Introduction
The movie "The Shape of Water," directed by Guillermo Del Toro is fantasy and romance movie that is set in the 1960s. The setting of the film is in a research facility which is kept as a secret from the world. The movie features a woman who works in the research facility as a janitor. Eliza is a lonely janitor and falls in love with an otherworldly creature caged in the facility and tries to rescue it. Del Toro design of the setting represents the emotional content of the movie – by generating the supernatural connection between Eliza and the creature.
Question 1
Moving frame is defined as the dynamic functions that occur in a frame during a motion picture image whereas static frame is whereby the motion picture of the film is repeated to create the illusion of a still picture.
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The editing of the film by Sidney Wolinsky is carefully done that it is not distractive to the audience as the editor cuts through scenes during the character's movement. There is no static moment at the beginning of a scene – thus the audience is not submerged into a scene but carefully guided into it. During a scene, if the characters are currently walking into a frame, the camera moves smoothly on a dolly – always leading the audience into the narrative being told. The seamless camera movements connect each scene and create tension during some of the climatic instances in the film. Thus, the editor uses static frames to create tension that is closely intertwined by the character's movements and generate a continuous scene of action.
Wolinksy incorporates moving frame in the movie – by beginning the scenes with movement and ends them with elaborative actions from the characters. The motion picture can include moving actions and also move hence influencing its viewpoint. Some of the scenes that include a moving frame in the film include the slamming of a briefcase and clicking of a clock which gives a fulfilling ending to a scene. Wolinksy transmits the sounds from one scene to another – such as the thumping sound of a bed frame from the bedroom into the lab where the Amphibian creature is held captive.
Question 2 and 3
Off-screen refers to the events existing or happening outside the frame of a film while on-screen is viewed on a screen as opposed to real life. Therefore, closed frames are defined as frames that do not require the presence of off-screen space to convey a narrative because all the information is contained within the borders of the frame. Open frames lack all the necessary information required to convey a narrative – thus, it depends on off-screen elements.
In a film, the structure of a shot plays a vital role since it communicates the intended meaning of a scene to the audience. Filmmakers incorporate on-screen and an off-screen space in a movie to provoke the viewers’ imaginative abilities as it lies within and outside a frame. For instance in the filmmakers in "The Shape of Water," focus on making Eliza's house appear as though it is shaped by water after it was flooded by water. They used lights from below to develop water lighting scheme, with the damaged floorboards – thus, inspiring a caustic light. From this scene, the viewers are lead to believe that Eliza is submerged under water.
Question 4
Mise-en-scène refers to the act of staging or putting on an action or scene. Filmmakers use this approach to influence what an audience's sense of sight, touch, and sound within the frame of a movie. This includes staging people, objects, the element of movement, light, sound and camera angles. For example, for Eliza and the Amphibian creature to appear as though they are submerged in water, the director of the film used suspension lines to suspend them in the air – and using cinematic elements to create an aquatic surrounding around them. Therefore, the main aspects of mise-en-scene are setting, costume and lighting – which are used to project the overall intended meaning of a scene to the audience.
Question 5 and 6
To achieve the best results of mise-en-scene the director of a film makes decisions in advance about composition and design – which must be made to ensure that the people, objects, and elements of décor are properly placed to control their movements and lighting. In the film the costume of the characters and setting of the movie reflect the 1960s. The costume of the creature has been designed to show it is a male amphibian creature.
Question 7
The production manager colludes with the director and the director of photography to visualize the movie that is expected to air. Thus, the production manager plays the role of both an artist and executive and is responsible for the design concept of an entire movie. The production designer of the movie "The Shape of Water," is Dennis Chapman who collaborates with Del Toro to determine the appropriate individual sets, props, costumes, and location of each scene in the movie. In addition to this, the production designer heads the various departments that create the visualized looks. The director and the production designer collaborate with the cinematographer during the process of envisioning and designing a film to achieve the elements of cinematic design.
Question 8
The elements of cinematic design include; setting, lighting, and costume. The setting includes the décor and properties of the environment which creates the mood of the movie that invokes the; socio-economic, psychological, cultural and emotional significance of the events and characters. For instance, in "The Shape of Water," the director uses the psychological and emotional significance of the amphibian and Eliza's relationship to generate sympathetic moods from the audience. The lighting guides the cinematographer in coordinating the camera and lights. In the movie, lighting is used to control and manipulate the overall expressive effects. Costume, make-up, and hairstyles are used to create the overall image of the characters to project their time, state of mind, self-image and social status. In the movie, the costume, make-up, and hairstyles of the characters are created to show the socio-economic status of the scene in the 1960s.
Question 9
The composition of a film refers to the organization, distribution, balance and the relationship established between the people and objects that are present in the space of each shot. To achieve the elements of composition these five elements must be included; scale, angle, space, background, and color. The distribution of grey scale, color and background of the movie reflect the socio-economic status of the characters while as they existed in the 1960s. Thus, the audience is automatically inclined to believe that the movie is set during the 19 th century.
Conclusion
The movie "The Shape of Water," effectively adopts the different visual elements of the film to captivate and influence the audience's moods and experience while watching the film. The director successfully incorporates the various elements to tell the significant role of each scene and the characters in the movie. The movie includes different elements of visual and film that allows the audience to understand the different motions of feelings and experiences that the characters in the movie go through.
References
Del Toro, G. 2017. The Shape of Water. TSG Entertainment
