‘Into the Wild’

This is a shot from ‘Into the Wild’ that caught my attention, it interested me as it has all the conventions of isolation (wide shot, character on one side of shot) but i set against an urban background of a city, this is also used to a certain extent in ’28 Days Later’ although the city is abandoned and decrepit.  This is a shot i think that i will try to emulate and bring my own spin to in my own project.  Most of the lighting within this shot is practical light from the city’s skyline and the fire behind the character, although it is also clear that there is a light to the right of the camera lighting up the back of the character on his right side, giving the practical light a much harsher feel.

This is another shot from ‘Into the Wild’ that interested me, the composition is a common them throughout the three films i have used as inspiration for my project with the protagonist of the film being placed distinctly on one side of the shot, this leaves a lot of open space on one side of the shot but is done to further enhance the feeling of isolation to the audience, this idea will be explored within my own project.  The lighting of the shot is interesting as the practical light from the sky seems to be the focal point, however the orange light to the front of the character seems to be from the sun, however another way they could have produced these lights is with a redhead or Lilliput lights with a red or orange gel on top to create the idea of the sun being in front of him.

Another key ingredient of isolation that Eric Gautier uses in ‘Into the Wild’ is the use of nature, highlighting the fact that the character is in obscurity and nowhere near civilization, there are shots of wildlife throughout the terrain he is located in and may be a subject I also look into when shooting my project.