Robert Richardson is extremely accomplished cinematographer
who has worked with some of the biggest names in the film world. He has
frequently worked with Oliver Stone (ten films), Martin Scorsese, and Quentin
Tarantino (five films each). He has won three Academy Awards for Best
Cinematography for his work on JFK
(1991), The Aviator (2004), and Hugo.
The film
is heavy on blues and browns. A lot of the scenes in which Hugo is the sole
character the lighting is heavy on blues. This signifies his loneliness. When
the scenes transition to the train station, blues are still noticeable, but
browns and yellows dominate. He sees a world he wishes he could be a part of.
One particular scene shows the contrast in his two worlds.
(Richards, 2012)
We can
clearly see the divide between the world he is trapped in and the remembrance
of a world he used to belong to and desperately wants to be a part of – the world
of his father. Hugo is surrounded by cold blue lighting, while the automaton is
surrounded by a warm sepia tone.
One of
the iconic scenes of the film comes at the beginning. It’s a 1,203 frame sequence. It’s an introduction
shot of who Hugo is – “…where [he] live[s],
[he has] complete control over it, [he] can go places and do things no one else
can, [he knows] secret hideaways, passages and short cuts, no one else does,"
says Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato. "There were five separate sets,
built at five different times and built on five separate stages," says
Legato (Seymor, 2011). Segway Steadicams, green
screens, and rotating sets, this sequence was incredibly challenging.
Richardson
admitted to being perplexed about shooting against green screens. “I have yet
to master full sets comprised only of green. I am an intuitive cameraman and
when there is nothing or little to work off of beyond what I am being told will
be there at some time in the future, but that is not visible to me, I find
myself faltering until I let the mind free of the need for reality (Egan, 2012).”
There
are multiple types of shot used in the film.
Establishing, extreme
long shot (Richards, 2012)
Long shot (Richards, 2012)
Medium shot (Richards, 2012)
Close-up shot (Richards, 2012)
Extreme close-up (Richards, 2012)
There
are lots of different angles used in Hugo
as well. Most notably among the shots are high angle shots as Hugo looks down
on the train station. One of the more unique shots of the film comes in M.
Labisse’s book shop. The shot is a long shot looking down completely
vertically. The book shelves fill the sides of the frame as they descend to the
floor. At the center of the frame is a long table filled with books. Hugo and
Isabelle are almost completely lost amongst all of the books. It’s definitely
one of my favorite shots of the film.
(Richards, 2012)
Works Cited
Egan, J. (2012, January 4). Contender - Director of Photography Robert Richardson, Hugo. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from Below the Line: http://www.btlnews.com/awards/contender-director-of-photography-robert-richardson-hugo/
Richards, E. (2012, April 12). The Cinematography of "Hugo" (2011). Retrieved April 24, 2015, from evanrichards.com: http://evanerichards.com/2012/2586
Seymor, M. (2011, December 11). Hugo: a study of modern inventive visual effects. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from fxguide: http://www.fxguide.com/featured/hugo-a-study-of-modern-inventive-visual-effects/
No comments:
Post a Comment