216 | nº 31, pp. 207-238 | doxa.comunicación

July-December of 2020

Study on the cinematographic image composition: frame, light, and colour as expressive elements...

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

Source: Created by the authors based on Heller’s (2008) theories

In the third variable analysed, light, we have tried to find the moments when Deakins has attempted to transmit some emotion or information to the audience in the four films through the use of one or another type of lighting, as a consequence of his code’s symbolic manifestations. The use and handling of light are essential skills in a director of photography’s work and a fundamental resource in the audiovisual narrative. To study this, we refer to Gutierrez San Miguel’s (2006) approaches that have allowed us to observe the three lighting techniques used:

zones: constituted by a series of lights to a greater or lesser extent or the contrary. The light shapes the space highlighting the intense narrative action. In the same shot, there are two important focal points of attention for the viewer. The two scenes of the narrative that will take place at the same time are highlighted through them;

spotlighting: the use of powerful spotlights in certain parts highlights characters or objects that will have a dramatic intention; the rest is left in semi-darkness. Type of dramatic light used to highlight tension (Gutiérrez San Miguel, 2020: 301);

Masses: characterised by giving the image a light grading similar to that produced by natural light.

Light is also observed from the beginning to the end of each of the films, as is colour, to provide different contributions in the following section.

In conclusion, we incorporate various methodologies to meet this paper’s objectives. Hybridisation contributes to a triangulation of data (Gómez-Diago, 2010).

3. Results

We will present the results obtained from the samples analysed: the four films chosen in which Deakins has worked as a director of photography. To maintain an organised structure, we transfer the relative data of each of these works, following the chronology of the years they have been produced, starting with the oldest (Fargo) and ending with the most recent (Blade Runner 2049). Regarding the first variable studied, we have gathered the number of frames and the types of scale used in the shot by creating the table model (included in the previous section). This measurement allows us to extract percentages and interpret data.

Regarding the other two variables: colour and lighting, we have also shown the results descriptively. The color analysis unit has not been studied in the work The Man Who Wasn’t There because although it was shot with this technique, it is in black and white. However, the connotations are presented because of the value of the lighting, which is applied with a specific communicative and emotional intention.