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Hi master Roger Deakins,
SICARIO is one of my favourite film. I love films which have subjective experience, which is common in most of the Denis Villeneuve films.
when I read the Sicario script written by Taylor Sheridan. the opening scene is the Alejandro’s scene establishing his revenge. so everyone will easily connect to the story through Alejandro.
But by cutting that scene out in the film and telling the story through the eyes of Kate is a very risky choice. because the Kate character is rarely acts, she always reacts to the actions done in front of her. which is the main point in the story that Kate understands what the real world is and she understands about the Sicario. there’s a chance that audience will bored even there are lots of questions raise in audience mind through Kate.
technical aspects like cinematography, sound design, music, editing.. balanced that and kept the audience engaging for the whole film.
did you feel any pressure or take any choices to engage the audience through Cinematography?
did you and Denis ever discussed about it?
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Ganesh vengatesh where did you study film language. You love ‘sicario’ film and also you are point out the mistakes like child. You don’t know what you are talking about. The film language is very impressive. Editing also very good. First you have to learn film language. Don’t ask silly questions. You are wasting your time and precious maestro Roger times also.
Even you don’t understand the story. Don’t act like masters. Your fundamental is very poor. Who is your mentor?
Let’s stay respectful here, will we? It’s hard for me to fully understand the OP’s point and question, because of the language barrier. But my assumption is he/she feels like it was a bold choice to tell the story through Kate and leave out the beginning scene with Alejandro, therefore wonders if there were any worries during shooting that telling the story from a more “passive” viewpoint would create the need for more “action” in other departments (camera work, editing, sound design)…? Or I might have misunderstood the question all together. Either way, let’s not intimidate and blame other forum users. I don’t think he/she meant to be disrespectful.
In regards to the question though, I would be very surprised if Dennis had any doubt in his choice of telling the story through Kate. He’s a fantastic director and I’m sure he knew her viewpoint is a very strong and interesting way of telling the story, that doesn’t need any “make up” through other aspects of the movie.
Thankyou halfgrain for understanding my question. Even though my English had lot of mistakes. I’m hardly trying to learn it to make a good communication with every filmmaker in this website to learn filmmaking from everyone which will definitely lead me to make good films.
I never thought it was a mistake that their decision to tell the story through kate’s character.
It’s one of the best decision they took. It expresses the theme very clearly.
Denis Villeneuve and Roger deakins are one of the greatest filmmakers who push their boundaries and limits of storytelling in filmmaking for every film they do.
They are not ordinary movie makers who use same hit formula again and again for every movie they do.
While creating a new way of storytelling, there are risk factors that will be discussed with crew members. Because filmmaking is a collaborative process.
Like Denis Villeneuve once said
“If I wanted to have total control and be a dictator, I would do ice sculpture in my basement. If I want to make a movie, I’m going to work with 500 people, and I will have to work with their strength and their weakness.”
I started the topic to know what they thought about their risks and what they discussed while taking those risks.
Thankyou everyone.
Interesting question Ganesh, makes total sense to me 🙂 I seem to remember reading about a scene that was shot but cut in the edit where Alejandro was introduced, originally this was outside the aeroplane (?) – possibly to really sneak the character into the story slowly as we begin to realise alot of this story will be about him.. which could be why the original opening in the script was cut.
In alot of way’s the film really is Alejandro’s story told through Kate’s eyes, but it is also Kate’s journey as well, and she definitely becomes less passive as the story progresses..
Would love to hear some more insights about how Sir Roger worked with Denis to film these two characters.. the relatable Kate and the mysterious Alejandro!
Also yes, please keep it respectful (Vanniyan) – we are all here to learn, share and support each other – there are no stupid questions.
Regards, Michael
Found this
and this
https://screenrant.com/sicario-movie-mexico-city-filming-location-roger-deakins/
🙂
“But by cutting that scene out in the film and telling the story through the eyes of Kate is a very risky choice.”
I just looked into the script because I didn’t know Alejandro was introduced early. By leaving that away, he stays a mysterious character. Kate constantly wonders who that guy is, where does he come from, what’s his motivation – and so do we! Much more powerful imo.
“…because the Kate character rarely acts, she always reacts to the actions done in front of her. ”
I think that’s part of why Sicario works so well, the audience basically is Kate – only watching, feeling powerless to intervene. Now add Roger’s speciality of putting the audience exactly where they need to be in each shot and you get that unique viewing experience of Sicario. I think it’s a major reason why so many people love this film.
In hindsight it seems like an easy decision but it definitely was a major change to the dynamic of the viewing experience. And it would surely be interesting to know what considerations they made (who decided it, just Denis, more people, was someone against it?) to go with this change.
If I can join in this topic, I think Ganesh asked a good question and did a good subjective analysis.
In my opinion, first of all, art is subjective. It is subjective when someone feels and creates a piece of art and often is subjective when a human being is connecting to it and has his sensations, his reactions, and his own interior questions.
I think, to answer to Ganesh, that Mr. Villeneuve took his risk to change the way to introduce a crucial character like Alejandro, and by doing this he changed the whole Image System of the movie and the way we as an audience perceived and followed the story.
When we all do something we taking our risks, this is a process that can improve our path (passing also by brutal failures).
I agree with Michael (Mr. Ryan) and to be honest I never analyzed the fact Kate is something like an “observer” of the story, we as the audience are Kate. This is a strong storytelling point of Sicario in my opinion and is maybe the the factor that makes the movie not “just an action movie”.
Of course, this is my opinion, as an audience. I’m not won any awards nor feel like a movie theorist.
In the end, I agree with the concept to be always respectful of each other.
I know you Vanniyan are so passionate about movies and cinematography and are a huge fan of Mr. Deakins (like us) but this doesn’t let you blame and call someone “child”.Often a child can teach us to see something that we never saw.
I apologize for my bad English.
Have a peaceful Sunday all forum members.
Max.
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