Moonlight - Growth in Cinematography

Moonlight is one of the films I've mentioned several times over the past year of making videos, yet I've somehow never made a video analysing the cinematography, so thanks Ol for reminding me to make this video. Anyway, today I'll be looking at the lighting style, how James Laxton portrayed growth in the characters through cinematography, as well as the equipment he used. For a bit of a change, I'm going to start by looking at the lighting style. Now, it's authentic. I don't want to say naturalistic as there are quite a few scenes where it feels more like elevated realism, but it's still authentic to the story. Now for me, this is a very good thing, it makes the cinematography more interesting to watch without distracting us from the plot. Now, the way in which he lit scenes is also quite interesting, as he pretty much only used a single source with no fill light. Now, this allows for the light to fall off into the shadows in a natural way, and it also sculpts the characters' faces without having to do anything complicated. Something that really stands out to me, however, is the harsh light on the skin. Now, most cinematographers, myself included, play it safe when exposing for skin tones, light or dark, and we want to make sure everything is exposed properly with no highlights, and is generally just quite soft. However, Laxton takes a different route. If a scene is set in a harsh light, he doesn't shy away from a harsh highlight on the skin, and it creates this really unique look that also adds to the realistic aura of the film. To finish off this lighting section, I really want to touch on this scene, as it's one that comes to mind every time you think of this film. It's a momentous moment for both of the characters, and the lighting helps show it. To do this, we went for some soft overhead chromatic lighting with accents of colour, one of those being the pink light in the background behind the character Paula. These pops of colour offer a beauty and map to understand the full existence of our characters. It's quite difficult to portray something like growth in a character through cinematography, and in order to do it in moonlight, Laxton had to use a number of techniques, with the most obvious one being the colour. Now, as we know, this film is made out of three parts, which going by the names of the main character, are Little, Chiron, and Black. All three parts are also replicated in the colour. Part One, or Little, shows a neutral colour palette. There's nothing out of the ordinary, everything seems natural, and it's just a very neutral atmosphere. Moving on to Part Two, or Chiron, we then have a very cool palette. Now, this is very prominent. Naturally, this makes us feel a bit more unsettled than usual, and we get a very strong sense of melancholy. Finally, in Part Three, or Black, we are greeted with warm colours, as he has finally settled into himself. We needed an image that had the aggression of our character's state of mind. The green hues and the flicker of the fluorescence lighting enhance the slow motion and camera movement to give us the feeling of a heart broken with violence. Chiron is changed forever in the preceding scene. Here we wash away the old and introduce a new one. And that's a nice transition into looking at the movement, which throughout, reflects the state of mind of the characters, which is mainly through handheld. It makes the story feel more real to us as an audience, and unlike when I'm on a low budget shoot and we are doing it to move quickly, it was very clearly used with purpose here. Sure, we can suggest that it's used to make the audience feel in distress, which it is in many films and is occasionally in this, but it's more to create an organic atmosphere. These are scenes where we really feel like we are with Little, Chiron or Black, and it's a feeling that you wouldn't get if you were on a steadicam, gimbal or even just sticks. With the utilisation of wide lenses paired with the close ups of the characters, we as the audience are brought into the world of these characters, primarily when in conversation. Because you know, if you're further out, that relationship with the audience changes. Now there's a lot of central framing, and it's mostly used when creating impact. For example, the iconic bathroom scene just after Chiron has been attacked. But as well as the central framing, the subtle fourth wall breaks add so much to the emotion created, and I think we have Barry Jenkins to thank for that. Now I wouldn't usually cover equipment in a video looking at the meaning of cinematography, however I've seen a few comments asking me to talk about the equipment a little more. So using only one camera, Laxton opted for the Arri Alexa XT+, pairing it with Hawke V-Lite, Kawa Promenades and Argeno Optimo A2S lenses, all of which are anamorphic. The XT range, which stands for Extended Technology, was released back in 2013 and is basically the renewed version of the Alexa, with direct raw recording, improvements on the internal ND filter and a 4x3 sensor. But there's only so much we can talk about when it comes to cinema cameras, so looking at the lenses, we first have Hawke V-Lites. Now these are a great choice for if you want an anamorphic set in a small package. With an interesting yet subtle look, wide range of focal lengths and user friendliness, you can't go wrong. With rich and warm colours, we have the Kawa Cine Promenade Anamorphics. These are lenses that are smooth, almost vintage looking and with a subtle low contrast look. And like the Hawkes, they come in a small form factor, making them perfect for handheld. Finally, we have the Argeno Optimo A2S. Now these are short anamorphic lenses, so following the rest, they are lighter and more compact than usual, even though they are cinema zooms. As with the rest of the Optimo series, they feature low distortion as well as brilliant colours, contrast and resolution. Overall, Laxton makes us feel as though we are in the world of Little, Chiron and Black. We are brought into them mainly through his use of colour and movement, however the choice to break the fourth rule invokes a feeling that you can't achieve through cinematography alone. Apologies for a shorter video, I had an insanely busy week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this video, you know what to do if you did. If you have a recommendation for an analysis, leave it down below. Thank you so much for watching and maybe I'll see you next time. Bye!