The other day I was watching Woody Allen’s latest movie, Wonder Wheel. I’ve always admired his dedication to filmmaking that he consecutively writes and directs one movie every year since the early 70s. This time, I can still see the usual sunshine-America in his film, but I find the camera work and the use of light different from the ones before. And then, there it was, I found Vittorio Storaro.
Vittorio Storaro, aged 78. The above video showcases some of his cinematography work. Born in Italy, done around eighty-three works (IMDB) as a cinematographer, won three Oscars, Storaro is one of the most influential cinematographers. His notable works include Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor, The Conformist, Reds, and Last Tango in Paris.
Color
In Wonder Wheel, I found two most notable elements of cinematography that I believe to be Storaro’s contribution to the movie. First, the look that created by saturated, colored lighting is definitely in his control. Take a look at this scene when Ginny is talking to Mickey about her ex-husband. Ginny is first lit by the yellowish light on the left; and then slowly, the yellowish light from the right turns on. She is then lit by one red light from the front; and finally, we get an image in cool colors. Storaro has spoken to the audiences this way by manipulating the lights—making her emotions obvious on the screen.
Let’s look at one of the movie’s most stunning scenes. Here, Mickey, Ginny’s lover is accusing her of telling Caroline’s location to the guys who want to kill her. One can see the blazing light outlining Ginny’s hair as she speaks. She is upset about his accusation. She is upset that she wasn’t able to telephone Caroline and tell her that the guys were coming for her. The light used here is emotional, but it is not over-exaggerated. It is almost theatre like. The light fades away when Micky leaves her—the passion between them has forever gone.
More screenshots showcasing his use of color:
Camera Movement and Long Take
The other thing that I noticed in this movie is Storaro’s camera work. He has talked about this in one of his interviews on his first collaboration with Allen (Cafe Society): “I listen to what he says, and usually, he has a very basic vocabulary or concept. It comes from the American culture, to have, say, a master followed by a close-up. Sometimes, this works perfectly. And other times, I would say: ‘Can I propose something else?'” This “something else” becomes even more noticeable in Wonder Wheel. The movie is packed with long takes for conversations. All of those long takes are carefully crafted, designed in consideration of space and the talking actors.
The scene I’ve shown above is filmed in one take. The camera moves from taking a wide shot of the living room to a mid shot of Ginny talking on the phone, showing her husband in the background. It then moves back to fit Ginny’s son in the frame. Storaro’s camera is highly mobile in this movie. He must be very familiar with cameras and with this space to achieve this take so smoothly. There are a lot more examples of this kind of carefully designed takes which I will not show here.
Research – Storaro’s Philosophy
After I’ve done some research on Storaro, I find that he has really spent time studying cinematography. His philosophy on cinematography always features the concept of “duality”—the harmony between two opposing ideas. It can be summarized in two points. For one, he believes in the balance between art and technology. He demonstrates this with Einstien’s famous equation for energy: E=mc^2 in which “m” stands for mass and “c” stands for the speed of light. He says that what is expressed(E) must be done through a tool(m) with your own idea(c). He does this by personally filming the hand-held scenes rather than allowing others to operate the camera. The second point is that he aspires for equilibrium between different elements on the screen. For example, he makes the artificial light superimposes the natural light in Apocalypse Now to indicate the conflict between cultures. (FilmComment) In Wonder Wheel, one can also find the equilibrium between the colors of light.
Research – Storaro’s Working Method
Storaro investigates the character and the story before filming. He also visits locations before the actual filming starts. He does research on the style which he may go for. And he gives the director his advice where needed. I think this is what a professional should have done. What is special about his working method is that he does not stop studying. This has really enriched his understanding towards art and cinema that benefited his performance as a cinematographer. In 2010, Storaro published a book called Writing With Light as a conclusion for his research after doing Apocalypse Now. He spent time looking at other forms of art and philosophy to compensate his “ignorance” about the art of cinematography. [The reason why I wrote that book is that I discovered at one point in my life, after studying for nine years in cinematography school, that I was very knowledgeable in technology but I didn’t know anything about the art. And when I discovered that, I thought to myself, “My God, I only have one leg.” ] He then did this sort of research again after filming The Last Emperor. I feel that this is something I find valuable in him—his natural aspiration for knowledge. And he is right that we need to learn about new ideas after a while or we will just be copying and repeating ourselves.
Here’s Vittorio Storaro explaining his own cinematography:
References:
Writing with Light Vittorio Storaro 1992
