ART APPRECIATION

- SAMEER SHARMA (19JSBVA024)

ART USED IN MOVIES
Art and cinemas are linked together, helps creating masterful techniques to create an incredible aesthetic.
There is no surprise why directors uses art masterpieces to bring out emotions and tell fascinating stories.
Have you ever watched a movie and noticed that a shot or a scene just reminds you of a painting? Or, have
you seen a painting in a book or online or in a museum and thought “that looks like a shot from a film!”?
The core of all movies is visual storytelling. Without visuals, it’s not a movie! But how do we tell stories
visually? A script is a printed page; it’s is not until you involve the camera, the production design, the
special effects, the performances and so on that it comes alive as a film. But how do we make those
pictures, and what influences the way that we make them? To answer this question, I decided to turn to art:
the 80,000 years of art history that precedes the invention of the movies.
Art History for Filmmakers is an inspiring guide to how images from art can be used by filmmakers to
establish period detail and to teach composition, colour theory and lighting. In these articles, and in my
book, I look at the key moments in the development of the Western painting, and how these became part of
the Western visual culture from which cinema emerges.
At Eternity’s Gate

If you're a fan of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, this is

the film for you. Led by an incredible (and
Oscar-nominated) performance from Willem Dafoe, At
Eternity's Gate follows the final years of Van Gogh's life
as a mostly unappreciated artist living in France. Filmed
up close and roughly, we watch the post-impressionist's
gradual descent into madness as his world becomes
blurrier. The film explores Van Gogh's eternal love of art,
famed ear cutting, mysterious death and sole
relationships with his brother Theo (Rupert Friend) and
fellow painter Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac).
Frida

Portrayed by the incredibly talented Salma

Hayek, Frida follows the private and professional
life of famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in
Mexico City. Through her triumphs, she became
one of the most talented and revered surrealist
artists of the 20th century. Navigating through her
political views and relationships with Diego
Rivera and Leon Trotsky, viewers are witness to
the incredible hardships she suffered during her
short life.
Midnight In Paris
When nostalgic novelist Gil wanders around the streets
of Paris late at night for inspiration, he finds himself
taken back through time and away from his fiancée to
Paris' roaring 1920s. There, he meets a few historical
figures and a life he aspires to. If Owen Wilson (in the
most charmingly Owen Wilson performance ever) is
Midnight In Paris' lead character, the incredible tapestry
of Paris is his co-star. The city is even re-imagined as
Van Gogh's Starry Night blues and yellows in the movie
poster. After that, the behind-the-scenes time travel
insight into artists like Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali,
Henri Matisse and Man Ray solidify this as an iconic art
film.
Loving Vincent
Loving Vincent is the world's first feature-length
painting animation. It explores the suspicious death
of Vincent Van Gogh through the fictional story of the
protagonist, Armand. Tasked with delivering Van
Gogh's last letter to his brother Theo, Armand
discovers stories of the painter's life by speaking to
those who knew him. The film brilliantly uses Van
Gogh's art for background and people he painted as
its characters, re-imagined as modern actors (Chris
O'Dowd with a giant beard as postman Joseph Roulin
is a standout). To create this effect, the animators
painted 66,960 frames of oil artworks. It's really worth
checking out the visual ingenuity and creativity used
to build the animation of this film for yourself.
Why is Cinema considered Art

1. Direct pleasure
2. Skill and virtuosity
3. Style
4. Novelty and creativity
5. Criticism
6. Representation
7. Special focus
8. Expressive individuality
9. Emotional saturation
10. Intellectual challenge
11. Art traditions and
institutions
12. Imaginative experience
Art and Film Bound Together

Communication has no specific medium. Communication is only successful when

it helps to grow an emotion within us. Art is a medium of communication. A visual
language that narrates a story in moving pictures is cinema.

We react to picture in motion deeply than static images. Cinema is the highest
form of art as it is a merge of different disciplines. Different fields of study along
with various crafts generate a strong emotion within the audience. Cinema gives a
powerful experience which no other art form can generate.