5 film-makers and their trademarks

Every filmmaker has a style that stands out and serves to identify the maker of the movie. Let us take a look at some of the finest directors to have graced the earth and their respective trademarks in the profession.

Stanley Kubrick:

Kubrick, except for two films, never wrote original screenplays. Most of his movies were adaptations of books. The most prominent symbol that he employed was the Kubrick Stare. Every time it succeeds in sending a chill down our spine, be it Malcolm Mcdowell in the A Clockwork Orange, Jack Nicholson in The Shining or Vincent D’Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket. There are many sequences picturised through the eyes of the character in Kubrick’s movies. Voice overs were pretty common throughout his filmography. The use of merry pop music which we saw in Shaitan and Aranya Kandam down south was first employed by Kubrick in his films. Bathrooms held an important place in Stanley’s style. Kubrick was fond of shots down a long stretch of path, say corridors in The Shining or the Bunker Beds in FMJ. Apart from these, there are claims of a recurring motif, CRM 114 in his works. There is no explanation as to why he chose this particular alphanumeric. An interesting piece of info – Kubrick often dropped opening credits and always displayed ‘The End’ in all his movies.

The Kubrick stares

Quentin Tarantino:

What features did Kaminey have that were similar to Quentin’s works? There are a couple of easily noticeable peculiarities – take any of his films and you will invariably find a group of people talking gibberish. They might be discussing miracles, exploring the deeper meaning in Madonna’s lyrics or some crazy shit. And it always tickles your funny bone. The second feature is the trunk shot, i.e. the picturization with the camera placed in an open trunk of a vehicle. Samuel Jackson is a mainstay with Tarantino and has appeared in five movies so far. The only other person to star in at least as many works is the man himself. Witty dialogues, caustic humour even with racial undertones and plenty of references to pop culture are prominently found. Music is not restricted to a filler role. And a not-so-obvious trademark is the foot fetish that this man seems to have. Many films feature close ups of the foot or foot massaging scenes. So which of these were present in Kaminey? Quirky characters alone don’t make up a Tarantino like-film. And how can I miss the bloodshed and blithe shooting.

Trunk shot compilation

Martin Scorsese:

Scorsese tends to begin his films with scenes way ahead chronologically as is evident in Raging Bull, Goodfellas and many others. The long shots are probably the most popular attribute of a Scorsese piece. He seems to use out casts as his characters frequently and employs guilt ridden leads in his stories ( Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Shutter Island). Scorsese’s families more often than not encounter a turning point in their lives. Apart from using slow motion and freeze frames in numerous instances ( Goodfellas, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull have plenty of them). Another recurring feature is the dress worn by his leading ladies. They are always dressed in white for their first appearance in the movie. He too, like Tarantino, appears in his films but in minor roles. The city of New York has been the centre of action in six of his films thus far.

Scorcese's cameos

Alfred Hitchcock:

Here comes the man who started off the trend of leaving trademark motifs in films. His films were ridden with recurring themes and techniques. Birds names were used as surnames for characters in his films. Usually, a character/item would form the basis for the lead’s actions but will never make an appearance on screen. Such a storytelling device, Hitchcock termed as “MacGuffin”. His character’ identity would come into question in most works and the character would then have to express the legitimacy of his character. If Kubrick had a thing for corridors, Hitchcock likes staircases. Shots featuring staircases would inevitably be present. Theatres formed the scene of shootouts in his cinema. Also blonde women were given preference – some characters were dyed forcibly in his films! In his plots, circumstances always push a normal guy next door in trouble. These are only few of the numerous symbols that Hitchcock utilized. If you haven’t heard of it, I suggest you look up Hitchcock zoom/Dolly zoom on Google – it’s brilliant.

Well, these are the shots featuring stairs in one film, Vertigo alone.

David Dhawan:

Why this guy? Well, he too has plenty of trademarks to boast. Five of his movies have No.1 in their title. He collaborates with Govinda and Juhi Chawla in most of his projects. Most of his films are copied from Hollywood or South Indian films. The theme, if there is any, is the same in all his films – madcap comedies for B centres but watched by the A centre audience just because of the cast. His protagonists delivered zany one liners and danced to pacy numbers. His films may not be huge successes of late but that hasn’t forced him to change his style one bit. Respect!

Posted in: Dhawan,Films,Full Metal Jacket,Hitchcock,Kubrick,Scorsese,Tarantino,Vertigo