Greetings and welcome to our third, and final, blog on films in the science-fiction thriller genre. We'll now be examining director Grant Sputore's 2019 Netflix hit, "I Am Mother."
Let's break down this film into its key components and see how it fits into the genre.
Camera Angles, Movement, and Shots:
Beginning with this film's use of camera angles, movements, and shots it is apparent that it instills unease in its viewers. The main camera angle used in the movie was the eye-level angle, which was often paired with close-up shots to show the variety of emotions the subject experienced throughout the film, including how she looked betrayed, afraid, determined, and happy, like when she was growing up before her innocence was shattered and the truth behind her life was revealed. Close-up shots were also used when the subject opened the airlock and seemed hesitant to act until she heard pained shouts for help outside, thereby revealing her personality to the audience and making her out to be a very caring and sympathetic individual. With that being said, the film remained consistent with its use of medium shots which were able to simultaneously focus on the setting as well as the subject themselves. Over-the-shoulder shots and two shots were used during conversations between subjects. In the film itself, one two-shot did hold emotional merit as it served to show the connection between the subject and the woman in the facility as they finally learned to trust one another.
The film used long shots when the subject and the woman were walking through the wasteland outside upon their escape from the facility to show how barren and lifeless the land was. Establishing long shots were reserved for locations outside of the bunker, being used to show a cornfield, an abandoned oil rig, and a beach covered in washed-up containers to illustrate how dismal and dingy everything was. Wide shots were used for the same effect, capturing general locations, both within the bunker and outside of it. Point of view shots were also used when the subject looked through the airlock out of pure curiosity, which was done to pique the audience's interest in what might lie beyond the confines of the bunker. Another instance of this was when the subject looked into the woman's sketchbook and took in all of the drawings of people she had in there.
When it came to camera movements, panning would happen occasionally with the introduction of new locations to establish the setting. Tracking shots on the other hand are much more common, like when the subject rushed through the corridors of the facility when trying to sneak the woman in, showing how afraid she was, and when she had the intention to kill Mother, showing her walking on alert. Essentially, tracking shots were used when the subject was attempting to hide from threats. Zooming in was also not very common, but during a dinner with Mother, the table was zoomed into as each character sat on opposite ends of the table, showing how despite the camera approaching them, they still remained distant and detached from one another as the subject developed a new perspective of Mother that was not in the same high regard as before.
Sound:
The use of sound added to the dramatics of certain scenes. One of the most notable uses of sound within the film was when the subject and the woman began to trek through the wasteland outside accompanied by an eerie, loud non-diegetic drumming that seemed indicative of inevitable doom. This was likely done in an effort to fill the silence of the desolate dustbowl. The rest of the time, the film had low, quiet music that would only get slightly louder when there was a tense moment. Ambient noise was also present, like when the subject first stepped outside, at which point in time the wind and the sand could be heard, or when she walked around inside the bunker, where the low hum of machinery and a quiet whirring noise could be heard when Mother moved. Additionally, since the bunker was made of metal, the sound of footsteps was quite pronounced, making for suspenseful moments when they would quicken as mother approached.
The dialogue was also another key diegetic sound as it revealed how Mother had kept things hidden from the subject her entire life and how she had only come to realize the truth when she was given the opportunity to speak to a fellow human being. Moreover, dialogue helped to reinforce each of the character's personalities being that they were able to vocalize their concerns and opinions, such as when Mother posed the hypothetical scenario to the subject and asked her which option she'd choose. Another interesting aspect of sound was Mother's voice, one that, despite being synthetic, still possessed human-like qualities, making it quite comforting and allowing it to maintain a sweet tone despite saying some unnerving things at times.
Editing:
Editing was helpful in keeping transitions between scenes smooth. One instance of this occurred when the subject was approaching the furnace and looking through old files of other children like her, which was achieved with crosscutting and allowed for tensions to be built during the ominous scene, until a final release in pressure occurs when she finally sees the bone. Shot-reverse-shots were also used during conversations between the subject and both the woman and Mother. Eye-line matches were also incorporated during a scuffle between the woman and Mother. A jump-cutting montage was used when the subject and the woman escaped from the bunker and traveled to different locations within the vast badlands in which everything looked dead. Aside from general editing, it is safe to assume that virtual effects were potentially used when it came to Mother's costume, which I will discuss in just a moment.
Mis-Én-Scene:
The first part of mis-én-scene is costumes. In this film, Mother was a futuristic robot, an effect achieved by modeling the specialty suit after a real machine known as the Atlas robot, which was created by Boston Dynamics. The subject was seen wearing a red jumpsuit for the majority of the film and when she wasn't wearing that, it'd always been something red in color. The purpose of this was to have the subject pop out against the dull background of the bunker. As for the woman, she wore torn, raggedy clothing, a clear indication of her struggle for survival outside of the bunker. This movie wasn't really gory, however, when conducting surgery to extract the bullet from the woman's leg, prosthetics and fake blood were used as part of the movie's make-up aspect. Additionally, make-up was used to create a contrast between the way the woman was portrayed, looking dirty and disheveled, as opposed to the subject who was clean-cut and tidy.
The lighting in the film at least inside of the bunker was a cool-toned, artificial bright white that made it seem like a very sanitized and sterile environment. This while the lighting outside of the facility was quite dull and much of the natural lighting was obscured by thick fog.
Since this film only had four actors in total, one of which was the baby, it was important that the acting was emotionally evocative. At the beginning of the movie, a flashback was used to show the subject as they had grown up with mother of the years, portraying how they'd forged a strong bond with each other from very early on. Once the subject figured out the truth, she seemed to have lost respect for her mother, her illusion of Mother having been shattered, making her take pride in being human and allowing her to adopt a brave demeanor. When it came to the woman, she was quite snappy, having quick responses, accompanied by weary and alert actions, which is to be expected because she was forced into an unfamiliar environment.
This film used numerous props, which all seemed to be very high-tech and technologically advanced, such as the subject's futuristic tablet and a large embryo container. The woman originally carried a gun on her when she first entered the bunker, before it had been confiscated. She also carries a sketchbook on her with various draining she's made over the years, but she does hold one page in higher regard than the others; that page being the one containing a drawing of her companion from long ago in the mines. The subject also used a flashlight when she explored the facility after dark and tried to uncover clues about Mother's true nature.
This film was set primarily in the bunker, but it did rotate between different areas of it. It explored the living quarters, the medical area, the airlock, and the nursery to name a few. The bunker looked modern and sleek, having been a very spacious location that was fit for hundreds of thousands of individuals despite only containing the subject at the time. Outside of the bunker, the subject encountered a vast wasteland in which she saw a beach, a cornfield, and other locations, all of which were dry and gray, making it look depressing and completely devoid of life.
Takeaways:
This was a very interesting film that my group mates and I really enjoyed. One aspect I didn't get to touch on above was the director's choice to refrain from giving any of the subjects actual names and only referring to them as Daughter, Mother, Woman, and Brother, which I would argue is done to place humans and robots at the same level, stripping them of a name and using generic titles to refer to them. There were certain aspects of it that we did not like, such as the confusion regarding the layout of the bunker, which made it difficult for certain scenes to make sense, and also things that we cannot execute, like obtaining a location similar to that of the bunker and acquiring futuristic technologies. Outside of that, we had very few complaints about the film and do believe we can stand to learn more from it to better, specifically when it comes to acting, the use of jump cuts, and the incorporation of long shots.
Overall, I'd say that today was a very productive day and that it really seemed like my group members and I had a "hive mind" (They Might Be Giants 2013) since we were on the same page about so many things today.
No comments:
Post a Comment