Edward Lachman is a cinematographer whose work I have spoken about briefly before on this blog, but I have chosen to focus on him again, because he is the type of cinematographer whose work I would love to be able to emulate and who approaches his craft from the point of view of an artist, as he has a painting background. This is perhaps why I connect with his work, as I went to an art school growing up and always love to see creative decisions in film being influenced by the fine art world. My discussion on Edward Lachman’s work will stem from this fine art influence and go specifically, in-depth into his use of colour and space in his compositions.
Lachman left painting to pursue cinematography because “I was frustrated as a painter because it takes years to really develop a technique. But here I could pick up a camera and with found images, like the Dottist used, I could tell a story. For me images are always the language of story telling.” Despite working mostly in film, his methodology is so closely linked to his history as a painter, especially when it comes to the way he approaches composition: “maybe because of my painting background, but I always looked at the frame as independent of itself…I always try to compose to the spacial relationships in the frame…I like wider lenses or medium lenses, because I always feel that the environment says something about the character in that space, I love the idea of a 25mm…because I like the spatial relationship of the environment”.
This spatial relationship is particularly apparent in the above clip from the film Far From Heaven, where there is so much dimension at play, from the way in which the camera pans to reveal the character Raymond in the foreground, to the dining space in the middle ground and then Cathy crossing the street in the background. The camera coverage in this shot is so dynamic and uses space so effectively to set up the scene in a small period of time.
While wide shots dominate his filmography, when it comes to using close up shots he says: “just because it’s a close up, I don’t want to relinquish what’s around that person in the space of that closeup because I think it’s somehow a comment on the world that that person is existing in or part of” and that is clear in the first clip, which is from the film Carol, where we see the characters Therese and Carol in a car. The way this entire sequence is shot tells the story of how Therese views Carol, as an almost other worldly being. Lachman uses shallow depth of field and focus pulls to make it seem like the two exist in a world only made up of them, this is further emphasised by the score which adds to the ethereal nature of the scene. His sophisticated use of closeups is further shown in the second clip, where Therese is once again, in a car and you can see that next to her there are other passengers talking and yet she looks incredible alone. This is highlighted by his use of the primary colour red, which creates the mood of almost polarising her from everything else, stuck in it’s intensity.
These scenes from the film Far From Heaven, further illustrates Lachman’s creative use of colour, which, while quite vibrant in the second clip, do not feel out of place or manufactured, they add to the scene, by symbolising the events of the film. He uses German expressionism continually as a mode of reference for his visuals in Far From Heaven, saying: “I could create colour in a totally abstract way”. He chooses his colour palette, whether the colours be primary, as the most pure forms of colour or secondary colours as an aberration of primary colours, based on what is occurring on screen. He says “I try to use colour on a psychological way, not in an aesthetic way to make the world pretty…the way painters use colour to evoke a sort of emotional response to the characters”. This is a statement that I think a lot of people in filmmaking should aspire to live up to, as it seems there is less and less justification for colour in film nowadays. In the second scene from the film, he uses secondary colours to reflect the characters feelings of trepidation from being in the bar. This is a contrast to the first scene, where more washed out, pastel colours of green, cream and light blue are used to signify the characters tremendous relief at having finally confessed his secret, the colour is subtle so as not to detract from the dramatic nature of the scene. The subdued colour palette could also represent the type of repression that was necessary for gay people in the 1950’s when this film is set. These creative choices that Lachman makes parallel those of any painter, who is about to create their work, having already decided what to paint and is considering the palette they will use to paint it.
I have used the films Far From Heaven and Carol as examples of Lachman’s cinematography as they are part of his on going collaboration with the director Todd Haynes, whose films are often about people struggling with the politics of their time and their place within it. I have done this in part, because they are my favourite of his films, but also because Haynes’ films really seem to afford Lachman creative freedom. Lachman seems to thrive when there is a political and emotional dimension to his work, as he is able to interpret these factors through colour and metaphor. This is particularly apparent in the way he uses reflections and mirrors in Carol, as a metaphor for Therese opening up to her emotions. It has become apparent through my research that every creative decision Lachman makes is thought out, justified and researched. He openly discusses his creative influences and I believe that, that is so important, not only to give credit to the works he is inspired by, but to help other artists learn of more resources to be inspired by.
References:
In dialogue with Ed Lachman: from the movie set to a gallery space in Paris
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