Bertolucci's The Conformist (1970) || 4x4 Grid
A favourite from this week was The Conformist (1970) also photographed by Vittorio Storaro. A movie about Clerici, a man in 1930s Fascist Italy with a desire to conform, to live a 'normal' life. Without going into too much detail, I believe that the message of the film is that all fascists are closeted homosexuals struggling with their sexuality
When it came to cinematography 2 things stood out. The first was the aspect ratio. 1.67:1 (or 5:3). A very strange choice. I would normally expect a 4:3 or 1.85:1 anamorphic for a film like this but it works.
The second is covered in the video above. While watching, the centre line stood out when it came to framing subjects. I added a 4x4 grid to help see how the composition was lined up. A similar technique is used in composition autist, Peter Greenaway's The Falls. Usually you see the rule of thirds used in compositions but this 4x4 framing grid was refreshing to see.
Whenever the subject was centred, it was never perfectly centred like in a Wes Anderson movie.
This carries over throughout Storaro's career. He also shot Woody Allen's Café Society, released 46 years after The Conformist.
I did like one of the confessional scenes that was one long take with zooms, pans and rack focus. I also enjoyed the lighting and I think a lot of the movie used natural light. I especially loved the use of shadows during the office scenes (0:47 in the video).
Storaro simping is over for now. I'm gonna talk about cars next time.
Go watch The Conformist.
When it came to cinematography 2 things stood out. The first was the aspect ratio. 1.67:1 (or 5:3). A very strange choice. I would normally expect a 4:3 or 1.85:1 anamorphic for a film like this but it works.
The second is covered in the video above. While watching, the centre line stood out when it came to framing subjects. I added a 4x4 grid to help see how the composition was lined up. A similar technique is used in composition autist, Peter Greenaway's The Falls. Usually you see the rule of thirds used in compositions but this 4x4 framing grid was refreshing to see.
 |
| The Falls (1980) |
Whenever the subject was centred, it was never perfectly centred like in a Wes Anderson movie.
 |
| Café Society (2016) |
This carries over throughout Storaro's career. He also shot Woody Allen's Café Society, released 46 years after The Conformist.
I did like one of the confessional scenes that was one long take with zooms, pans and rack focus. I also enjoyed the lighting and I think a lot of the movie used natural light. I especially loved the use of shadows during the office scenes (0:47 in the video).
Storaro simping is over for now. I'm gonna talk about cars next time.
Go watch The Conformist.
