The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Directed by Julian Schnabel

OVERALL LOOK

There are many qualities in the film through the light, framing, angles, camera movement and long takes. It really made us feel the pain and at times the joy that Jean went through. If made is SEE. It made us see through his point of view. See eye through and different life and a different angle. All of this was done through following Jeans perspective of life.

IMAGES

the images in this film are very important. The reason is that we are looking at images that are convening information that is important to the character without using him in the shot. The reason why is because we are seeing things through his eyes. There is a lot of meaning of the information that is being shown in the shot.

SHOT LENGTHS

 In the film there are two types of shots, either long or shot. They both portray something totally different. In the short shots they want to show a lot of information so they go through it fast so that they get to show more things. They also show these short shots because it is something not as important. Then the long shots are used for more important shots, to view the world from Jeans eye.

SHOT TYPES

In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Directed by Julian Schnabel they use a lot of extreme close-ups and extreme close-ups. They do this because they are trying to show that they are talking to the character (Jean-Dominique Bauby). Since he is sitting or lying down they come to him. They try to get his attention by getting close to him. These shots are very significant because it is showing how Jean sees the people that are talking to him. They also use a lot of these close-up shots to convey the characters state of mind. Although they do not shot him crying in some scenes you know he is because the lenses gets blurry and the other characters says “please don’t cry”. If those shots were taken from afar we as the audience would not get the full impact or the drama from the shot. They also do this to show the emotion of the person talking to Jean. Showing the expression they are making to get the way they are feeling. These scenes can be really dramatic.

CAMERA ANGLES

Most of the angles in this film are either high or low angles. The reason why they use high angle shots is that they are showing either a person in the position of power, heroic or someone superior. The reason why they show low angle shots is it shows someone weak or vulnerable in this case it would be Jean.

COMPOSITION

The composition on this film is a little different. The reason for that is that in some instances they do not use the rule of thirds. The reason is that they are portraying a lot of shots through Jeans eye. The film is about seeing so it is seeing something that is there and something that is not there. A lot of the shots in this film were taken in angles that were either high or low.

CAMERA MOVEMENT

The camera movement for this film is different from others. The reason for that is that we view most of the movie from Jeans eye. We see most of what he is looking at and how he looks at it. It’s almost like the camera is behind him and we are looking at everything from his point of view. So if they zoom in on someone that means that the subject or character is getting closer to him. We see most of the movie through him.

CINEMATOGRAPHY STYLE

They made the cinematography so obvious in this film, however; it was no mistake. They did this because they are doing these shots through Jeans point of view. Sometimes he blinks his eye and it could be a totally different image, picture, lighting that he sees. It might be from a different angle. That is why the cinematography on this film is more noticeable.

Seeing the world through a different eye...

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity by: Billy Wilder

What is Film Noir? The literal meaning is dark film. It is said to be a dark film because it is about sex, money and or murder. These Films are always seductive, raw, and the only thing you hold on to is fate. This type of film started around the 40’s at the end of the War. These films were different because at the end of the movie the murders were not brought to justice. They told stories about bad cops, life in the streets, twisted love, shady characters, murder, and other things that were real but, people were afraid to talk about.

One of the quotes I decided to talk about is by director Martin Scorsese who said, “As I grew up these films were part of my life date by date. I did not analyze them, I was affected by them”. Before this people were afraid to say it how it was. Martin Scorsese lived where there was nightlife and gambling. I believe that this is one of the reasons why he started directing; because he wanted to produce movies that he related to. He related to them emotionally.

How to spot a femme fatale? It is actually not that hard. In Double Indemnity (directed by Billy Wilder) Phyllis character portrays this very well. She is a strong, beautiful, seductive, manipulative woman. They make this woman not be so dainty. They usually make her smoke to create dominance. She knows how to use her sex appeal to get her way. The actor (Walter Neff) at one point goes on to say, “how could I have known that sometimes murder smells like honey”? She did this so that she would help him get out of that mess so that they would not “hang her” as she would say. He was doing it so that the cops did not go after her. He was willing to risk his life for her. This character is now very common. They used the classic triangle for Double Indemnity where the man falls in love with his friends’ wife and they end up killing the husband.

Janey Place a Scholar went on to say “Men have always been endangered by strong sexual females”. It sometimes scared males that maybe we are more independent, work, or even perhaps have had an affair. These are roles that usually men play. Men are used as tools. They do not want the man they usually want to get something from them. These women usually wear tight clothes, have long nails, and hair but most important are very sexual.  There is a male fantasy to these types of women.

Lighting

John Bailey (cinematographer) explains how they use the lighting. The way they use light against dark which portrays good against evil. The dark shadows they use for a more dramatic scene. You pick what you want from the scenes with the little bit of light that you have. This became a signature for Film Noir.