McIntyre, Photography in Bright Star

Bright Star uses excellent cinematography to tell the tragic love story of the John Keats and Fanny Brawne. While the lovers obviously get the bulk of the screen time, the film takes time to show Fanny's family, particularly Fanny's little sister, called Toots. Toots serves as a foil to her sister during the movie. While Fanny has the mature experience of love, she still spends much of her time with Toots and they do many of the same things. They are both still innocent. This scene, in particular, shows Toots's innocence. Color is huge in this photograph, as it is in the rest of the film. Much of the colors in Bright Star are muted or dark. Muted jewel tone colors tend to signify maturity or mature experiences. Dark tones appear in the darker scenes. In a few scenes, however, bright colors break through. Toots appears dressed in pastels in this scene, complementing the vivid colors of the flowers and her hair, which hangs loose.

The shot and angle used in this photograph also suggest Toots's innocence. The medium shot takes in the upper two-thirds of Toots's body--a shot clearly meant to fit to a child's size. We see Toots and her world. The low angle also shows makes the flowers look much taller than they actually are, almost her height. The world is big and beautiful. Toots has the power over this world. In the world of innocence, Toots is queen.