Lighting and Cinematography in American Beauty

Lighting and Cinematography in American Beauty

Director Sam Mendes saw Lester's story as an 'epic journey', yet he never wanted to lose the intimate and domestic aspects of it. Lester, he says, is an anti-hero, whose behaviour is often less than admirable, but if the audience doesn't care about him, "we haven't got a picture".

He used Super-35 film for epic grandeur; Lester's story is an epic journey as well as being domestic

 There is limited use of close ups; Mendes thinks there are too many in modern films: "I think close ups are wildly over-used, especially in films (as opposed to TV)."

 Mendes seldom used Steadicam and hand-held cameras (apart from Ricky's videotaping) because he dislikes the jerkiness of them.

 A hand-held camera is used for fight scene, to give it a kind of kinetic, off-beat energy, and of course for Ricky's films.

 Most of the SFX were done in camera; CGI was used only for the fantasy scenes.

Mendes' style in this film - 10 typical aspects

1. Symmetrical compositions, classically balanced within the frame

2. Scenes begin with a detail and then cut back to show the full scene.

3. Sequences start with a character who connects with another who then connects with another etc.

4. Abrupt changes of tone and mood.

5. Changes of rhythm or pace, e.g. from movement to stillness

6. Shots of empty rooms, or rooms left empty

7. TWO shots and OVER SHOULDER shots

8. POV shots - we are nearly always looking at things from some character or other's perspective.

9. The 'world is out of joint' shots e.g. canted* shot.

10. Shadows on faces; characters moving in and out of shadows

*Canted shot = The horizon in the shot is tilted - impression that everything is off balance; can effectively express psychological imbalance, pain or danger.

Understandings about Mendes' style of cinematography in this film:

□ POV shots = characters shown from diverse emotional perspectives. Relationships are very significant in this film.

□ Empty rooms = appearance/ perfection idea (couch/ Carolyn); also theme of 'empty lives' - emotional poverty. Motif.

□ Sudden changes in tone/ mood/action show emotional tension/ keeps audience engaged/ plus theme of what is beneath the 'perfect' surface bursts out - moments of truth?

Lighting

Lighting is one of the major elements in a film and is responsible for both the quality of the images and for much of the film's dramatic effect.

The dominant style of lighting for a scene is described as "high key" and "low key."

High-key lighting = brightly lit, creates a sense of sunniness, joy, and security; comedy

Low-key lighting = greyer and darker, a good deal of shadow; mystery, horror

*'Film noir' is a classic style where lighting effects are used to create a powerful mood: canted camera angles, dense shadows, a romantic, doom-laden atmosphere, always in shimmering, high-contrast black and white.

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