I recently watched Alfonso Cuaron’s film Children of Men after having not watched it for a number of years. I found it to be very moving and outstanding in its execution. After thinking about it for a few days, I realised that it has a lot of relevance to this course so naturally I thought I’d have a good ol yarn about it.

What stands out above all in Children of Men is its unique take on the future (or at least when compared to other dystopian sci-fis) and the way in which this is presented. The desolate, bleak representation of a world brought undone by a global infertility crisis is created with a very dull palette and lighting scheme (the film is conveniently set and shot primarily in London) and a horrifying realism in the production design.

What most strikingly communicates this crisis, however, is the cinematography. This is where I find that the connection to Ways of Making is made clearest, as the camera work in this film beautifully bridges the codes and aesthetics of drama and documentary filmmaking in order to most effectively deliver the content. The camera is generally handheld, and most of the film is delivered in deeply choreographed yet simultaneously raw long takes, the longest of which sits around the 13 minute mark. As with a film of the cinema vérité movement, the camerawork gives an almost amateur, intimate insight to the activity being captured. The camera could even be considered a character of its own: a conduit through which we can experience the events ourselves.

While this film is at heart a dramatic film, this documentary-style execution gives extra weight to the subject matter at hand. It’s as if Cuaron is giving us a documentary from a potential future, a dark insight into what lies ahead. The presentation of the film and use of the camera sheds light on serious current political, racial and environmental issues and prompts us to think.

The music in the film also plays a big role and often works with the aforementioned elements to direct attention and provide emotional impact. The sweeping strings often make us empathetic of Theo, and feature songs such as ‘In The Court of the Crimson King’ indicate brief moments of grandeur in a world which is otherwise entirely hopeless.

These are all elements I hope to take into my further footage and experimentation. I hope to use the camera in such a way that even the use of it has meaning. I intend to execute long takes that could replicate the perspective of a person and to focus on the patterns, angle and intricacies of parts of the world that our own perspectives may skim over. I will use different elements of construction to draw attention to these things, such as the music and lighting. In this sense I hope to make a series of video essays rather than a narrative based film, which will be drawn together by a common objective to elicit an awareness and noticing in the viewer.