Film Techniques In The Film Day-Lewis

Daniel Day–Lewis is an actor of many great talents. He is someone who pushes himself beyond our imaginations to provide his audience with entertainment. Looking at the two films My Left Foot and Gangs of New York, we are presented with two controversial characters played by Day-Lewis. Presented in these two films, Day–Lewis allows the audience to forget that they are watching a film by allowing them to become part of the world that has been created by the actors as well as the directors and their incredible filming techniques.
Day-Lewis in My Left Foot took the idea of preparation of portraying a role to a whole new level. It is said that Day-Lewis spoke, ate and lived in a wheel chair like his character Christy Brown. The term used to describe his preparation is method acting.
Throughout the film, Sheridan made use of mainly close ups and medium shots to emphasize the struggle that Christy Brown is going through. These types of camera shots allow the actor to be seen from the chest up and focus more on the facial expressions and emotions portrayed by the actor. Day-Lewis in these camera shots makes sure that the attention is all on him. An example of this is the drool he has left on his coat which was not put there by the costume designer but was left there due to the characterisation Day-Lewis showed.
Many of the camera shots are taken from eye level of Day-Lewis. It allows the audience to see from his perspective and it shows how people look down on Brown and in a sense they are belittling him. The film also makes use of High Key lighting meaning bright light with very few shadows.
Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese shows a whole other side of Day-Lewis’s acting skills. In comparison to My Left Foot where we see an emotionally driven performance, Day-Lewis now portrays a blood thirsty, power seeking and aggressive man in his role of Bill Cutting the