Chapter 3: Aesthetics and techniques of a surreal storytelling
Figure 4, Scene from Being John Malkovich
“All of Kaufman’s scripts are very challenging, especially for a cinematographer.” – Lance Acord6
The world which is created in Charlie Kaufman’s script has a sophisticated structure, which gives the chance to an innovative visual storytelling. It is significant to portray the emotional and environmental change which would psychologically “speak” to an audience and appear convincing. How does a cinematographer come up with a coverage for the story like absurd and surreal Being John Malkovich or initially created as radio-play Anomalisa?
“What does it look like when you are inside John Malkovich?”- Lance Acord
Analysing visual subtext of the film Being John Malkovich we can notice that framing for the main character is a bit odd. Firstly, all the shots where Craig is present are hand-held which creates uneasy and awkward tension. Secondly, Acord frames the character in a way that there are always background objects hovering over his head. Visual grammar emphasises the fact that Craig always feels miserable and tends to make a fool of himself.
As well as this, there are distinctive shifts in the look across the duration of the film. Cinematographer is using a wider angle of view for the scenes inside Malkovich, he is attempting to recreate the field of view of eyesight. In the film, Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947) similar technique is used to show Humphrey Bogart’s POV. However, the difference is that Lance Acord is pushing the technique forward as he is recreating the POV of others within Malkovich’s head.
Figure 5 Scene from Dark Passage vs Being John Malkovich
Cinematographer is applying a special camera filter which creates a vignette, as if we are seeing through the mask. As well as this, Malkovich’s world appears to have a glossy look in contrast to Craig’s reality. To achieve this effect film stock for the “vessel” scenes is exposed correctly7, consequently it has less grainy picture and richer shadows.
The puppet scenes are also unique on their own. High contrast and almost black and white image suggests film noir’s approach. When Craig enters the “puppet world”, he escapes from his everyday existence and pretends to be the object of every women’s desire, like on the classic silver screen.
Depicting the world of fantasies, parallel realities and sanity shifts cinematographers would often apply surrealistic methods to portray the story. Anomalisa is an animated film nevertheless it appears to be more mature and self-contained work comparing to Being John Malkovich, however it is still including bizarre imaginary. It is subtler and doesn’t look in- your-face.
Figure 6 Scene from Anomalisa
Shooting into the mirror is a classic cinematographic method to indicate a psychological door to the otherness of self. Is Michael hallucinating or he reveals his true personality and subconscious aspirations? Surrealism painters such as Salvador Dali, Paul Delvaux, and René Magritte were not accidently preoccupied by the psychoanalytic vision of thought reflected in the mirror. Hybrid composition of this shot engages the viewer to reflect on the surrounding realities of the character, as well as his own.
Figure 7 Scene from Anomalisa
Cinematographer Joe Passarelli portraying the world of puppets as our own reality however using natural lighting situation to push the boundaries of “normality”. The shot when Lisa returns to be “everyone else” there is a strong back sunlight blinding Michael. He is not certain whether it is genuinely happening or it is within his head. Chiaroscuro is a recognized art technique, which is also known as illumination or shading. Is often used to represent three-dimensionality of the character and emphasises the internal doubt. Primarily used to indicate the contrast between light and dark caused its psychological development of double-faced characters.