This film has been inspiration both in terms of its cinematography and narative themes. The film centres around the life of a couple cutting between two time zones, the current where wee follow their deteriating relationship and the past where we witness them meeting and falling in love. My interests dont often lie with films that utilise a on linear structure however I enjoyed the simple cutting between the two temporal spaces, this sturcture didn't create a confusion or pose an akward complex structure to figure out it was simple leaps between time that slowly released information about these characters, how they were previously when they first met and how they remain in the current temporal frame of time. This theme of relationships is going to resinate through my film, as I'm interested to see how they can change when altering factors are employed, in my case war, an unstable upbringing with a distant father. Blue Valentine shows a leap of 15 years within that time their has been a huge change in Ryan's and Michelle William's relationship for the worse. In the first chapter of my film I would like to depict the most stable period of time in Shawn's life as a montage of nostalgia shot on a Super 8 film camera, halcyon that the characters long for.
I intend to use a symbolic shot to cut from when the film leaps 10 years to end the chapter of the families life. In Blue Valentine there is no specific genre or period in time, the film simply shows a very real human relationship, the dialogue flows naturally, the actions and situations feel real and raw, To capture these scenes, unbroken long takes are used we see an extenive take rather than a cut together performance that has been made in the edit room, the film is essentially made on set. At times the cinematography feels cramped and there is no use of wide shots or panaramics that capture the city, instead we see a strong focus on the family, the camera work is natural most likely on a shoulder rig so the camera man can get close and intimate with the characters a well considered approach to this size film.
The first instant in which the film cuts from one temporal space to another is near the beginning after we've been introduced to the family, Ryan leans against a car as he watches his daughter leave to stay at her grandparents.
I tend not to look to much into the shot composition and what that might be reflecting when discussing films however I see that the two shots that constitute the temporal change when placed together suggest the character is looking at himself as they are both in similar positions facing toward one another, though conflicting states of mind.
The next point in which the film leaps in time is during the scene where Ryan initially meets Michelle Williams, the cut is re visited later in the film and serves as the most inventive of the temporal interchanges. From the shot pictured below the film then reverts back to present day
This cut seems to follow a similar convention to the previously mentioned of which it suggests the character is looking back at themselves or their family, and alternatively, looking toward the future, both with contrasting expressions. The time has seen a change in their relationship, young love juxtaposed against a weathered mother, somber with the expression of a predicament. The reverse shot that follows this is of Ryan Gosling conveying the way she views him in the current state of the relationship as opposed to when she first met him. This attention to the editing displays the directors and editors intent of how they want the story to be told, there is consideration in the leap in time, though it happens without warning or additional sound, the pause and moment in the scene is enough for the viewer to appreciate the reasoning behind the temporal shift. This notion behind the pace of the editing and where it takes the narrative is evident of Christopher Nolan's explanation of how films progress through their story, withholding information releasing it slowly. Nolan defines narrative as "the controlled release of information", this idea of controlling what the audience can witness is clearly evident in 'Blue Valentine'.
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