Cinematography in Woody Allen's Film
Film – 8
3 October 2013
Cinematography
Woody Allen utilizes many different camera angles and lighting techniques in his movies. The way he uses lighting can affect the mood and make things seem confusing with dark lighting or, on the contrary, make things seem all the clearer with more lights. A variety of modified lenses can help tell a story on their own with color filters, black and white, as he used in Manhattan, and shorter and longer lenses for depth perception. These shots can tell us many things about the relationships of characters or what the mood of the scene is. Woody Allen, and many other filmmakers, use these methods in almost all modern movies. Dark and bright lighting is a large point in cinematography and has its place in Woody Allen movies. A good example of this is Manhattan when Woody Allen’s seventeen year old girlfriend is sitting in her apartment where all the lights are turned off. The only light that is virtually turned on is a dim light shining on her. The light vaguely makes her out so you can only see her figure and the scenes setting. The room and the shot are much larger than her so she looks to be substantially smaller than the room, the set, and life. This is because Woody Allen continues to tell Tracy that she is just a kid and to not get caught up with him because he is so much older than he is and that she has her whole life to live and other relationships to make. Another instance of lighting is when the girl who Yale is cheating with goes with Woody Allen’s character, Issac, to the planetarium. In this example, they are in the observatory and it is completely dark and you can only make out their figures. They are talking and getting more and more involved with each other and more comfortable. This is telling the viewer that they do not know where this is going because before they were both appalled and know they are becoming more attracted to each other. They are also in a complicated romantic situation because each of
3 October 2013
Cinematography
Woody Allen utilizes many different camera angles and lighting techniques in his movies. The way he uses lighting can affect the mood and make things seem confusing with dark lighting or, on the contrary, make things seem all the clearer with more lights. A variety of modified lenses can help tell a story on their own with color filters, black and white, as he used in Manhattan, and shorter and longer lenses for depth perception. These shots can tell us many things about the relationships of characters or what the mood of the scene is. Woody Allen, and many other filmmakers, use these methods in almost all modern movies. Dark and bright lighting is a large point in cinematography and has its place in Woody Allen movies. A good example of this is Manhattan when Woody Allen’s seventeen year old girlfriend is sitting in her apartment where all the lights are turned off. The only light that is virtually turned on is a dim light shining on her. The light vaguely makes her out so you can only see her figure and the scenes setting. The room and the shot are much larger than her so she looks to be substantially smaller than the room, the set, and life. This is because Woody Allen continues to tell Tracy that she is just a kid and to not get caught up with him because he is so much older than he is and that she has her whole life to live and other relationships to make. Another instance of lighting is when the girl who Yale is cheating with goes with Woody Allen’s character, Issac, to the planetarium. In this example, they are in the observatory and it is completely dark and you can only make out their figures. They are talking and getting more and more involved with each other and more comfortable. This is telling the viewer that they do not know where this is going because before they were both appalled and know they are becoming more attracted to each other. They are also in a complicated romantic situation because each of