Hunger

'Hunger' (2008)

Directed by Steve McQueen.



My lecturer Rod recommended I watch Steve McQueen's film 'Hunger' because of the interesting interview sequence part way through.

I found the film very interesting. The storyline and content of the film is very different to mine, however there are certain smaller themes addressed in Hunger that are surround similar issues to those I want to address in my film. For example, Hunger shows prisoners who don't match the stereotypical prisoner charcters found in other films, these prisoners have certain morals and beliefs which they are protesting for which adds a new level to the characters that the audience wouldn't necessarily have been used to seeing, causing them to think differently about prisoners as a result. It breaks down the generalisation that all prisoners can be grouped together in one description. I mentioned previously that the only guarenteed common factor amongst homeless people is their lack of home, here McQueen suggests, intentionally or not, that the only common factor amongst prisoners is the fact that they are in prison.

  

The film is beautifully composed throughout. The colour white is prominant in the various different scenes, as it will be in my film. There are lots of long shots in which there is minimal movement or dialogue, this is very powerful and worked well to get the audience to really think about the character or image on the screen. This is something I would like to experiment with in my film. It will be a challenge and I will have to be confident enough in the composure of the shot to feel that it will hold the attention of the audience. McQueen also used a lot of shots that were purposefully out of focus, and filmed the shadows of characters - other elements I would like to play with in my film.

The above images are screen shots for the Interview sequence in Hunger.

The interview consists of a 16 minute continual shot (shown in the top image.)

The set in this sequence is minimal, there is no clutter and nothing in the room other than tables, chairs and an ash tray. The whole scene is entirely dialogue driven with the only action being the two characters smoking and readjusting their seated positions. For the first 16 minutes you can't clearly make out the faces of each character, they are lit in a such a way that it's mainly their silouettes that stand out. The use of lighting throughout the inteview was particularly beautiful and has really inspired me to expand and develop my own lighting technique when I come to film.

Things I've found helpful:

The long interview sequence used in Hunger has made me feel a lot more confident in creating a film with minimal action.

It has given me lots of ideas for keeping the audience's attention:

1. Interesting dialogue
2. Theatrical lighting
3. Composition of the shot - potential emphasis on what isn't on screen