1st Post
During the class the film I chose as one of my most favourite was Baby Driver. I chose this as Edgar Wrights excellent use of cinematography and sound design is used throughout he film to convey the main protagonist's mindset and emotions throughout the film. One example of this is in first act where Baby (played by Ansel Elgort) believes he is finally being released from a life of crime, as the camera follows him down a busy street while he is listening to music. While the music conveys the sense if relief and joy Baby is feeling at this moment, as the camera pans through the street the lyrics appear within the environment, in the form of graffiti and shop signs among other things. Furthermore, this scene takes place during a clear sunny day. This use of pathetic fallacy emphasises his sense of freedom from Doc's crime organisation. This light and joyful scene directly contrasts to the death of Bat's scene in the second act. While the first scene used the soundtrack (Harlem Shuffle) to convey Baby's sense of relief from Doc's crime organisation, the music playing while leading up to the death of Bats (blur intermission) is a slow build up which becomes progressively more distorted and violent, perfectly correlating to Baby's slow build up of rage against the psychopathic and unpredictable Bats as well as his increasingly uncontrollable desire to break out from the organisation.
Cinematography:
Edgar Wright once again uses excellent of cinematography by using his own unique style to create a surreal take on real life. An example I used earlier being the lyrics to the soundtrack appearing naturally within the background of the scene. Wright also uses other similar visual cues within the environment to correlate to the characters place within the narrative, for example when Baby and Deborah are in the laundromat, every machine in the frame have matching colours as to reflect their bond to each other.
Soundtrack:
Another example of Wright's unique style to filmmaking is the soundtrack. Baby Drivers entire soundtrack is composed entirely of pre-existing songs. This further immerses the viewer as the soundtrack is only played when music is being played within the film itself. The soundtrack is used throughout to convey the mood of the characters and the scene. For example, when Baby first sees Deborah, she sings the song B-A-B-Y. Edgar's use of music in this scene serves as an introduction to Deborah's character. As soon as she is introduced she is literally singing the main protagonist's name which immediately informs the viewer of her position in the movie (although her character has more depth than just being the love interest). The use of music to inform the viewer in such a blatant and obvious way shows that the soundtrack is also used to implement a form of meta-humour into the film.
Similarities to Other Films by Edgar Wright:
As previously mentioned, Wright has a very specific style when directing his films. Baby Driver is no exception as it has many similarities to his most famous films such as Hot Fuzz, Shaun of The Dead and The Worlds End. Most notably would be the camera angles and Soundtrack. All three movies previously mentioned have Wright's same unique flair to their surreal yet familiar worlds and rely heavily on pre-existing music. While Baby Driver has no members of the cast of the previously mentioned films Wright's unique style and flair he injects into his films make in indistinguishable from any other director
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