Visual Storytelling in “Super 8″
December 21st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I finally got around to seeing Super 8, which was directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. I was really excited about this film, being a long-time Spielberg fan and also enjoying Abrams’ work on the latest Star Trek film.
The movie is about a group of kids who spend their summer vacation trying to film a low-budget zombie movie. After a mysterious train derailment almost kills the budding filmmakers, mysterious things start happening all over town. The kids discover that something terrible was being transported on the train, and now it’s loose.
The film does a wonderful job of evoking the innocence of childhood, the joy of summer vacation, and the fun of sneaking around and making a movie. The film has the feeling of an old Spielberg movie (think E.T.) with the visual signatures of Abrams (think lens flares). At its foundation, the film works because it is well-written, and I love the way the story is told visually.
Consider the opening three shots. We first start on a wide shot in a steel factory. The camera slowly pushes into a sign, “Number of accident free days…” as a worker replaces the three digit number with a single “1.” Cut to another wide shot of a child sitting on a swing outside his home. Cut to a closeup of a hand holding a necklace, and pan up to reveal the solemn face of a young boy. In three shots, we have learned that there has been an accident (without even seeing the accident), and that the victim left behind a young boy, our protagonist. Toss in the somber, reflective musical cue by Michael Giaccino, and the emotion is palpable. We don’t even know this boy yet, but we know he’s suffered a tremendous loss. We’ve been giving the entire setup of the film and not a single line of dialog has been spoken. It’s visual. It’s powerful. It’s an example of great filmmaking.
