Isolation scene
In 127 hours, Boyle tends to move in and out of focus, and uses lots of shaky hand held camera shots to make the audience feel like they're there in this situation with Franco, it also keeps us interested. (Show clip from 127 hours)There are lots of high angle shots used in this scene to show how isolated and unimportant Franco is compared to the vast, barron canyons he is trapped in. at the end of this scene, we have an aerial tracking shot, starting above Franco to show the confined space that hes trapped in, and then rises up into a wide shot of the setting to show the vastness of the canyons and prove how alone and isolated he is. the colour wash used in this scene, and also used in the majority of the film, is a little grainy but uses warm, red/orangy colours to bring out the setting even more.
Trance
In this film, Boyle uses some of the same techniques he uses in 127 hours. In the fight scenes, the camera is hand held and is also very shaky, and he also uses a lot of high/low angles to strongly express the status of the different characters. I notice that he uses a main colour wash throughout this film, he uses a bluey/grey colour wash when the actors are fighting, or in a torture scene. Also, he uses hard light on the male characters, Vincent Cassel and James McAvoy, and he uses this to cast a strong shadow on half of their faces which makes you untrusting of both of these characters and unable to decide who to follow as the 'good guy', which keeps the audience interested. In contrast to him using hard light on the male characters, he uses quite a soft light on the female character Rosario Dawson. He does this to make you think that she is harmless, when actually she is just as mysterious and dangerous and she seems as if she's hiding something as much as the other two male characters.
Colour wash
Trance
In this film, Boyle uses some of the same techniques he uses in 127 hours. In the fight scenes, the camera is hand held and is also very shaky, and he also uses a lot of high/low angles to strongly express the status of the different characters. I notice that he uses a main colour wash throughout this film, he uses a bluey/grey colour wash when the actors are fighting, or in a torture scene. Also, he uses hard light on the male characters, Vincent Cassel and James McAvoy, and he uses this to cast a strong shadow on half of their faces which makes you untrusting of both of these characters and unable to decide who to follow as the 'good guy', which keeps the audience interested. In contrast to him using hard light on the male characters, he uses quite a soft light on the female character Rosario Dawson. He does this to make you think that she is harmless, when actually she is just as mysterious and dangerous and she seems as if she's hiding something as much as the other two male characters.
Colour wash
The colour wash used in 127 hours is a little grainy but uses warm, orange colours to bring out the setting and help the audience understand the heat and how uncomfortable the situation is. I notice that he uses a main colour wash throughout Trance too. He uses a blue colour wash when we see the main characters because we can't trust any of them, as none of them seem to have an alibi to go with.
He always has our female character in very clean, white colour washes, which makes us persive her as a good person and innocent, when actually she is just as unreliable and untrust worthy as the two male characters. This is a very clever use of cinematography and he uses this contrast to catch the audience out, and twist their views on her keeping them interested and on edge.
Sound
The sound used in these two films are very contrasting. In 127 hours, Boyle uses a contrapuntal soundtrack when Franco is trapped in the cavern. He shows Franco struggling to try and free his arm, and he shows his disparity for a drink and his struggle to try and stay focused, meanwhile the song 'lovely day' is playing in the background. Underneath this song, we can hear the ambient sound of Franco struggling to free himself from the cavern. The soundtracks used in trance are very fast, energetic and sneaky, due to the film being about a heist. You can hear lots of diagetic ambient sound when watching this film I.e. When we are in the gallery and we can hear the crowd of people talking and applauding(show 0:20 to 0:40 of trance clip). This helps us to understand the atmosphere and feel as if we're involved in the film.
Cast away
Cast away is a perfect film to compare to 127 hours. They're both survival films and show a male character completely isolated from any sort of society. In both of these films, the camera angles we see are high angle shots of the characters, showing their inferiority compared to the vastness of where they're trapped. The colour washes used in these films are quite different. In 127 hours, the colour wash is very warm and grainy, and at times it's a little bleached, where as in cast away, the colour wash makes the individual colours stand out which makes it look like a really nice place, when in actual fact it is a very dangerous place to be alone. Both of these films also show how the characters start to loose their minds when isolated alone for a long period of time. 127 hours shows this by using hallucinations of water, and in cast away, they show how lonely Hanks is when he befriends a volleyball.
The sound used in these two films are very contrasting. In 127 hours, Boyle uses a contrapuntal soundtrack when Franco is trapped in the cavern. He shows Franco struggling to try and free his arm, and he shows his disparity for a drink and his struggle to try and stay focused, meanwhile the song 'lovely day' is playing in the background. Underneath this song, we can hear the ambient sound of Franco struggling to free himself from the cavern. The soundtracks used in trance are very fast, energetic and sneaky, due to the film being about a heist. You can hear lots of diagetic ambient sound when watching this film I.e. When we are in the gallery and we can hear the crowd of people talking and applauding(show 0:20 to 0:40 of trance clip). This helps us to understand the atmosphere and feel as if we're involved in the film.
Cast away
Cast away is a perfect film to compare to 127 hours. They're both survival films and show a male character completely isolated from any sort of society. In both of these films, the camera angles we see are high angle shots of the characters, showing their inferiority compared to the vastness of where they're trapped. The colour washes used in these films are quite different. In 127 hours, the colour wash is very warm and grainy, and at times it's a little bleached, where as in cast away, the colour wash makes the individual colours stand out which makes it look like a really nice place, when in actual fact it is a very dangerous place to be alone. Both of these films also show how the characters start to loose their minds when isolated alone for a long period of time. 127 hours shows this by using hallucinations of water, and in cast away, they show how lonely Hanks is when he befriends a volleyball.
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