Part two of setting the tone focuses on films that contain similar tones, themes, plots or characters that are reminiscent of the tones and themes I want to achieve in Grit.
Films:
1. Birdman [Dir. Gonzalez Iñárritu, 2014]
Birdman follows the story of a washed-up actor trying to make a name for themselves in their new play. What's interesting about the film is that the protagonist, Riggan Thomson, converses with a character he once played: Birdman. No-one else can see Birdman aside from Riggan and the conversations they have are very questioning of Riggan. Riggan himself begins to suffer a mental breakdown as he gradually gets more and more desperate for his play to be successful.
The cinematography in Birdman is simply incredible. The 2-hour long film consists of around 12 or so shots which is a challenge in itself. The use of seamless edits and transitions to create the effect of the whole film being one take was very inspiring.
An segment from one of the long takes in Birdman.
2. A Beautiful Mind [Dir. Ron Howard, 2002]
This film is a biopic of the Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr. and includes his struggle with Schizophrenia. Thematically this film and Grit are similar but Nash Jr. suffered from auditory hallucinations and not the visual ones the True Protagonist has. Despite that this film very accurately details the condition and plays with the idea that what the audience are seeing might not necessarily be real.
3. La Haine [Dir. Matthiew Kassovitz, 1995]
La Haine spans a single day post-riots in France. We get a glimpse at the lives of the film's protagonists: Vinz, Said and Hubert, and the "ghetto" lifestyle. The film was shot in colour but changed to black and white in post. This style gives the film a very raw aesthetic and feels very urban and gritty. Very similar visual themes to what I aim to achieve in Grit.
La Haine contains several long takes and cleverly shot scenes that also fit in with my visual style of Grit. I intend to shoot several scenes in a long take and some others in as creative a way as possible.
This particular scene in La Haine when Said visits Vinz showcases how a simple 360 degree spin can tell us so much about one person. In this case, Vinz.
The spin is started with Said going over to Vinz's desk, but instead of the camera then following Said back it continues the spin and rejoins Said from the other side. During this we can see trainers, wrestling posters, some magazines and a small collection of books. Things are generally neat too telling us more about Vinz's personality.
All this in a 10 second spin.
4. Fight Club [Dir. David Fincher, 1999]
Fight club is similar to Grit in terms of its plot: man and 'friend' spend the majority of the film together. [Spoiler warning] The 'friend' turns out to be a figment of the protagonist's imagination. Now Grit wasn't inspired by Fight Club, but it goes on the list because of the similar themes of a false world concocted by the protagonist.
5. Heat [Dir. Michael Mann, 1995]
Heat is a crime drama following an LA detective as he hunts down a gang of dangerous and professional robbers. Heat and Grit are very different films in both plot and visual style but it's the theme of a constant build-up of tension between Al Pacino's detective and Robert De Niro as one tries to attempts do one last heist and the other wants to catch him. They only meet twice in the film but there's enough tension to make the audience anticipate a face-off between the two. A sensation I want to create in Grit.
6. Her [Dir. Spike Jonze, 2013]
Her is about a man who falls in love with his operating system. The colour palette is very muted and certain colours are boosted in saturation to make the shots contrast and pop. A style I would like to create with Grit: the lack of colour will give it a grittier and realistic aesthetic.
7. Ex Machina [Dir. Alex Garland, 2015]
The film, like Her, is A.I. based in terms of plot but it's the clinical aesthetic the corridors of the complex that interest me. Portions of the palette are very muted or contain strong amounts of white. Similar to how Sean and Zoe's house will look at the start: clinical.
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