In the film "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly" the cinematography really helps the viewer see things through the eyes of Jean-Dominique Bauby. The way depth of field is used makes you feel just as confused and disoriented as Bauby does when he is first waking up at the beginning of the film. As he is struggling to get his eyes to focus the depth of field is very shallow and the only thing that comes in clear is the person that is closest to the screen or closest to Bauby's face. This causes you to see things as Bauby does which helps you connect with him and feel for his character. During this time in which Bauby is trying to focus his eye, the cinematographer also uses rack focus to make you follow Bauby's line of sight as he keeps refocusing on new things. This allows you to see piece by piece where he is and discover where Bauby is at the same time as he does.
As Bauby becomes more alert and awake, the focus is able to shift to more distant objects. At first he can only see what is directly in front of his face, but as he comes to he is able to see more distant objects like the wall and the curtain. This makes you experience his struggle and see what it is like for him to realize what has happened to him and what is going on around him. The use of depth of field annoys you while sucking you into the movie because like Bauby you want to know what is going on and you want to see more even though it is not easy. It allows you to know that something is not right and it makes you want to know why. If this first part of the movie had a deep focus, you would not be able to relate to Bauby as easily because you would not be seeing things through his eyes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment