CINEMA STUDIES W5 LOG

I really enjoyed the screening of ‘Sunrise’. I had never watched a feature length silent film from start to finish and was fascinated by how much could be said without dialogue. This week’s reading focused on cinematography and framing. I realised how important framing actually is to a narrative. Long shots and extreme long shots can help to establish setting whilst close ups and extreme close ups draw the focus in on the emotion of a character or even an intention. ‘Sunrise’, being a silent film, relied heavily on the particular set-up of these shots as well as music and lighting. Music in the film strongly suggested when a scene was supposed to be foreboding, or romantic, or quirky as did the lighting of each shot. The first half of the film, when the husband is behaving immorally, is of a dark palette highlighting his dark behaviour. The other half when he is trying to redeem himself and begins caring for his wife is of a lighter palette. I thought it was great that a black and white film can still use colour and shading to emphasise aspects of the story.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *