de Malavoy (Ponceludon). When he is at court his manner is rigid, formal and detached, as is his attire. When Ponceludon is outdoors his face is soft and loose, his clothing consists of plane working pants and a torn shirt. He is simple and open and authentic. The court scenes are generally accompanied by clavichord baroque music, while nature scenes often only employ foley sounds of birds chirping, grass shuffling in the wind and dogs barking in a distance. The court and the countryside present two opposing aspects of the era: the spoiled aristocracy and the hard-working simple people, and Ponceludon has to be a master of both to accomplish his aim.

There was one key aspect of the story in "Ridicule" that was not clear and could have been improved. The story of the film aims to expose the immaturity of the court aristocracy, who often behave like children giving in to peer pressure and bullying the weak. The film opens with a scene of a man urinating on an old Monsieur. This Monsieur called the man Stumblebum at a ball many years ago, and he never forgot the offence. At the end of the film, this same man calls Ponceludon "Marquis des Antipodes" in front of everyone, thus throwing at Ponceludon the same offence that he received years ago. However, it was very hard to deduce that the offender was the same man from the beginning of the film. It was only through group discussion and multiple rewindings that we were able to match the face and make this connection. Perhaps if the man had a memorable feature in his face, like a scar or unusual makeup, the viewer would not be puzzled regarding who this man was and how it all relates to the beginning of the film.

The art of filmmaking requires talent and effort of many professionals to deliver a convincing story. In the analysis of the three films above I investigated the tools and techniques that were used to make these films successful and effective. "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" really stood out because of its use of colour and contrast. "Spellbound" also utilised colour in combination with scene composition, music, lighting and unconventional script techniques. "Ridicule" shined through by it's use of elaborate and believable sets, costumes and makeup, even thought some of the story narrative could have been more direct. All three films were made in different counties and during different filmmaking eras, but they all succeed in bringing the magic of cinema to life.