Gabriel Rodrigues dos Santos | Cinematography | FLM020N245A

There has been a long tradition in cinematography of classical painting

influencing screen images, which is mentioned in Blain Browns book
Cinematography: Practice and Theory page 158; and discussed in Craig McCalls
film The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. In week 5 we visit the National Gallery to
view original paintings by Velzquez, Caravaggio, Constable, Rembrandt and others,
who are renowned for their use of light, form and composition. This essay will help
to reflect on this experience, choose one of the following questions:
1. Choose one of the paintings from the collection at the National Gallery
and discuss the use of light, form and composition in terms of
cinematography, and say how this has influenced images of cinema by
making direct reference to examples of existing film sequences.

List of figures:
Figure 1. Supper at Emmaus (1601). Found at http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ on
01/12/2014.
Figure 2. Mean Streets (1973) Screencap. on 01/12/2014.
Figure 3. Mean Streets (1973) Screencap. on 01/12/2014.
Figure 4. House By The Railroad / Psycho Found at
http://www.film.com/movies/pacific-rim-painting/ on 01/12/2014.
Figure 5. Inception / Ascending and Descending Found at
http://www.film.com/movies/pacific-rim-painting/ on 01/12/2014.

London, 2014

The tradition of painting and all of its great artists taught us most of what we
know and use today both in film and photography. Composition, use of light, colour
balance, how to set atmosphere, these were all lessons that they left us. But it does
not stop there - note that this tradition lasted for hundreds of years, so there is
always something to learn and explore from paintings.
For this essay I chose the famous painting Supper at Emmaus (fig. 1) from
1601 by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, to try to demonstrate how the
techniques that he employed in his paintings influenced filmmakers, photographers
and visual artists in general throughout the time. And more specifically, how he
influenced the american film director Martin Scorsese in his film Mean Streets
(1973). I will also be showing other examples of films that make use of techniques
inherited from painting.

Figure 1

This painting is about a history told in St. Lukes gospel, showing the exact
moment when two apostles recognize the resurrected Jesus. And we can clearly see
the use of chiaroscuro, a technique that Caravaggio used extensively along his
career. In simple terms, chiaroscuro is gradations of light and dark and it can be
used to establish depth perception and creates visual focus (Brown, 2012).
Basically what Caravaggio does with this is to create a strong contrast between light
and shadow, in order to give the painting more impact, three-dimensionality (note
how the elbow of the character on the left and the hand of the character on the
right seems to jump out of the picture), tension and drama. All of these elements
contribute in creating Caravaggios unique style, often described as dark and
intense, which may be a reflection of the painters turbulent personality. His

personal life history include some peculiar events such as murdering and
prison-breaking.
Caravaggio is also often referred as the inventor of the Tenebrism, which is a
more dramatic use of value pattern than chiaroscuro. Tenebrism goes quickly
from highlighting to deep shadows (Fichner-Rathus, 2008).
It is no surprise that Caravaggio is one of Martin Scorseses favorite artists
and an inspiration to his films. Not just because of the dramatic atmosphere of his
paintings, but it is noticeable in his artworks a certain amount violence and
aggressivity, elements very present in Scorseses films. In an interview for BBCs The
Culture Show, in 2005, the director talks about how Caravaggio influenced his work.
When asked by the interviewer (Andrew Graham Dixon) if the painters approach
could be taken into cinema, he replied:
Well theres no doubt that it could be taken into cinema because
of the use of light and shadow [...] the light coming from one single
light source, the composition... [...] And this is very stark,
very powerful, very strong, very determined light. And this is the
kind of thing we were looking to do back in the 70s (Scorsese, 2005)

At the same interview he also states that he relate to the paintings mainly
because of the moment that Caravaggio normally choose to capture in his paintings,
which in the middle of the action, not the beginning or the end (Scorsese, 2005). And
for him this creates more engagement with the scene, because you can feel part of
it. When asked if there is some specific scene of his films that were directly
influenced by Caravaggios paintings, he admits that all of the bar scenes in the film
Mean Streets (fig. 2 and fig. 3), and that the choice of the moment, the camera
movements and the use light were all directly influenced by him (Scorsese, 2005).

Figure 2

Figure 3

But Scorsese was not the only filmmaker to explore chiaroscuro. There are
other classic examples like Barry Lyndon (1975) by Stanley Kubrick, in which he
wanted to use only candles to lit the interior scenes. Another examples include
Bertoluccis The Conformist (1970) and Murnaus Nosferatu (1922).
We can find many other examples of films with direct influences from
paintings. In Fig. 4 we see House By The Railroad by the painter Edward Hopper
and the Hitchcocks film Psycho (1960), and in Fig. 5 we have Ascending and
Descending, by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher and its reference in
Inception, film from 2010 by Christopher Nolan.

Figure 4

Figure 5

As it was shown before, cinema always reproduced and reappropriated

various painting techniques. The possibility of using these tools allowed
cinematographers to bring on their productions an atmosphere and life of a
visuality that have already evolved with time and achieved a unique character, a
character that is transferred to the film. This added concept must be chosen
concerning the uses of the style and its social importance. John Berger, in his book
Ways of Seeing, talks about how powerful the use of this resources can be:
When a painting is reproduced by a film camera it inevitably
become material for the film-makers argument.
A film which reproduces images of a painting leads the spectator,
through the painting, to the film-makers own conclusions. The painting
leads authority to the film-maker.
This is because a film unfolds in time and painting does not.
In a film the way one image follows another, their succession,
constructs an argument which becomes irreversible.
In a painting all its elements are there to be seen simultaneously.
The spectator may need the time to examine each element of the
painting but whenever he reaches a conclusion, the simultaneity of the
whole painting is there to reverse or qualify his conclusion. The
painting maintains its own authority. (Berger, 2008)

In filmmaking, just as any in other activity, multidisciplinary learning can

bring huge improvements to the production. If you keep your eyes always open and
train yourself to observe, learn and transpose the knowledge from every experience
you have (like a simple visit to the museum), it is certain that it will help in your
creative process. Making use of another quote by Berger, Images can be used like
words, you can talk with them (2008).

References

Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. London: Penguin.

Fichner-Rathus, L. (2008) Foundations of Art and Design. Belmont, CA:
Thomson/Wadsworth.
Brown, B. (2012). Cinematography: Theory and practice: Imagemaking for
cinematographers and directors. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Focal Press.
BBC News (2005) Scorsese on Caravaggio. Avaliable at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00hqprn. (Accessed December 01, 2014)
Film.com (2013) "The Paintings Behind the Films: When Fine Art and Filmmaking
Collide." Avaliable at: http://www.film.com/movies/pacific-rim-painting
(Accessed December 01, 2014)