Director Styles
Director Styles
Mike
Flanagan
Flanagan tries to infuse his adaptations with aspects of his
own life. In “The Haunting of Hill House” Flanagan includes his own experiences
with death within his extended family and includes specific imagery from his
life (King, 2021). “Midnight Mass” is claimed to be Flanagan’s most personal
work which is inspired by his own persistent fixations, as well as his
experience with religion and addiction. The series interrogates theology and
faith (King, 2021). The ending of “Midnight Mass” feels like the culmination of
a larger story that Flanagan has been telling for years, not only the culmination
of this story. This comes after themes like addiction and religion are explore
in similar ways to his previous projects (Adam, 2021).
When directing within the horror genre Flanagan gained a
reputation of humanistic horror, much if his work features damaged characters
who are battling with the everyday terrors of being a parent, partner, human
etc. It revolves around deeply felt family drama (King, 2021). The attention
Flanagan shows to characters and mood is often unacknowledged. He frequently works
with the same actors, and he has a growing cast who appear in much of his work
e.g., Kate Siegel (Cobb, 2018).
Siegel said, “Mike Flanagan has an encyclopaedic knowledge
of the horror genre. This is a man who knows every monster, knows how it’s been
used, knows when it’s been used, knows the references to it in other movies. He
really walks the walk and talks the talk,” which shows just how passionate he
is for the genre he operates in and the knowledge he has and uses to manipulate
his audiences (Cobb, 2018).
The endings of his work often feature a measure of peace for
his long-suffering characters as he believes horror can offer something deeper.
In an interview he said, “Horror affords us the opportunity to really look at
ourselves and the things that scare us, that disturb us, as a society and
individuals,” he said. “It’s incredibly powerful.” (King, 2021).
By incorporating his own demons and experiences he creates
deeper meanings which resonates with viewers. This has influenced my approach
to directing as the role of the director is to tell the story, but I aim to
tell the story in a way which resonates with the viewers much like Flanagan
does. This emotion created will cause the viewers to reflect on their lives and
hopefully they will leave with a new outlook on the world. Flanagan also
develops a strong relationship with his actors, this is also a skill I would
like to use as a director as I believe having a strong relationship with the
actors will help them to feel comfortable on set when acting and create a more
cohesive work environment.
References
Adams, S. (2021). The Themes That Unite Midnight Mass With
Mike Flanagan’s Other Netflix Hits. Slate Magazine. [online] Available at: https://slate.com/culture/2021/09/midnight-mass-netflix-series-mike-flanagan-hill-house.html Accessed 11th January 2022.
Cobb, K. (2018). How “Haunting of Hill House” Creator Mike
Flanagan is Building a “Scare Squad” of New Wave Horror Actors. [online]
Decider. Available at: https://decider.com/2018/10/12/the-haunting-of-hill-house-cast-mike-flanagan/ Accessed on 11th January 2022.
IMDb. (n.d. b). Mike Flanagan. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1093039/?ref_=tt_ov_wr. Accessed on 11th January 2022.
King, D. (2021). Mike Flanagan Explores His Private Horrors
in “Midnight Mass.” The New York Times. [online] 24 Sep. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/arts/television/midnight-mass-mike-flanagan.html Accessed on 11th January 2022.
Morbidly Beautiful. (2021). 10 Reasons Why We Love Mike
Flanagan. [online] Available at: https://morbidlybeautiful.com/10-reasons-we-love-mike-flanagan/ Accessed on 11 January 2022.
Tim
Burton
Disney is where Burton’s distinctive visual style developed
and when paired with the range of pop art styles and cinematic influences from
growing up, we can understand where his style of an alienated gothic hero
developed from, this idea still features in much of his work today (Romano,
2019). With a style so unique his work is regarded to be Burtonesque, we see this
in every aspect of his films e.g., writing, lighting, music, characters and,
production design (StudioBinder 2020).
There are many elements to look out for within the
mise-en-scene when deciphering how Burton’s work employs the Burtonesque style.
Some of the most distinctive features
are sharply exaggerated backdrops/landscapes with high colour contrasts using
heavy shadows and silhouettes to heighten feelings of tension. Many sets have
jagged edges or rounded/tilted/visually disjointed spaces (Romano, 2019). These
heightened colour contrasts, looming architectural shapes, and an overall sense
of heightened reality are key parts to Burton’s aesthetic along side a focus on
existential dread, ghoulish monsters, and the gruesome (StudioBinder, 2020);
Burton’s work always includes the awareness that the situation could get
bloody, whether they do or not varies but this element is the heart of the
gothic in Burton’s work (Romano, 2019). Burton’s characters also possess exaggerated
features such as; long frizzled hair, baggy eyes, gangly limbs, which lend them
to the environment they were created within. These over-the-top features hide
the characters innate human side (StudioBinder, 2020).
One of the most noticeable Burtonesque features are the
naturalistic and theatrical sides of Burton’s production design, both sides are
exaggerated but diametric to one another. For example, the naturalistic
elements feature Burton’s own exaggerated view of “American suburbia,” with bright
and bold colours and 1960s architecture and cars. This contrasts to the
theatrical side which has gothic overtones and mechanical manoeuvrings
(StudioBinder, 2020). Creating a juxtaposition between these two sides takes
away the ordinariness of civilized life and hones in to Burton’s desire to tell
surreal stories (Romano, 2019).
Burton tells stories which are ominous and frightful with a
sense of fantasy with traits which make his films feel personal and relatable
(Romano, 2019). This has influenced the style and choices I want to make as a
director as I would like to create a world which is encapsulating like the work
of Burton, this will immerse the audience in the story while also helping them
to find meaningful connections within the story itself. The bright colours with
dark and gothic tones would work well to create a sense of foreshadowing which
may be a useful tool to use within my own work.
Reference List
Romano, A. (2019). Tim Burton’s visual aesthetic, explained.
[online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/17/18285309/tim-burton-films-visual-style-aesthetic-disney-explained.
Accessed on 11th January 2022.
IMDb. (n.d.). Tim Burton. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/#director
Accessed on 11th January 2022.
StudioBinder. (2020). WATCH: Tim Burton’s Macabre, Whimsical
and Weird Worlds Explained (Filmmaking Techniques). [online] Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/tim-burton-style-analysis/.
Accessed on 11th January 2022.
Martin Scorsese
Scorsese frequently begins his films with a sequence which
is taken from the middle or end of the film, this is a signature aspect of his
work. Some other trademarks of his are long tracking shots, freeze frame shots,
slow-motion, split-diopter shots, and voiceover narration. Common themes in his
work are violence, crime, and corruption (Shaken, not stirred, 2020).
Scorsese commonly uses montages within his work paired with
voice over narration. The audience gain large amounts of information and helps
build the cinematic world faster. This technique works well on a thematic level
as the montage illustrates certain points within the protagonists/characters
life which all seem to occur at one moment giving the illusion things are
chaotic (Barbosa, 2015).
Camera movements are significantly used by Scorsese for example,
he often moves the camera towards or away from the character to intensify
reactions. He also uses the camera as a tool to mimic or replace a character’s
reaction, suggesting the emotions generated from the character can govern the
speed and direction of the camera move. Multiple camera moves are used to
disguise cuts so Scorsese can build multi-layered visuals and multiple shots
which appear to be uninterrupted and blend together (Barbosa, 2015).
One trademark of Scorsese’s work is having the characters
talking to themselves in the mirror (Shaken, Not Stirred, 2020). The characters
and deeply flawed and are either haunted by past deeds or are highly
self-destructive. The development of these characters often takes a deep toll
on the protagonist’s emotional and psychological well-being (Barbosa, 2015).
Scorsese frequently combines both diegetic and non-diegetic
sound and transitions from the musical source on screen into a recording on the
soundtrack, by doing so he weaves his formalist use of cinematic techniques
with his realist approach to plot, character, dialogue, and violence (Barbosa,
2015).
His films often end
on a neutral tone which do not suggest a resounding form, resolution, or
change. Some changes happen but it is more of an encapsulated nature of a
specific character/world. Scorsese’s techniques are exaggerated and combined to
create a heightened, dramatic world that comes across as authentic and
realistic (Barbosa, 2015).
Reference List
Barbosa, J. (2015). The Top 10 Modern Auteur Filmmakers.
[online] The Script Lab. Available at: https://thescriptlab.com/features/the-lists/3183-the-top-10-modern-auteur-filmmakers/
. Accessed on 13th January 2022.
MyBib Contributors (2019). Harvard Referencing Generator –
FREE – (updated for 2019). [online] MyBib. Available at: https://www.mybib.com/tools/harvard-referencing-generator.
Accessed on 13th January 2022.
Shaken, Not Stirred. (2020). Martin Scorsese’s Signature
Trademarks. [online] Available at: https://www.shakennotstirredmovies.com/martin-scorsese-trademarks/.
Accessed on 13th January 2022.
StudioBinder. (2020). Martin Scorsese Directed Movies:
Quotes on his Filmmaking Techniques. [online] Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/martin-scorsese-style-of-filmmaking/.
Accessed on 13th January
2022.
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