Sunrise - Bradley Strickland

The cinematography of Rosher and Struss compliments this film beautifully. The team’s constant use of two contrasting elements (light/dark, big/small, part/whole) show their attention and consideration to the film’s theme of duality in its story -the title Sunrise is a duality itself. The perversity of the film was also demonstrated by cinematographic choices. One shot that clearly illustrates the masterful use of cinematographic elements and techniques to help tell the story is shown below (the first image - the Vamp waiting in the swamp).

The most striking duality of this shot is given by the lighting. The moon’s light contrasts the darkness of the Vamp’s clothes. Within the context of the story, it may suggest her evilness (taken further or the contrast between a sultry city Vamp meeting in a dark swamp and her disruption of bright and happy country life). Also, it seems that the moon’s light is filtered and hazy not allowing the moon to be connected with a romantic night, but instead a perverse and lustful meeting.

The use of depth is particularly interesting in that the Vamp appears much larger than the moon or any other prop in this shot making her dark waiting figure the focus of our eyes. However the use of depth is also utilized to put her on the same level of the darkness as she seems to blend into it. This illustrates a union with the dark which suggests her role as a “femme fatale”.

The use of a medium shot also reinforces this role. The empty space on the left of the screen is obviously to be filled by the man she is waiting for. A medium shot would seem romantic, but the perversity of the situation only adds to the figurative darkness of the shot.

Just a thought (I may be getting too much into this century’s pop culture): the effect of the Vamp not creating a reflection on the water could be an intentional effect to suggest her vampire-like quality.