The cinematography is the art of making motion pictures, and editing plays a huge part in the film because it is both creative and technical. On its most important part, film editing is the art technique and practice of assembling shots into a sequence. The job of an editor is not to mechanically put pieces together, but instead to become creative and tell a story through the pieces of film. There will be two films that will discuss in depth about the editing and the cinematography; these films are Brokeback Mountain and Apocalypse Now. Both are dramas, and they show brilliant ways of using different kinds of camera styles.
Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain was directed by Ang Lee and was released in the United States in 2005. The film is set in 1963 Wyoming and is about two sheepherders, Jack Twist, and Ennis Del Mar. The film takes the audience through both of their lives. It shows them both getting married and having kids, but never losing their love for one another. The cinematography takes the viewer on a whirlwind of emotions and shows how the two their tortured affair throughout 20 years.
Brokeback Mountain has some of the best examples of Mise-en-Scene. The cinematography correctly places its audience in the scene with the character(s). The scene below is truly romanticizing Brokeback Mountain, especially since this place eventually becomes Ennis and Jacks haven to be themselves away from their realities. Within the film, the actual mountain (Brokeback) becomes a character and a dramatic element. The director, Ang Lee, explains the landscape as “A character itself. So, how do we treat or how do we say it, so it looks manageable? So it’s not a grand Western where people disappear in it, but you use that as a dramatic element coping with characters? So it looks lovable. It’s suggestive; it’s romantic. Somehow to shoot it that way. So in a way it’s a Western, but it’s not really a Western.”
Personally, the quote perfectly sums up how the cinematography is like during this film and how important it was to capture Brokeback as an essential role in the plot. The film has Western elements that show Ennis and Jack as ranchers and cowboys; however, that is not the true meaning, and that is why the cinematography is focused romanticizing the mountain.
In cinematography, lighting plays a huge part in telling the story. During production, the cinematographer will be the one that determines the lighting once the camera setups are picked. Lighting creates the way the movie looks, and it helps tell the story of the film. Lighting helps create the viewer’s sense of cinematic space by highlighting people, creating shadows, and defining shapes and textures. The video below is a scene that uses low-key lighting by using deep shadows that have high contrast with the brightest parts of the scene. Personally, the lighting in this scene gives more intimacy and follows the romantic theme of the movie.
Another example of low-key lighting is from the film Apocalypse Now. Apocalypse Now was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in the United States in 1979. The film is extraordinary, and lighting plays a huge part in telling the story.
The scene almost never uses any fill light and it captures an interesting mystery. At first Kurtz’s face is in complete darkness except for the back light that illuminates the back of his shaved head. When Kurtz’s face is finally revealed to Willard, only the left half is lit up. The scene is a great example of low-key lighting.
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is set in Vietnam 1970 and told a story of one character (Captain Willard) journey upriver to find and kill Colonel Kurtz. Do Lung Bridge scene has excellent cinematography. The director does this scene perfectly by capitalizing on the danger and giving it more of a surreal atmosphere; there is a cut to Lance and Chef mentioning how Lance has just dropped acid. The lighting in this scene is also done very well, the only light that is provided is from the explosions, and can only see the characters whole body in the dark. This scene explains how the soldiers have given up on the war and their safety.
During the scene Lance walks through trenches and ends up walking on what seems to be a dead body, the cinematography is chilling. He eventually holds a puppy and personally think this scene is important because it is a reflection of innocence shown visually outside of his body.
During the film, Apocalypse Now, one technique that was used to help pull the story together was the dissolve, and this is added in post-production. Many uses of dissolves in movies help indicate the passing of time. Another excellent example of editing happens during the cavalry helicopter attack on the village.
Many well-executed editing techniques are used in this scene. The scene begins with a dramatic jump cut from the noisy music-blaring helicopters to the quiet and peaceful village square. The camera angle changes seven times during this scene, including a medium shot of the aircraft, an aerial shot of the formation over the tree-line, and a wide shot of the strike zone behind the main characters. These editing techniques truly help carry the plot forward in the most captivating way possible. The editing in Apocalypse Now had a huge impact in creating the interesting and bizarre story.
Finally, diving in deep with Brokeback Mountain and Apocalypse Now help explain how big of a role editing has and what all goes into creating a brilliant film.
Ricki Adams 