Steven Spielberg is by far my largest influence visually. Every movie he’s made has been gold sure there are some bad ones in there but even Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was beautiful cinematically. Take for instance the scene I chose to use as my visual representation of his work Saving Private Ryan. He uses Contrast and Affinity through the entire piece all the soldiers match whether it is the grime on their face causing them to blend with the shadows of the boat or the green of their camo matching everyone else. They greatly contrast everything surrounding them on the beaches which are all much brighter colors. The entire movie is based on Tension and Release. We obviously have much tension in the beach scene eventually they overcome the odds and take the beach releasing the tension only to have it amped up again moments later. He only chooses films that seem to have a bigger Subtext than most, he doesn’t seem to be in it simply for the money he also wants to teach his audience something valuable usually reflecting on society as a whole. The man seems to squeeze in every possible shot in the book during this beach scene, every main cast member has a Close Up, there are multiple Wide Shots showing the massive action, and even Over The Shoulder shots of the Nazi’s shooting at the soldiers. There is a reason that Steven Spielberg is the top grossing director of all time and it’s cause he’s simply the best.
I debated on whether or not to include George Lucas the man has only directed 6 movies. He’s a phenomenal writer and an even better marketer . The man is a horrible director, at least in his later years, but his ability to market himself and his product should be a desired trait for anyone in business. In Hollywood or just the entertainment industry in general it’s all about the sell and the man can sell. He has managed to do something’s right though his perception of Contrast and Affinity is spot on. Take a shot of Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers facing off against Luke and Han. He has Vader contrasting with his own men showing that he is obviously the leader but a couple of frames later you see Vader and the stormtroopers chasing down the heroes. Now they have affinity between them they are black and white versus the heroes in color. An effect used in a similar way in The Wizard of Oz. But I’d love to be able to convey the stories that Lucas has in his head. The man has made a life off of essentially one movie, maybe the most impressive thing he ever did was convince Fox to let him keep the rights to Star Wars.
P.S. Think everyone can accept a Star Wars visual so I thought I’d show a scene from his non Scifi work.
Sometimes you can be inspired by someone to do the opposite. You think their doing such a bad job that you don’t want to be like them at all. For me professionally, from a director’s standpoint, this person is J.J.Abrams, well in a way. Abrams has some bad habits in his movies but he has some spectacular shots also. He is a young director he’ll admit that in the public eye he has been “over pushed”. He’ll admit that he uses Lens Flares far too often in the interview below at the 6:58 mark he starts talking about them and how he’s guilty of over using them. He uses a lot of affinity and contrast and usually they coincide with the Mood and Tone. If he’s trying to build suspense he goes to a dark color and usually the majority of the screen is dark. When the mood has lightened up he goes to bright contrasting colors. In a way he ties it all together with tension and release also. So aspiring to get into film in some way shape or form, I’d like to be able to claim when I’m doing something wrong.
Remember the 6:58 mark.
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