Amazing depiction of NYC + the cinematography
I was lucky enough to see this film in theaters, and about a year later I re-watched it. It stuck with me. I hadn't seen it since then, but I just watched it now. Aside from it being a really well made movie, the way they shot NYC is what really stuck with me.
Brandon lived in a normal apartment, had a normal professional job, etc. I also just feel that they captured NYC really well. It somehow felt different than most other movies filmed there.
This is what the cinematographer had to say in an interview he did...
“We wanted to show a New York that during the day was more true to what New York really is as opposed to what most people see in the cinema – the palette of New York in the day time is really quite drab and tending towards the browns and greys and light greens. But at night time it changes completely because of all the different coloured lights.
“The grain structure was something we were interested in because usually you have the daytime very clean – the look and feel – and the night time is slightly grainer. We wanted to throw that on its head so you got a grittier, grainer feel during the daytime with those muted palettes and then a very clear, colourful bright night time. New York changes as the sun sets and that’s something that we wanted to play with.”
Minimal artificial lighting was used after the dinner date scene as Brandon and Alexa walk through the streets of New York through shadows – a conscious choice “to let them fall into the darkness as a way of hopefully heightening the reality,” Bobbitt says, “and making people believe that they were in the real world rather than just walking around in a movie.”
Not every shot is quite so subtle. As Brandon’s sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) begins a one-night stand with his philandering boss David (James Badge Dale), an agitated Brandon leaves the apartment and begins running across several street blocks – his movement tracked seamlessly by the camera.
The scene was shot at 2.30am in Manhattan – “it just all fell into place so there’s no extra lighting in that shot” – although it only required blocking off two streets.
That scene where Brandon is running is just wonderful. So were the subway scenes. It's not like they were working with a huge budget here.
Anyone else feel this way? share