Through the use of particular production techniques and settings, film producers are able to create a mood that pervades their film and helps to inform the viewer regarding the major issues being addressed. For example, in Christopher Nolan’s film The Prestige, the producer emphasizes the dark side of passion as his theme while Joel Coan’s film O Brother Where Art Thou succeeds in creating an entirely different mood through the use of light and shading.
In The Prestige, the effects of film noir are employed to create a mood of mystery, suspicion and the darkness that is at the heart of passion. Film noir basically means ‘black’ film in the sense that the images, music, subject matter and filming style are all coordinated to produce a dark, brooding emotional reaction. The filtered light of outdoor scenes in the polluted air of London or the semi-opaque fog among the trees of Colorado in this film help to establish the idea that the audience is only getting a suggestion of the events that are unfolding throughout.
As each character attempts to be the premiere magician in London, they can think of nothing but discovering what the other man is thinking, how to get inside his head and how to upstage his shows. Again, an issue that becomes more difficult with the shadowed scenes of film noir as the corners of the rooms disappear and only fragments of constructions can be discerned.
Their obsession goes so far that both men prove incapable of properly caring for the women in their lives, introducing the concept of the femme fatale that is another element of the genre. Angier proves incapable of recognizing the love offered him by Olivia, his stage assistant while Borden is only capable of loving his wife approximately every other day, loving Olivia the other half of the time. Thus, none of the men involved in the story are capable of living a complete life as a result of their involvement in this passion.
Meanwhile, films such as O Brother Where Art Thou work to create an entirely different mood using many of the same techniques. For instance, in this film, everything is bathed in a sepia light, reinforcing its connection with nostalgia, which is typically recognized as an idealized conception of the past. The film is shot as the trio of men travel through a sparsely populated depression era Mississippi countryside. While the film is a light-hearted loose retelling of the Greek classic, The Odyssey, it manages to convey a sense of darker hidden elements beneath a thin veneer of romanticized idealism.
The sepia light that informs us of the nostalgic approach to the subject helps to lighten the mood even when the film is covering such disturbing real-life elements of this era such as the extreme poverty of the populace, the dry and unproductive farmland, the rampant racism and ugliness of the Klu Klux Klan and the prevalence of criminals who were often quite capable of escaping the law for long periods of time. While the producer also uses darkened corners and scenes to hide details, this is often used in a way that helps to either heighten the comedic effect or to bring focus on the more serious elements of the film.
While both of these films use similar tools in lighting effects to produce hidden edges, misty or blurred edges and specific lighting to create a mood, the mood they create is entirely different thanks to the specific choices made.
Works Cited
O Brother Where Art Thou. Dir. Joel Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturo, Tim Blake Nelson. Touchstone Pictures, 2000.
The Prestige. Dir. Christopher Nolan, Perf. Michael Caine, Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson. Touchstone Pictures, 2006.