Film&TV / Apocalypse Now – Color & Light

by itischief

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Cinematographer: Vittorio Storaro

This film is exceptional. The epic drama behind its creation and the finished product are both extraordinary.  After reading the article on Storaro I revisited this masterpiece concentrating on Color and Light.

Painting with darkness.

Storaro mentions in the article that Brando’s character was to be painted in darkness. The concept of “darkness” itself. The mood that this style lighting created was truly bizarre, but worked so well.  It creates this feeling that Brando’s character isn’t real, or rather that he is spiritual in some way. I know that sounds crazy, but if you watch the scene it’s like Brando is the devil or a ghost. Particularly when he delivers his “genius” dialogue. Constantly surrounded and bathed in shadows, you never truly get a sense of what his character looks like as a whole. Only glimpses are given. Mystery is created by this technique.

Purple Haze River Scene – Contrast of Color in Jungle

This was one of the weirder scenes from the film and thats saying something.

Storaro mentions that Coppola and himself wanted to highlight that the Americans were out of place. I think the Purple River scene (as well as the next lighting example) is a great demonstration of the contrast captured in the film. The Jungle vs. The Americans. Vietnam vs. America. (even though shot in Philippines, you get the drift) The boat sails down a river in the middle of the jungle in a purple haze. While also containing the obvious Hendrix reference, the contrast is clearly being demonstrated, while the solid  performance depicts a soldier that has completely lost the plot. Great scene. The bright purple on the green backdrop also looks super fucking sexy on screen.

The use of light hides the jungle. The backdrop cant be seen.

The Americans have set up “America” in the jungle.

This particular example is right from the readins, when Storaro mentions one culture being “superimposed” over another.

“we framed them in a way that conflicted with what the eye expected to see against the backdrop of the jungle.”

Interesting to note how lighting was once again used to reinforce the story line, create meaning and distort perspective.
The light was not simply there to light the characters on set.

If you haven’t seen it, you probably should watch it.