The significance of a picture. How the image can influence the meaning of a film.

The importance of the image. 

As the picture is obviously an inherent part of a film, creating it takes more than just recording actors reading the script, editing the material, putting it in theaters and calling it a day. The main focus of a picture is not only just portraying the screenplay; when it comes to shooting a film, everything is relevant. From the camera lens used, to the perspective presented, colors painted, the symmetry composed and much more. All of this helps to make a film a piece of work and art. 

As films are a steady part of a mass culture of today’s people’s life, their purpose  is usually to build in the viewer a sense of reflection and awareness on the issues discussed in the picture. Whether it is presenting something that’s metaphorical or something literal, the aim is for the film to gain a universal acclaim of a memorable and significant one. 

The article will compare the outlines of different films released in different time periods, in which the picture can be considered an epitome of a great use of a cinematographer's potential. 

Parasite (2019), directed by Bong Joon Ho

Parasite, beside representing its main problem which is the moral corruption of the poverty stricken family of a main character, is a film focused on differences between two represented social classes. As it dives into the extremes, the picture tends to ridiculously point out the contrasts between the two main families. It plays with the watcher, sneakily putting details which turn out to be significant later at some point of the film. Hidden lines and constantly reappearing stairs are pointing out the differences and boundaries (which are constantly crossed as we are getting into the film) between two families. 

IMDb. (2019). Parasite (2019) - Photos - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/mediaindex/. [Assessed 16 Mar. 2025].

Un chien andalou (1929), directed by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali

An andalusian dog is a shout out to surrealism. Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali focus on an unrealistic and extraordinary portrayal of the world through a gamut of pictures. A short film starts with a shot of a girl’s eye being cut off and from that moment we get to see a range of pictures that at first may seem incoherent. It is marked by chaos and can be interpreted as a representation of the unreliability of the world and what is shown to us, the watchers. The picture makes the viewer question whether what he’s seeing is real or not. It creates an illusion, criticizing the politics of previously fascist Spain. It pokes fun at the perception of life, implying that what is presented to the watchers is often unreliable and undependable. 

IMDb. (2025). Un chien andalou (Short 1929) - Photos - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020530/mediaindex/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2025].

Three colours: blue (1993), directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski

The first film of the Three colours trilogy (Blue, White, Red) focuses on the main character’s loss and loneliness after her husband and a child are killed in a car crash. The trilogy name is a reference to the three colours of a french flag, blue symbolizing liberty. In the film, you can see the character consuming the feeling of liberalization, yet still not being able to move on from her past as it is following her every step. As viewers we see her journey through the feelings of melancholy being presented by the colour blue itself. The same one that symbolizes liberty. The colour is used to unify the main character’s thoughts. Through the blue swimming pool, the blue stones of the mobile, the blue spotlights which play upon her face. The colour has its reflection with her emotions, showing us what she is feeling deep inside, while trying to deny her feelings. 

The film is showing her life and struggle of moving on through perspective and we can see the difference in an image from the beginning, when her self isolation and separation is shown, and from the state she is left in at the end of the film. 

IMDb. (2025). Three colors: Blue (1993) - Photos - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108394/mediaindex/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2025].

The Zone of Interest (2023), directed by Jonathan Glazer 

‘The Zone of Interest’ is a film about the daily life of a family living right next to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Despite its tragic history, the film remains quiet, only showing us the casualty of a  life lived by the family. Viewers do not see what is happening right outside  as it doesn’t include what they do not want to see. The tragedy in the film is shot blurry, yet the blood as the tragedy’s consequence is consuming the whole screen, not leaving a space for anything different than the red stain. The main character of the film, Rudolf Höss (the commandant of the Auschwitz camp) is at some point shown to be affected by his actions however ends up not doing anything with the temporary feeling of guilt. A picture of the film holds some powerful and loud images which show the ignorance of the privileged people ignoring the tragedy in order to their own comfort. For example a shot showing a bunch of kids playing by the pool with a smoke of burned bodies floating over them from behind the fence.  Apart from, its obvious portrayal of a holocaust genocide happening during the World War II, the film can also be considered an analogy and critism of what is happening in Gaza, Palestine nowadays with millions of people able to see, yet choosing not to. 

IMDb. (2023). The Zone of Interest (2023) - Photos - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7160372/mediaindex/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2025].

Films hold power to show and represent whatever they choose to. They can do so through score, screenplay, but mostly through image (so perspective, colours, camera movements etc.). Image of a film holds in itself what  is most important. It helps us see through the characters : what they are feeling, what is speaking through them. But it is also what makes the film entertaining. It allows the director to play with the watcher, putting in films extra details, easter eggs and much more. 

Bibliography:

Learning about Movies. “Blue: Three Colors Trilogy -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 75).” YouTube, 9 Oct. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvI3Ez5FZ-g. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

. “Using Colour to Tell a Story in Film.” Www.youtube.com, 27 Feb. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbYjgJuvsDg. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

Petkovic, Vladan. “VISUAL LESSONS: Importance of the Image | MODERN TIMES REVIEW.” MODERN TIMES REVIEW, 9 Oct. 2012, www.moderntimes.review/visual-lessons-importance-image/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.