Film language.

Camera displacements

Cameras do not move very fast in this movie. The film does not try to give us a "fast" impression and due to that, the dynamic impression we can perceive in another kind of films does not appear here. The main reasons for this are that the film is not an action film but a certain kind of science fiction film. It is also a way to give us a feeling of perfection. Fast movements may transmit us an anxious behaviour and the director wants to make us feel like if we where in a perfect place where errors do not exist and where perfection is a normal thing.

Shots

The most used shots are the close-up, the medium shot and the full shot. The less used of both is the close-up. It gives us an impression of the way of thinking of the character. Because of that we constantly know the feelings of the main character and also the feelings of the other characters. That use is the first one in every film, but in this one the director gives it another function: it tells us who is the most important person in the film. We actually feel like Vincent in the film and, at the end, we even feel disappointed when we notice the disappointment of Vincent when the doctor tells him the bad news about the way that right-handers go peeling.

Another shot which is very used is the full. It focuses the upper part of the body, from the waist to the head. The director uses this shot to show us the relation between two or more characters or things. With this we mean that this relation can be between objects and persons. A very good example of this situation is when, at the middle of the film, a spacial rocket is shown. This rocket, which gets all the light, is focused meanwhile Jerome and Vincent just look at it and it is repeated three or more times later..

The most used is the medium shot. It is a mix between full shot and close-up, so we have a light impression about the feelings of the character but we also see his/her relationship with the environment. The usual employment of this shot is proved when the director wants to focus a character along a dialogue, which are abundant, although there are not long speeches using this shot, mostly because it has not got a clear purpose but it tries not to create extreme situations.

Photography

The photography is not a very hard point in this film because there is not much to see, so the photography section its limited to the focus-by-light. With this we mean that, when we look at a scene, the most important parts are the brighter and the darker parts are the less important ones.

Its very important to focus too the fact that the almost total darkness is quite common along the film. As this happens in the moments witch emotional charge, that darkness has to be a way to make us feel that sadness or whatever that the director wants us to think.

Dialogues

Dialogues are essential in Gattaca because they give us the most of the information of the film and they are almost the only method employed to make intrigue and amazement. These elements are transmitted in spoken way because of the formal and soft nature of the film exposed in the critic.

As a result of the the nature of the film too, dialogues communicates politeness, formalness and calm and it is proved in the way the characters speak and their behaviour according to their social class.

There are different types of dialogues: Vincent and Jerome´s, Vincent and his fellow´s, detective´s, etc. But they all coincide in the same aspects before and, in addition, express dailiness and nearness to the viewer because there is not too much suddenness and the characters represent normal people in Gattaca society; it is something that could really happen.

Scenery and costumes.

Scenery in Gattaca consists in modern buildings, stairs, corridors and rooms the most, and the most used colours are soft browns, white, the green of the sea, black and grey.

The reasons of using artificial scenery is because, according to a modern society, actions always develop in cities with strange buildings and cars, but the usual employment of the sea -a natural environment- , could be related to DNA, because the sea in the origin of life. In addition the employment of the mentioned colours transmits a feeling of soberness and order, and the most remarkable one, the green of the sea transmits hope, according to the story.

The costumes often consist in an elegant suit for men and a smart dress for Irene, because the story is developed in a big part at Gattaca, the work station, but it also communicates homogeneity because it indicates that everyone is “pure” and valid people, and it functions as an useful hide for Vincent, who cannot be recognised from the crowd.

Music and sound elements.

Most remarkable sound elements are the soundtrack and the the voices of the characters.

The soundtrack of Gattaca is remarkable because of its expression, everything it can communicate. It uses a very soft harmony without great excitement, so it reflects the character of Science, which is precise and quiet, and remembers us the ambiance of a laboratory because, in fact, the director begins using it when Vincent is preparing his body samples. The soundtrack is also related to the quietness of nature, the cells, the DNA definitively, which shares the qualities of Science of quietness and precision, but in this case, the director establishes a relation between the cells and the universe that is evidenced at the final of the film, when it begins to sound the soundtrack at the end when Vincent is taking off and he is making his reflections.

On the other side, the voices of the characters are important because they have to give emotion to the dialogues and they are responsible of a part of the attraction to the viewer. However, at least in the Spanish version, they are not specially beautiful or expressive because they belong to simple benders and they are not capable to impose to the message and give it strength. We hope that the original version to be better is this aspect because in Gattaca the importance of dialogues to communicate the messages are definitively important, so they have to be involved in a nice-looking wrapping paper.