American Beauty was released in 1999 to critical acclaim, picking up Best Cinematography and Best Director at the 72nd Academy Awards. It is a satire of the American middle class notions of beauty and satisfaction in life mainly, but also explores many different themes such as love, sexuality, materialism and redemption.
Many of the shots created by Conrad Hall are classical compositions, to show the on-screen tension between characters and allow the audience to take in the action, hence why I chose it as classicism is something we have been told to explore for this assignment. The film is shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio in the Super 35 format on Panavision Platinum cameras. Super 35 was used (a larger image frame) so that scenes such as the famous shot where Angela is in the petal filled pool can show the entire pool including the edges.
The general rule was that Hall could light the scene anyway he wanted but he would first discuss the mood of the scene with director Sam Mendes. In most cases he would first light the subject of the scene by painting in the blacks and whites with a key light. Next a fill light would be added which he reflected from white card on the ceiling, as this gave him more control over the shadows while keeping the fill light not too bright and darker areas free from spill light.
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