Cinematic Influences

Whilst Gregory Crewdson's images are full of narrative and cinematic lighting, some film directors are moving towards "stills" in their movies.
By this I mean that the function of a lingering camera shot on a detail which doesn't directly contribute to the narrative of the film, gives it some of the qualities of a still. For instance, in one of my favourite films, Junebug, there are several of these pause for thought camera shots: one shot zooms into the wind rustling through a tree in the suburban garden of the family (reminiscent of similar shot in Antonioni's Blow Up)which puts you standing right there in the drive - it's the kind of detail you notice in real life but don't expect directors to have time to put in because they are busy with pace and plot. The other memorable lingering shot is of the family's empty dining room when everyone is out of the house. This is the image I have had in mind for some time in relation to my own project - empty interiors which still suggest the lingering presence of the occupier(s). This is the somewhat intangible effect I hope to suggest in my empty kitchens.

Someone has described the pauses in Junebug more eloquently than I and I'm posting a cut of the review -
Empty rooms punctuate Junebug (2005, Phil Morrison). Madelaine’s empty gallery after an auction, the strangely lifeless dining room in the Johnsten’s home, the Johnsten’s kitchen after a storm of words, the front lawn, green and well-watered. These empty rooms are presented just as they are, in longish single shots, from a fixed camera position. A shot of the Johnsten’s dining room shows a gleaming table and a bit of a sideboard. The room is too neat, the few knick knacks placed awkwardly. Although the room is not cluttered, it is claustrophobic, and Peg’s controlling presence seems to suck any warmth out of the room - even the sun struggles to get through the sheer curtain

There is another film I saw recently, Tokyo Story which again isn't about anything dramatic or hollywoody but is gentle, very slow, very realistic, one might even say "mundane" which again links in with the subject of my project but which doesn't preclude being called drama - small human dramas are played out everyday - people dying, people's relationships drifting apart, people losing heart, people being discouraged and often we don't notice. To have films made about these instances explores what it is to be human. Again, here is a quote about the film (made in 1953)which sums up well the enjoyable slowness of it all:
Like all of Ozu's sound films, Tokyo Story is not melodramatic or structured around Hollywood plot points; its pacing is slow (or, as David Bordwell prefers to describe it, "calm"). Important events are often not shown on screen, only being revealed later through dialogue; for example, Ozu does not depict the mother and father's journey to Tokyo at all.

I feel this links to my project because of the "quietness" of the subject - nothing wow or exciting, but something about truth and real life.