This photograph from Jane Campion’s Bright Star shows Fanny Brawne(Abbie Cornish) and John Keats(Ben Whishaw) embracing in a passionate kiss, while Keats is hours away from leaving their home to head for Italy, where, hopefully, he will regain his health and avoid the England winter. The close up shot of the two lovers, at eye level, allows the audience to view the both happy and sad expressions that Cornish and Whishaw portray. Their fingers entwined emphasize their longing to be together, however Keats appears to be sliding out of the shot, as though his leaving is inevitable, while Fanny grasps his hair both affectionately and desperately to keep him near her.
While Fanny is wearing a dark blue dress, she appears to blend in with the background, until her skin meets that of Mr. Keats who is wearing a white shirt, bringing attention to humanity and foretelling his untimely death as he appears to be slipping away from Fanny, towards the light, leaving her in the dark. Cornish’s character only seems the most alive when she is on good terms with Mr. Keats, and this photo shows her torn by color, her skin popping from the darkness that is enveloping. It is also important to note that as the movie progresses, Fanny’s clothing gets darker and darker, ultimately leading to her dressed in all black after the death of Mr. Keats. In this photo, Fanny’s clothing is in a transition period of her style for which she is so well known for.
The lighting also aids in determining the mood, which could be interpreted as either sensual, or dooming, as the relationship between Fanny and Keats progresses or as Keats death looms nearer, respectively. The soft glow coming from slightly above and to the right of them adds shadow which emphasizes the horrible condition with which both characters find themselves in.
In your blog, you did a good job drawing the analysis of the lighting and coloring of the picture. However, in your blog, you say, “as the movie progresses, Fanny’s clothing gets darker and darker, ultimately dressed in all black after the death of Mr. Keat’s.” In my analysis, I believe that the costume designer, Janet Patterson, wanted to show how connected Ms. Brawne is to Mr. Keats through the costume colors. Hence, the color schemes in the first half of the movie was to develop the romance between the two characters. Janet Patterson created a color scheme with bright colors to illustrate their love. However, in the later part of the movie, the color scheme tends to fade into darker colors because Patterson wanted to show how involved Ms. Brawne is in Mr. Keat’s life. Perhaps, the darker colors resembles Mr. Keat’s world, which does include his pending death. Good job nonetheless on your blog, Ms. Otto!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Did you know the close-up shot could also be a medium shot because the shot covered Fanny Brawne’s knees to the head and John Keats from waist to head. My observation about the emotions captured in the photo was similar to what you wrote. This is a photo which shows both passion and tragedy about to unfold. My findings about Brawne and Keats passionate embrace were a little different from an eye-level shot. Brawne displays strength, compassion and power in comparison to Keats who appears fragile, weak and clinging for life.
ReplyDeleteDid you notice that low key lighting was used to demonstrate the somber atmosphere between the two romantic partners? I found your comment about Brawne’s blue dress very interesting, especially how it blends with the backlight and how it gets darker and darker closer to his death. Interestingly, in the earlier scenes, Brawne was wearing warm colors like red when she was angry with Charles Brown and being difficult around her family.