There are many techniques within cinema that help convey ideas in conjunction with storyline. For example, camera angles, lighting, and the shots that filmmakers choose to include in scenes play crucial roles in the audience’s emotions and takeaway from the movie.
“Introduction: Queer, World, Cinema”, a chapter from Schoonover and Galt’s Queer Cinema in the World, references a variety of films and how they are not necessarily outlets for queer theories and expression, but rather that these aspects can be found in all of cinema. Kajitu/Some Days Ago uses a glass ball in the camera lens to disrupt society’s norms and portray a different way of viewing the world. Without explicitly displaying any relationships, the film can be viewed as a queer influence due its creative way of altering the norm.
While it does use explicit sex scenes, the film Law of Desire also conveys its story with lighting and camera angle techniques. The beginning of this movie features a young man as the subject of a porn film. Initially, with the lighting and angle, the boy appears to be in an intimate setting. He seems to be in a warmly lit bedroom with someone who appears to be his romantic partner; a man’s voice can be heard behind a personal camera that follows the boy around. With closer inspection, it is apparent the the light is unnatural due to the fact that the shadows are not in the correct orientation for the location of the window. Additionally, the camera pans to the director and voiceover actor, revealing that this is a staged encounter. This scene was “artificially” natural, and an explanation of this can be found in one of Professor Rigoletto’s week three lectures. He mentioned the idea of “surfaces”, and how the surface of this scene was broken when you realized it was a film production and not just two men in their room. The way I chose to interpret this is that sex and sexuality are not always organic; often times it takes exploration to discover ones identity.
Additionally, surface is broken when the film pokes fun at its own over-dramatization. This is done in a scene where one of the main characters releases her frustration by dramatically running in front of a hose and screaming as she bathes in the water. Another actor in the scene specifically calls her out for the excessiveness of her actions.This break of surface was also discussed in lecture. I particularly appreciated how Professor Rigoletto noted that there might be “truth in what seems artificial or overacted”. It made me feel like although it is “excessive”, the film is actually relatable because of this. People are dramatic in their real lives, and to see emotions emphasized and dramatized on screen has the ability to justify one’s own thoughts and feelings.
Overall, the variety of filming techniques observable in all of cinema have played a great deal in conveying LGBQ+ topics and characters, whether they are blatantly apparent or more subtle.