One of the most important scenes in the film comes when Juan teaches Chiron how to swim. How you are depicting someone. “The idea of judgment. Now, it represents his world, one of anxiety and persecution. Among these boys is Kevin the only one who looks at Chiron like a person and in Chiron’s point of view he looks at Kevin’s bruise instead of him staring back like the other boys. We were lighting them with a style that was more realistic than flattering and we wanted the skin tones to feel warm and not harsh.” (James Laxton Creates Poetic Look). Barry Jenkins, the screenwriter and director behind the beautiful new film Moonlight, grew up in Liberty City, the Miami neighborhood where the story is set. Many of Moonlight’s moving moments happen when actors look directly into the lens, letting the audience look into the character’s eyes and have a deeper emotional connection with the characters. Near the end of the film, Chiron is standing in a doorway but the camera has skewed the perspective by not standing directly in front of the doorway, making Chiron look small and confined. Moonlight cinematographer James Laxton. Later in the film when Juan teaches Chiron how to swim, the camera is level to the water so that the audience feels like they are swimming with the characters. Moonlight is a film about masculinity, the wounds and crises of which are the same for all sexualities, but conditioned by the background weather of race and class. If you fit this description, you can use our free essay samples to generate ideas, get inspired, and figure out a title or outline for your paper. Natural light was used during this scene and the humidity in the air made the actors skin a softer glow. Fear, love, and hate all coexist at the same time. My original … Personally, I fell in love with the beautiful vulnerability of this scene, as well as the stunning cinematography. In another shot, Little’s mom, Paula, played by the brilliant Naomie Harris, is bathed in pink light as she fumes at her son. When Juan talks with his employee and sees him reject a customer, the camera circles around the characters. Similarly, there’s a scene where the main character is learning how to swim. Aesthetic effect refers to the practise of using different elements of a film (mise-en-scene, sound, cinematography and editing) to generate film form. Juan’s calm conversation with his employee is followed by loud insults from Chiron’s bullies. The camera is sped up and closing in on Chiron and his friend, trapping them even further. “The scene is about a dealer interacting with his guy on the corner, right? … Unlike other films, Moonlight does not use a realistic aesthetic that other films that deal with drug addiction and lower socioeconomic classes. Here, it symbolizes the community and tight connection between the boss, employee, and customer. Then when Kevin enters the scene, the camera stands in front of the doorway and now it looks gigantic. Here, we wash away the old Chiron, and introduce a new one.”, Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Get an expert to write you the one you need! When a character is the only one in an expanded frame, it highlights how alone they are. The long camera take at the early part of the scene… Are you interested in getting a customized paper? The second chapter of the film uses German film stock which is known for adding cyan to its shots, which alludes to the film’s name. So did Tarell Alvin McCraney, who wrote the play on which the movie is based, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. The bright colors used are different than the usual dark and harsh colors American indie movies that tackle social issues usually have. When Chiron finally joins him, the camera jump cuts and it is no longer a long shot as Chiron begins to have fun. Maybe subconsciously we chose it for Moonlight in an effort to depict this community in a brand new light.”. It’s merely a feature of the landscape, where air is humid, birds chirp, people disappear, and small bills flow in a circle. Color is one of the first things I notice about the sequence. Many critics view Laxton’s cinematography as visual poetry, through his use of techniques to further tell a sophisticated story. Pssst… If the empathic power of Moonlight defies easy categorization, it can be trickier still to put your finger on what is singular about the cinematography. It makes the audience absorbed into the scene and sees the intensity of what the character is feeling. According to Laxton, “We wanted to make sure our black-skinned actors would look natural and interesting skin tone. A person may deal drugs for money, but no moral baggage is ascribed to this detail; it recedes into the background, having nothing whatever to do with their value system. Remember: This is just a sample from a fellow student. We provide you with original essay samples, perfect formatting and styling. A conversation with Moonlight’s cinematographer reveals the surprising but formative influence that still photography had on this Oscar-winning film. As Chiron finds a hiding place, the bullies insults become louder and louder. This is done substantively, with the emotional terrain of the characters, and it’s done visually, with angles and light. 2020 Sept 01 [cited 2021 Feb 19]. By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. How high-angle is something? “Those two things are at complete odds with one another. Immediately after the first scene, the camera moves to Chiron being chased by his bullies. From the opening of the scene, as Chiron approaches the diner, lighting is at play. Both mother and son are partially broken. ... A small but memorable illustration of Laxton’s theory occurred during the same swimming scene mentioned above. As the sky progressively turns grey, it contrasts against the clear ocean, presenting how the characters feel emotionally. The camera slowly goes toward Chiron until he turns his head to look behind him. Having trouble finding the perfect essay? The horrors in black and white – The Lighthouse (2019) Cinematographer: Jarin Blaschke. We’ve got you covered. "Moonlight" is altogether an absolutely brilliant movie, and the recognition it got was extremely well-deserved. Filed under. "Moonlight" does a great job of showing how fast Chiron's world seems to be spinning around him. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/analysis-of-cinematography-in-moonlight-by-barry-jenkins/, Recieve 100% plagiarism-Free paper just for 4.99$ on email, *Public papers are open and may contain not unique content. GradesFixer.com uses cookies. Chiron seems to be developmentally delayed. For Chiron, his community ostracizes him for being gay. Barry Jenkins 2017’s best picture winner Moonlight has been broadly praised for its cinematography, with one critic claiming ‘every shot is seared into my brain.’. Best picture winner, Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins, premiered in 2016. LIST OF MOVIES WITH GOOD CINEMATOGRAPHY MOONLIGHT. This arc shot is a motif that is used repeatedly throughout the film and has two meanings. So much is happening behind their eyes. Natural light is also used during the diner scene. Your California Privacy Rights. Later in the film when Chiron enters the diner scene, it is a long shot to present the setting and feel of the diner. “I think what’s happened is that the realistic aesthetic applied to drug addiction, or lower socioeconomic classes, portrays the characters as having dark or depressive mentalities,” Laxton said. The angle of the shot exaggerates Chiron’s gaze and makes it look more heartbroken than if it was an eye-level shot. Our Community; ... Yeah. It’s my job to depict judgment, yet I’m ultimately searching for a way to get the audience to relinquish that judgment and to just be watchful.”, We asked Laxton to describe his approach to shooting four of Moonlight’s most striking scenes, moments in the film when color and camerawork are particularly integral to the story and evocative of the place and people. “When you walk around the city, perspiration is inherent to the experience. And, Scene: Moonlight The Atlantic looks back at key cinematic moments in 2016, this time Barry Jenkins’s film about a young man’s life in three acts. The two men didn’t know each other at the time, but they have together brought the hyper specificity and full emotional heft of their lived experience to bear on the story of Chiron, a poor, black, and gay boy who comes of age in a Liberty City housing project. The most significant and appreciated scene of the film, where Juan teaches Chiron how to swim, uses symbolism, score, and cinematography in a skillful and touching … Similar themes are present in both films, but Jenkins’s sophomore film shows how much the filmmaker has improved. Most of Moonlight’s angles are eye-level, close to the actor’s faces and breaks the fourth wall frequently. Analysis of Moonlight's swimming scene. Another scene where the camera circles around the characters is when Chiron’s bullies are forcing his friend to hit him for being “different”. At the end of the film, the last shot is Chiron standing in front of the Atlantic in the moonlight. The way each character talks are also contrasting, Juan speaks relaxed and caring while Chiron does not speak. They also used anamorphic lenses, which normally allow multiple characters to play out a scene in the same wide-screen frame. This essay has been submitted by a student. It is difficult to sum up all that feels new about Moonlight, which puts a fresh lens on so many things at once. Since one of the concepts of our visual language had to do with being immersive, it was a must to put the camera in the water, within the tides and waves of the ocean, to experience the swimming lesson as the characters do. The light inside the building came from the lamps and it gave a natural and realistic feel to the diner. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Light bulbs were changed from green to blue during a diner scene later in the film. Moonlight’s camera work and mise-en-scene, specifically the lightning, is one of the film’s most important parts of its cinematography. this essay is not unique. It is through these very techniques that Chiron’s mother being highlighted in neon pink lights her femininity despite her sour expression. After the bullies leave, Chiron wanders around and finds a syringe, foreshadowing his profession in the third part of the film. If you’d like this or any other sample, we’ll happily email it to you. The most mesmerizing scene immerses you in the blue-green water of the Atlantic as Juan teaches Little to swim, complicating notions of masculinity and fatherhood while overturning a racist stereotype. It is a coming-of-age story that uses every camera trick in the book to create a film that the audience feels absorbed in the entire way through. Moonlight’s cinematography is the most important in establishing not only the characters and the environment but the relation between the two and their importance to the main theme of the film. It’s what our job is: To depict a judgment.” There is an inherent tension, then, between his role and the effect he is hoping to elicit. [chuckle] Because, a lot of it had to do with a storm approaching and things like that, but there’s energy that comes from just getting the camera out there quickly, doing a quick lesson, almost live on camera with those … But the drug economy in which the characters live does not define them as human beings. Their 15-year history affords Laxton “an intimate pre-production period not often given to a cinematographer.”, References were identified early on: Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Three Times, Spike Lee’s Clockers, the films of Claire Denis. Moonlight, which is up for six Golden Globes and is likely to earn as many Oscar nominations, leaves a lasting impression on your mind and eye, and its impact is not limited to your present field of vision. The spinning has a dizzying effect, which intends to put our audience in a state of tension, uncertain as to how the scene will play out. The camera is always placed as close to the actors as possible, so as to put the viewer in the scene. “Judgment is something I think I’m very concerned with in filmmaking,” Laxton said. Two faces, two connected souls. Want us to write one just for you? This is not an example of the work written by professional essay writers. Which is a scene I think we have seen. But the next cut is to a child running through tall grass, and handheld, somewhat frenetic camera movement.”, The switch-up in camera style portends a switch-up of archetypes. It Takes Inspiration From "In The Mood For Love" Wong Kar-wai's films are known for their … The movie follows the story of a young, introverted boy named Chiron through three different periods of adolescence. “The light in Miami is so specific,” Laxton said. The camera in that particular scene … We swirl around and around and around, and land on close-ups of Chiron and the other character, Kevin. When Kevin and Chiron wrestle, the camera becomes shaky and cuts to shots of their arms and legs. Laxton calls being part of the main competition "a massive honour", particularly at it … Attention! We can custom edit this essay into an original, 100% plagiarism free essay. For example, take the swimming scene. The film has a retroactive effect. You can get 100% plagiarism FREE essay in 30sec, Sorry, we cannot unicalize this essay. Laxton explained: “In that moment, when she’s very angry at her son, the pink light tips the audience to a different aspect of her, a different side to her.”, Laxton went to film school with Jenkins in the early aughts, at the Florida State Film School in Tallahassee, where for a time the two were roommates. No words are spoken and the two characters are just staring at one another. The cinematography allows the viewer to step behind Chiron's lens of life and notice how hard it must be. A man teaching a boy how to swim turns into a powerful moment of communion in this scene from “Moonlight,” directed by Barry Jenkins.The film explores a young black man’s coming-of-age in Miami. Color and light are tools for transcendence, used to reframe and illuminate. The neighborhood has pastel-colored houses, the Atlantic Ocean a blue-green, and Chiron’s mother being bathed in neon pink while shouting at him. Moonlight's cinematography has also been recognised, with director of photography James Laxton winning the Best Cinematographer Award at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and getting a Golden Frog nomination at Camerimage 2016, among other honours. The scene above takes place at roughly the center point of Barry Jenkins’ Oscar Winning 2016 queer coming-of-age drama, Moonlight. Outside the diner, the bulbs were changed to give a more blue hue. Hard light is perfect for techniques that involve hars… The main characters self-discovery is told through these chapters, each through a different developmental phase of his life. The camera circles around Chiron, but it is extremely close to the character, unlike how it was a comfortable distance in Juan’s scene, another way of showing how different their worlds are. Moonlight was filmed in Liberty City, Miami, where the neighborhood houses are pastel-colored and trees a tropical green. Kevin’s look of shock of seeing Chiron again is clear in his eyes and the audience feels it with him. The film opens with a very stylized, swirling shot of a drug dealer, Juan, played by the magnificent Mahershala Ali. At the beginning of the film, Chiron is bullied during a soccer game. An analysis focussed on the sound, cinematography and mise-en-scène used in the opening sequence of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. These pops of color offer a beauty and map to understand the full existence of our characters.”, “We start this sequence with a shot inspired by an animal circling its prey. When Juan is introduced, the camera follows behind him smoothly. we can write an original essay just for you. Realism was avoided, with an understanding that when a setting is visually pathologized, so too are the human beings in it. The camera, said Laxton, is playing with our associations by saying, in effect, “Here’s something you’ve seen before. On October 6, 2017 By sophie Through three acts, the film Moonlight (2016) explores three periods of the life of the lonely and sensitive Chiron, who faces the difficult intersectionality of growing up poor, black and gay in late 1980s … One of a torn down community filled with poverty, … Both films use color to reflect the mood of the scene and what the characters are thinking. It is a lens that has been used on many beloved movies and cinematographer James Laxton has said that “It’s for grand stories and big-scope thoughts. Moonlight cinematographer James Laxton on shooting one of the film's most iconic scenes — Juan teaching Little how to swim. It’s for grand stories and big-scope thoughts. Barry Jenkins’s first film, Medicine for Melancholy, has a similar theme to his second feature film. Moonlight is a coming of age movie of a young African American man through three stages of his life. The close-up of Chiron after Juan’s offer clearly shows his anxiety. MOONLIGHT, a poetic tour de force, was one of the 2016 AFI AWARD honorees and “illuminates the peerless power of cinema to inspire empathy for others and embrace a greater understanding of ourselves.” Movie Trivia for MOONLIGHT: –DID YOU KNOW MOONLIGHT is based on an unpublished play written by Tarell Alvin McCraney called “In Moonl Dark colors and harsh light is the appropriate lens, we seem to have decided, for dark circumstances and harsh realities. Moonlight is a 2016 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins. Moonlight Sequence Analysis: Cinematography The sequence that sticks out to me in the movie Moonlight is when Juan teaches Chiron how to swim. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. How long-angle is something? But Moonlight is more Wong Kar Wai than The Wire. It’s something that as a cinematographer you are constantly aware of. There is at least one unifying element, though: the film’s insistence that the humanity of every character be brought to the fore. So was McCraney, 36. The first decision you need to make when deciding which lights will work the best, is whether you need the light to be hard or soft. Students who find writing to be a difficult task. The Atlantic Ocean is a bright blue while the scene challenges what black fathers are supposed to be. How the light looks on someone’s face. Moonlight is a 2016 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished semi-autobiographical play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.It stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali. Moonlight’s cinematography uses bold colors and stunning shots to create an emotional experience. The film’s most famous quote, “In moonlight black boys look blue”, which is shown most providently in the second chapter with its green-blue hue. Chris O'Falt Oct 26, 2016 2:49 pm Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Moonlight — Analysis of Cinematography in Moonlight by Barry Jenkins. In moments like these, a cinematographer has to try to deliver images that match the strength of the performance and emotional value of the story. With “Moonlight,” that mode is an overwhelming specificity. Lighting focused on skin tone and making skin color look natural and appealing. Chiron is changed forever in the preceding scene. The camera stops and Chiron looks to the audience as if beckoning to join him. The camera goes to a low-angle shot as Chiron’s glare becomes harder and the sound of his harsh breathing becomes louder.

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