Visual And Film Studies: The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Essay Sample)

The Diving Bell and the butterfly (Author’s name)(Institutional Affiliation)Date
Introduction
The Film Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a film based on the true-life story of a French magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby. At the age of 43 years, Bauby, the main character in the movie, suffers a severe stroke that leaves him bedridden and immobile for the rest his remaining life. Bauby uses his left eye to communicate his psychological torment brought by the attack. The film directed by Julian Schnabel does an outstanding job in applying various elements of cinematography to convey the emotional experience of the leading character Bauby who despite his immobility has inner desires. Therefore, the thematic relevance of the film is that regardless of a person's disability particularly the one that inhibits mobility, such a person still has inner feeling and desires similar to those of an ordinary person. Therefore, it within this backdrop that the paper explores the manner in which various cinematographic element have been applied to reflect or convey the emotional feelings of the protagonist.
Images
The scenes that reflect on Buaby's memory and dreamlike sequences have interceded with shots that are majorly portray the main characters emotions and feelings. For instance, in the image of the diver Buaby although this scene does not relate to the plot of the film it has a great significance. In that, it portrays Bauby in a motionless helpless situation which exemplifies the current mental state of Bauby. In the hospital scene while Bauby is meditating on his disappointments in life, the director shows chunks of breaking glacier which denote the feeling of misery and loss he is experiencing. Since most of the interceding shots reflect on Buaby's past life before the accident, they appear older hence the inferior film quality. The camera work is also quite unstable and provides a severe disparity regarding the hospital.
Shot lengths
Since the main aim of the film is to express Bauby's feelings and emotions, the film is mostly told from his point of view. There is an identifiable framework in the length of shots, and the shots are relatively long. The long shots are used during scenes of portraying Bauby's misery and despair. Nevertheless, the long shots are replaced by short ones during Bauby's imaginative as well as memory scenes. The short, hasty shots differ with the long takes as they express feelings of optimism and control.
Shot types
The film uses close-ups, and extreme close-ups shot to tell the story from Bauby's viewpoint. There are a lot of extremely close up shots especially after the accident when doctors are addressing Bauby. This helps the audience to have a better understanding of the people taking care of him. Afterward, in the movie, long and medium shots have been used to not only show Bauby's viewpoint but also to tell the story from an omniscient perspective. The long shots primarily reflect on Bauby's happiness and freedom.
Camera angles
The camera angles in the film focus on Bauby's point of view. For instance, the low angle shots particularly used in scenes related to the medical staff and therapists. In these scenes, the camera angles are stable and represent the characters as powerful compared to Bauby who is presented as vulnerable. For the reason it is the medical personnel obligation to execute everything on behalf of the leading character. However, in Buby's memory dreamlike sequences, the filmmakers opt to use tilted angles, this reflects on Bauby's memories and his loss of touch with reality concerning his mental state.
Composition
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