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An excellent TedTalk by WALL-E director ‘Andrew Stanton’

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Baby Driver and WALL-E film analysis grid. I’ve looked at a lot of areas of film language, considering lighting, compositions, colour semiotics, etc. This will help when comparing the two in my essay. (Written in note form whilst watching the sequences, expect spelling mistakes)

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You essentially see the movie through his eyes and hear it through his ears.

Edgar Wright (Talking about Baby in Baby Driver)

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People think that the directors direct actors. No. Really, what the director's doing is directing the audience's eye through the film.

Julianne Moore

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A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.

Stanley Kubrick

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When a film is created, it is created in a language, which is not only about words, but also the way that very language encodes our perception of the world, our understanding of it.

Andrzej Wajda

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I like watching films that can play in any language because they're essentially silent.

Edgar Wright

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Baby Driver & WALL-E character introductions

Similarities and Differences:

Both are strongly edited to music but have very different song choices. ‘Put on your Sunday clothes’ and ‘Harlem Shuffle’.

WALL-E has lots of quick shots, like a montage, whereas Baby Driver is one, long tracking shot. This choice could suggest something about the films or about the characters. Baby is more easy-going? WALL-E is more hyperactive?

Neither have any dialogue (a brief sentence in Baby Driver when ordering the coffee) and really rely on film language to set up the story and introduce the world and characters.

Both characters are going about their daily life/job, acting as though it’s second-nature to them.

to be continued...

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Essay Topic: Using film language to introduce world and characters, without the use of dialogue or exposition.

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Key moments from the ‘Coffee Run’ scene

This whole sequence is one, long tracking shot. There’s so much happening, and each time I rewatch it I notice something different. 

Here’s a breakdown of what’s happening:

- We see ‘Baby’ straight after the title, implying that he’s the baby driver? (2) - Checks his surroundings and wears dark shades, being cautious (3 & 8 & 15) - Baby’s in his own world, often blocking out the real world (4) - Almost mocking other people’s lives? (5) - Baby being completely involved with his music, he clearly knows the song really well and does this walk regularly (6 & 7) - Quite confident in himself? But not taken seriously. (9) - Foreshadowing his future love interest, showing what he really wants? (10) - Now very obviously avoiding the cops (11) - Being hassled on the streets. Baby’s hiding something or feels guilty (12) - Again, he’s not totally paying attention, but this is a pedestrian crossing. They didn’t stop for him. (13) - Still partly paying attention to the world around him, as he notices other people’s drama (14) - Constant references to the cops. It's obvious that Baby’s on the run, but he seems used to it (17)

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Introducing Characters Through Film Language

The two clips that I will be analysing for my essay:

Baby Driver (2017) ‘Coffee Run’

WALL-E (2008) ‘Day at work’

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Baby Driver and WALL-E - Opening Sequences

I’m going to compare the very first shots from each film, analysing what the directors have chosen to show us in the precious first minutes of their films.

Baby Driver:

Now the first character we are shown is Baby, because after all, he is the main character that we will be following throughout the movie. Baby is not, however, the very first thing we see:

Shot 1: Establishing shot of the bank -> Car drives into frame

Shot 2: Close up on Baby’s hand and mp3 player

Instead, we are shown an establishing shot of where the characters are, and the two things most important to Baby. This way we instantly know that driving and music will be important parts of the film, and important things in Baby’s life.

Shot 3: Close up on baby

We are then shown Baby, looking serious and mysterious. His identity is hidden behind dark shades, and we can now assume the music we hear is playing through his headphones.

Close-up shots are designed to focus the eye on a single thing. It’s the director's way of saying “look at this, this is important.” These dramatic close-ups also tell us the kind of film you’re about to watch. Dramatic music, dramatic close-ups, quick cuts, followed by a serious looking character... these things are an easy giveaway that this is an action/thriller movie.

WALL-E:

The opening shot for WALL-E is very different:

Shot 1: SPACE (actually multiple shots of space)

Shot 2: EARTH (slow zoom towards the surface)

An establishing shot is designed to show the audience the location of the film. For the story to make sense, we need to know roughly where it’s taking place. It’s important to understand why the director is showing us not just earth... but several shots of space and the solar system, too. We’re shortly introduced to WALL-E and can begin to follow his journey and development as a character, however, the film is about more than just him and the other characters. Ultimately it’s about Earth, and the story of how humans trashed and abandoned it, leaving robots to restore it back to a habitable state.

When we are eventually introduced to WALL-E, after flying around factories and piles of waste, it’s with the following birds-eye shot:

WALL-E is just a small, insignificant speck on a giant, deserted planet. However, we can’t help but wonder why he’s the only one left on the planet. Is there something particularly special about this lonely robot?

WALL-E then confidently zooms past, filling the entire frame. This little robot clearly has a purpose. Then we see the following extreme close-up of his hands scooping trash.

Oh, so that’s his purpose. Wait.. but is it really his job to clean up the whole planet? Alone? How long has he been there?

These are the questions the audience will be asking themselves by this point, all prompted by a few simple shots. There’s so much more information that we’ve picked up on without even realising it, and that is the power of film language.

This is of course followed by his name (engraved onto his front) and the title of the film:

So these are the ways two completely different films (one live-action and one animation) introduce their main characters and establish their locations, themes and genres.

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Essay...

I will be using Edgar Wright's 'Baby Driver' (2017) as an example of excellent use of film language, and comparing it with the Pixar animation 'WALL-E' (2008). Both films are similar as they contain large sections with little to no dialogue. They demonstrate how a lot of information can be delivered to the audience through film language, using the important rule of 'showing' rather than 'telling'.

Both use colour but in slightly different ways. They use film language, rather than dialogue/narration, to convey information, backstory and plot to the audience.

To be continued

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Use of colour in Baby Driver:

“In a film, almost everything you’ll see on screen is there by design.”

“Costumes are just another opportunity for communicating ideas or themes.”

“Using bright and vibrant colours to illustrate a shift towards something magical.”

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Discussing use of music in Baby Driver (Start at 1:20)

This video puts a lot of my own thoughts and opinions into words.

About the scene ‘Coffee Run’: “Everyone seems bored or pissed off, while he frolics in his own little bubble, enjoying himself.”

His music is drowning out more than just his tinnitus.

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Nerdist article discussing use of colour and costume in Baby Driver