Luke Willis
To an extent, I believe that both 'Inception' and 'Winter's Bone' both rely on creating a certain aesthetic visual, and also having an emotionally motivating soundtrack in order to spark a feeling in a spectator and make them feel a certain way, hopefully taking a preferred reading to what the director intended.
In comparison, the two films are very different in nature. 'Inception' is a high calibre 'blockbuster' film released in early July 2010, with a wealthy budget of 160 million USD to play with. This represents a vast contrast in comparison to 'Winter's Bone', which was made on a budget of 2 million USD, which is 1/80th of Inception's budget, to give some perspective.
However, I personally believe that both Christopher Nolan and Debra Granik used the funds at their disposal in order to create a piece that does convey an intended message and does make a spectator feel an emotional response that would have been pre metitiated for them to feel.
For example, in 'Inception', in the scene where Tom Hardy's 'Eames' is in the middle of a conflict in a hotel corridor created in a dream sequence, which is rotating in correlation to how his body is being thrown about in a car chase happing in reality, in a sequence that lies symmetrically with the dream sequence. In both parallel sequences, we can observe an explicit tension being created, with shots being fired at the van, and stern looking men attacking Eames. However, the two sequences l0ook very different aesthetically. The real life scene has a very raw and natural feeling, the sky is full and foggy, the frame is lit with low-key lighting that looks natural, with rain not only falling heavily, but also there is water being spat up by the tyres of the van and bike, that appear to be advancing towards the camera. This may well be implemented into the sequence to give a melancholy atmosphere, as we commonly associate rain with thoughts of sadness or maybe even depression. As well as this, the rain could also be creating an addition to the tension being created in the scene by Nolan, as the spray does obstruct the spectator's view of the action. Another factor that may have been employed in order to obstruct the spectator's view and create tension could be that the camera is tracking the action from behind the vehicles at a low angle so we cannot see any of the characters or the gunman, however we can still here the auditory cues of shots being fired, which not only creates further tension, but puts the visuals in isolation so the spectator is forced to inspect and take notice of the auditory cues to add to their impression of the sequence's tension. Nolan would have intended for an audience to be able to relate to this tension and feel a build up of tension heading towards the climax of the sequence. Another commonly used technique in this type of high budget, action sequence is to hire a composer to create a score that not only fits with the action shown in the sequence, but is able to add emphasis on a dramatic level to really bring out the best suspense and tension that could have been created in this scene. Scores such as the one used in Inception are usually listened to subconsciously, as the mainstream audience watching Nolan's work are a mostly passive audience wanting to be thrilled by a high budget film with a good narrative and many special effects, so they wouldn't be paying any particular notice to the score in isolation, but having it in a subconscious part of their spectatorship will allow the music to influence them and give the sequence greater suspense, and they won't even realise it's doing so. To evaluate, Inception uses visually spectacular and greatly technical auditory cues in order to influence a spectator's viewing of the film, in this example to make them feel suspense and tension during a hectic action sequence.
Despite the elaborate difference in budget available, Debrah Granik manages to draw a specific emotion from her spectators, by using visual and auditory codes. The very first shot in the film is an extreme long shot of an area of countryside, which also works as an establishing shot. Another aspect of cinematography used in this shot is the use of a high angle, which makes the audience feel as though they are above any action that may happen in the film. In terms of the mise-en-scene of this shot, we can see a few caravans/trailers spaced out across a field. Even from such a distance, where we cannot see any details of the conditions at all, we can already feel the sense that these people live in a class below us, and aren’t nearly as wealthy. Also, the naked trees in the foreground of the shot could be representative of how empty these people’s lives are not only empty, but dull and lifeless. Finally, the natural, low key, dim lighting does convey an impression of sadness, but also a dull and cold, melancholy atmosphere.
The following shot is also a long shot, not with as much distance as the previous one. In the misé-en-scene of this shot, we can see two young children playing on a trampoline outside of their house. The house is extremely small, with only one floor, and it is made out of wood which we can clearly see is going damp, which gives an impression of poverty straight away. Also, I believe the trampoline has some significance. Firstly, there is not a protective layer of netting around the circumference of the trampoline, which could be representative of the amount of danger these children are in and there’s no resources to help, and the main dilemma of the film is to try and avoid losing their home. The next shot is also one of the trampoline, this one is at a low angle, just off the trampoline, about level with the springy part of it. The camera doesn’t move at all. In terms of the mise-en-scene of the performance, the little boy runs right up to the edge of the trampoline, dangerously close to coming off the edge. That could be symbolising how close they are to losing everything, and being thrown over the edge in life. Finally, a point reinforced by a later shot of him on a skateboard, could be that the children are never seen on firm ground, always on a trampoline or skateboard, which could be implying the way in which they lack any kind of stability or foundations in their lives, and we know from the rest of the film they barely have enough food or supplies to properly survive. This is shown in a sequence later in the film whilst cutting a wild animal they’ve killed, one of the kids asks if they have to eat the guts, and the response given is ‘not yet’ or something along those lines, which again reinforces the idea that things are progressively getting worse and worse, and the conditions that these people are living in are awful and properly inhumane.
Therefore this demonstrates how Granik has used visual cues in order to create a sympathetic response from spectators, as we are observing the abysmal conditions in which these small young children have to live in. The houses used in filming we real life people's accommodation, as the crew wouldn't have had the ability to create their own set, due to a low budget. This makes the film look and feel a lot more authentic and realistic than Inception, as the spectator is viewing a more real-life orientated version of events. The casting in Winter's Bone also contributes to this, as Jenifer Lawrence wasn't a big star at the time, so casting unknown actors helps an audience to relate to them more as we see them as real people like the rest of us, compared to seeing Leonardo Di Caprio in Inception, because we're aware of his real life personality, so it's harder for a spectator to respond empathetically to and sympathise with the character.
In conclusion, I believe that both Christopher Nolan and Debra Granik have drawn emotional responses from the spectators in their films by using visual and auditory cues, with Nolan using his elaborate budget in order to create a spectacle that is intriguing to a spectator, whereas Granik made her shots as authentic as possible, partially by choice, partially because she was isolated by a low budget, in order to make an audience sympathise with her characters and the standards of their living, which is drawing an emotional response from them
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