The Emergence of Digital Technology and Visual Effects - Essay Example

Analyzing Prometheus: Sound, Mise-en-scene and VFX Generally, motion picture fans perceive it as merely an entertainment tool and not as a full-fledged art form. In reality, filmmaking is the most concerted art as it not only offer extravagant audio-visual experience but also compels one to contemplate and encourages emotional catharsis. As per Timothy (4) film is like food for mind because more than most other art forms, movies frequently produce strong intellectual and emotional reactions. Today, filmmaking has become highly advanced with the emergence of digital technology and visual effects. This has made motion pictures all the more indoctrinating, enlightening and promising. In this regard Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is a classic example. Prometheus is a science fiction genre movie released in 2012. Its stellar cast comprising of Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba, mind blowing visual aesthetics and acoustics, and unusual directorial dynamics make it truly a worthwhile watch. This paper examines Prometheus from numerous perspectives including direction, sound design, visual effects and salient mise-en-scene features. Prometheus is set in late 21st century (year 2093) and therefore, a futuristic ambience is evident in the entire movie. A team of scientists embark on an expedition in Prometheus to a distant world, an Earth-sized moon LV223 orbiting around a gigantic planet, to find clues about the origin of mankind or the creator of human race called the Engineer. Eventually, the movie transforms into a battle for survival of mankind. Visual effects make the impact of a sci-fi movie extremely strong Prometheus is truly a stylistic movie in this aspect with its stunning visuals and CGI effects. The film is Scott’s first full 3D directorial attempt but it appears as if he is an expert in this domain. Scott’s finesse on the art becomes apparent right from the first frame where an inhuman character is shown seeding the Earth with life. The scene’s captivating impact has been enhanced by the cold and white atmosphere and audience instantly understand the theme of the movie. Sci-Fi genre is not about showcasing marvels of technology but about embodying it and employing a forward reach in both narration and technology (Whittington 115). In Prometheus the amalgamation of VFX and realism is brilliant as it ultimately creates a believable aura without bombarding the audience with excessive high-tech gadgetry and animation (Lambert 7). Prometheus has more than 1400 3D VFX or visual effects but the subtlety of VFX gets proven from the fact that only half of the movie contains digital effects while the rest has been shot on real locations in Jordan, Scotland and Iceland (Wong 4). The movie comprises of flawless, clear, detailed and sharp visuals. Attention to detailing is evident from numerous scenes such as when the humanoid David checks out the black goo placed on his fingertips and audience can clearly see the distinguished fingerprints. In a sci-fi genre movie it is important to create an environment or era that is novel and unlike the past or present. In this regard, visual effects serve as the perfect companion. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski used the compact Red Epic camera and 3ality Technica’s Atom 3D rigs for shooting multiple shots (Wong 2). Although the Red Epic camera has 5K capability but the film’s final version is in 2K compression. Considering the high number of visual effects in Prometheus, it was a good decision to reduce the compression from the original 5:1 to 2K because 3D shooting increases a movie’s budget to up to 20-30 percent (Wong 7). Even with 4K compression the precision of effects would have been affected and the budget would have quadrupled (Wong 7). In scenes where flowing water or foliage appear, the compression, however, gets switched to 3:1 probably to ensure fine detailing. Prometheus’s “highly styled acoustic environments” play a vital role in enhancing the story-telling; it can be said that if VFX is the indiscernible art then sound editing is movie’s the inaudible art (Wong 4). Prometheus’s rich sound design plays an important role in maximizing the superlative experience. Evidently, Scott’s thinking process has a specific habitual abstractness because in Prometheus the sound facilitates and responds to the tone and mood of the scene (Lambert 2). Scott prioritized using natural dialogue delivered while shooting for which actors were often given “spherical “bubble” helmets” with microphones attached underneath (Wong 6). This helped in recording actual dialogues and to eliminate sound changes the audio was passed through Altiverb (Jackson 2). Instead of solely relying upon electronics, realistic and organic sounds are used in the movie. For instance, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett, the post production team, recorded and modified Sanskrit syllables to produce ancient audio motifs (Wong 5). Moreover, real-world sound effects were used for creating creature and unhuman sounds. Since Prometheus revolves around aliens and extraterrestrials, therefore, it has plenty of creature sound effects and uniqueness of these effects was extremely critical for the movie (Lambert 2). It is amazing that the grotesque alien sound was produced by a Parrot and for spaceship indoor sounds like for opening sliding doors the sounds came from Xerox machine, opening a soda can and pouring the soda into a glass (Jackson 3). The storm sequence is particularly important in this regard as it exhibit utilization of vintage equipment to produce unconventional storm sounds on the planet. The most incredible sound though, was created for alien capsules’ cracking noise using Pop Rocks candy (Jackson 2). This shows the director’s ability to take risks in sound department and churning out a completely unique effect from most ordinary actions and objects. Mise-en-scene analysis depicts that Scott is undoubtedly the master of creating stunning compositions. A notable example is the reference to the movie Lawrence of Arabia. David compares himself with E.T. Lawrence (played by Peter OToole) and watches the movie, practices the protagonist’s mannerisms and copies his hairstyle. Scott cleverly depicts that David identifies with Lawrence because being a humanoid he feels like an outsider just like Lawrence felt among British countrymen. Despite appearing and behaving like humans, David is never treated like one. David’s feelings get conveyed to the viewer through Lawrence of Arabia’s footages and famous lines like “Big things have small beginnings,” which David utters in Prometheus. Prometheus is the name of a spaceship in the movie but it actually is the name of a Greek mythological Titan god who as per the legend created mankind and tried to improve life for humans on earth. This is clearly symbolic and signifies the director’s attempt to explain certain concepts to the audience about the storyline. Certain elements in the movie greatly help in understanding the various themes of Prometheus, such as science versus religion and/or faith versus disbelief. There are two groups of people seeking answers about their origin, their creator and the connection between the extraterrestrials and humans. Dr. Shaw is evidently a believer because she wears a cross whereas Charlie Holloway is the non-believer who wants to meet the creator instead of getting the answers. However, Prometheus is neither a pro-science nor an anti-science flick instead it highlights the essentiality and indispensable nature of both. The aspect that leading scientist like Dr. Shaw is a devout Christian, spaceship’s name is inspired from a Greek Titan who helped humanity by providing fire and animals, and placement of Christmas tree on the spaceship, symbolize the director’s message that religion and science are not at conflict with each other. Religion provides purpose to life as in Prometheus the team utilizes their scientific expertise to find out crucial yet essential human questions regarding faith and creation of life. In cinematography department Prometheus is top notch. The visuals highlight the story’s scope and immediately set the tone of the scene. From the majestic waterfall to the perfectly demonstrated DNA degeneration, the hypnotic matter storm with a silvery jewel-like appearance and all the magnanimous events of the celestial expedition, Prometheus offers everything with finesse (Wong 6). The storm is very impressively produced on screen as the viewer can feel the jitters too whereas the cave scenes appear haunting and eerie (Wong 6). To create the image of a horrifying, haunting and unpleasant planet, dark, mysterious outlook was necessary. In Prometheus this impact has been produced by low-key lighting (Wong 5). All the scenes are either in white-grey, blue, green-blue or pale green lighting. Cinematographer Wolski’s low-key lighting approach manages to display a futuristic and extraterrestrial environment brilliantly and also helps in keeping the focus on the explorers. Low-key lighting keeps the suspense factor strong as the explorers (and the audience) are unaware of what lies ahead. If Wolski had used high-key lighting, low contrast and minimal shadowing, the suspense could never have been generated so convincingly. The use of dimmers, LEDs and fluorescents is evident on the spaceship. Moreover, there are hardly any scenes depicting daylight. The scene where an ice storm is about to hit the hanger, a patch of sunlight appears and immediately fades paving way for darkness. The dark ambience, thus, is a deliberate attempt as it adds strength to the dramatic and intensive mood of Prometheus. In scenes when spaceship is shown flying through the skies, sunlight patches appear to depict the environment of the planet. This technique helps in giving audience the image of a natural world despite that it is an unknown planet. Moreover, low-key lighting also gives the movie a gothic or Victorian feel (Lambert 5). Silence plays a very important role in Prometheus as through silence Scott has managed to create great dramatic impact (Lambert 5). There are moments where powerful sounds are followed by complete silence such as the scenes in the cave or when the aliens are shown resurrecting in the end. Setting wise, the spaceship has been brilliantly designed and every quarter has a distinct style. For instance, to represent the high status of Vickers among the crew, her quarter is very well-furnished and appears futuristic. Creatures are also well-designed and resemble seal life and plants. Their color has been kept pale to create a contrasting effect amid the dark lighting. Conversely, the director’s approach is not as mind-blowing in some key areas like storytelling, characterization and costume designing. The loopholes and unexplained phenomenon are various and obvious. For instance, it is established that the expedition has been sponsored by Weyland CORP., and all the crew members are its employees. However, in the scenes shot inside the spaceship, crew members’ uniform does not match. Even more disappointing was the choice of reason for which a crew of 17 members embarks on such a dangerous journey. It remains unclear why Holloway and Shaw interpreted the map as an invitation and how Weyland managed to convince so many people to leave earth without a convincing reason. Also, characters wonder why they are onboard and somewhat the crew seem unprepared, which is quite surprising and illogical. The primary aspect of storytelling is to explain why the characters act the way they do but in Prometheus this has been overlooked. The lackluster characterization can be attributed to the overwhelming number of crew members onboard. Characterization could have been better if crew members were not as many. For instance, Meredith Vickers (Theron) although is a central character but remains mostly in the background and it is unclear whether she was a human or a robot whereas David’s character is overly explored in the script. Besides Shaw, no other character has been given an unambiguous backstory. Although spacesuits have been excellently designed and reflect a futuristic aura but other than this the styling is quite similar to present age, which is a bit disappointing and does not gel well with the movie’s mood. Fifield, the geologist, is the only one who has received some sort of characterization and styling. He has most distinguishing style with tattoos, Mohawk, patchy smock and a reckless attitude. Another area where Prometheus fails to impress is editing. The movie is paced either too fast or too slow. For instance, the director jumps over to the exploratory mission after the map’s discovery and viewers are left to speculate how the archaeologists derived the interpretation. Conversely, some scenes are too lengthy and become burdensome for the viewer such as the scene between Shaw and David’s head just before the end. It can thus, be stated that Prometheus is a very stylish and visually appealing movie. It also stirs the intellectual processes of human mind by raising very critical questions and refraining from providing the answers. However, the movie is not perfect and has its fair share of gaps and disappointments. It however, is an exciting and enthralling feat and presents sufficient exploratory material for understanding the intricacies of 3D animation and cinematic opulence. Works Cited Corrigan, Timothy. A Short Guide To Writing About Film. New York: Longman, 2001. Print. Jackson, Blair. Prometheus | Mixonline. Mixonline.com., 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. Lambert, Mel. From The Guild: The Alien Sounds of PROMETHEUS. MPEG., 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. Whittington, William. Sound Design & Science Fiction. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007. Print. Wong, William. Prometheus Takes Flight With Cutting-Edge VFX Technology | Embedded Content From Electronic Design. Electronicdesign.com., 2012. 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