Researching Composition

While listening to the director's commentary for American Beauty, Sam Mendes mentions throughout that Kevin Spacey's character is constantly filmed through windows or behind bars of some kind or stuck inside "jail cells" of some kind such as his cubicle at work. The composition in this film is very effective at getting across the sense that Kevin Spacey is trapped in a life he no longer enjoys.

 This shot shows Kevin Spacey looking out through a window. He seems to be trapped behind the glass and the bars across the window also suggest a prison cell. This is the kind of composition I will be trying to replicate for my film.

 The clever use of the reflection in the monitor in this shot means that Kevin Spacey is framed within the frame just as he was in the window but in a more indirect way. The text on the monitor is also formatted in such a way that the he seems to be behind bars once again. Also another aspect that I get from this shot is that he appears to be very small and insignificant within this small frame. This is a good example of quite subtle but effective composition.

This shot of Kevin Spacey and his family is also framed within the cameras frame by using the doorway. Another subtle way to suggest a sense of being trapped.

This kind of composition is something I will be experimenting with during my test shoots and combining them with the lighting style of Bronson as shown in my previous post.