There are plenty of directors in the movie business. But what makes one director different from another? I believe directors show their individuality through their own trademarks. There are many films that I am able to guess who directed it because the directors repeatedly put in their trademarks into their movies. Here are a few of my favorite directors that have some really awesome trademarks.
J.J. Abrams has only directed 3 movies(
Mission Impossible 3,
Star Trek, and
Super 8) but he already has his own trademark; lens flares. Multiple scenes of
Star Trek show random beams of light glaring on the screen. Abrams lens flare worked
really well in
Stark Trek because it gave a futuristic look to the film and it made the spaceship (Enterprise) glow.
Super 8 also has many scenes of a very similar lens flare and it works well because it is a science-fiction movie.
I noticed Danny Boyle frequently has vibrant colors, distorted and fast paced montages, and a emphasize on eyes in his films. In the film
Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle displays vibrant colors in the slums of India. The film
Millions contains multiple sequences of a little boy sitting in a cardboard box next to railroad tracks as a train quickly races by, causing the box to shake rapidly.
28 Days Later's plot involves a virus that can be spread with contact of the eyes.
Christopher Nolan's trademarks include dark blue cinematography and his twists in the plot.
Inception,
The Dark Knight,
The Prestige, and
Insomnia all include at least one scene that has a dark blue look to it. For example,
The Dark Knight's setting is in Gotham City which has a very dark blue tint(as you can see below). Both
The Prestige and
Inception have really great twists in the final scenes of the films but, for the sake of spoilers, I will not tell you how they end.
So those are some of my favorite directors with really great trademarks. I could list more, but that would take a really long time. Also I really want to know what you all think? Who are some of your favorite directors and what are their trademarks?
I love J.J. Abram's Star Trek. And you're right! It did have an awful lot of lens flares.
ReplyDeleteMy two favorite directors are Orson Welles and Martin Scorsese. I believe that Orson Welles' trademarks are "artistic" shots. Unlike many of the directors of his time, he didn't allow the camera to just be a window... to him the camera was something more like an eye or a mind. Another trademark are his stories. None of his movies ever have a happy ending. There is always a main character who is "questionable" and dark.
Martin Scorsese is a recent obsession of mine. That being said, I've only seen Shutter Island, The Departed, and The Aviator. ...I really like Leonardo Dicaprio :) lol Just by watching those three films I've noticed that Martin Scorsese uses a lot of "rapid" editing. Especially in The Departed. Out of those three films, all of the main characters have some sort of psychological disorder... or seem like they have a psychological disorder. I'm really looking forward to watching Scorsese's many other films, especially Sinatra.
By the way, have you heard that J.J. Abrams is making a sequel to Star Trek? I'm super excited, I really hope it isn't a fail, like most sequels. Although I highly doubt that it will be.
One of Christopher Nolan's trademarks is also how the story deals with the characters' perception of reality. In fact, he has stated that if you're paying attention to his Batman series you'll see that what Bruce Wayne believes he has done the right thing becoming Batman, but in reality it was probably one of the worst decisions he's ever made.
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