By: Daniel Varnis
WARNING: CRITIQUE CONTAINS SPOILERS
Gravity – the winner of seven Oscars, including best director in 2013 – is one of the most nerve wracking films ever composed in the history of film making. If you are looking for a movie that doesn’t require the viewer’s fullest attention to the nitty gritty (i.e. character development, story, plot, etc.), then Gravity is a must for you! Through the use of state of the art CGI effects, sci-fi based music, overuse of silence, and the reality of the film, the director Alfonso Cuarón had me on the edge of my seat the entire time the film was playing.
The film starts off immediately in space... it was quite evident that the Alfonso wanted to jump right into action! As the film begins, you are looking at the Earth spinning ever so angelically. Following up with that, the two main characters (and pretty much the only characters you see throughout the entire film) in the film are introduced to us. We find ourselves watching the adventure of two astronauts, Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (played by George Clooney). The main setting of the film is one week into their assignment by NASA to fix one of their satellites that malfunctioned in outer space.
The film starts off immediately in space... it was quite evident that the Alfonso wanted to jump right into action! As the film begins, you are looking at the Earth spinning ever so angelically. Following up with that, the two main characters (and pretty much the only characters you see throughout the entire film) in the film are introduced to us. We find ourselves watching the adventure of two astronauts, Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (played by George Clooney). The main setting of the film is one week into their assignment by NASA to fix one of their satellites that malfunctioned in outer space.
Like stated before; Gravity is not a film that was made for story development and attention important details, it’s main purpose was for pure entertainment and to serve as eye-candy to the viewers... which it did. With the main setting of the film being space, the people who were in charge of special effects had to be sure that they could manipulate a hollywood movie set to actually look the infinity of blackness it is known to be. Fortunately enough, those people did a perfect job doing what they do best. One scene in particular where the special effects really stand out is the scene where astronaut Ryan Stone gets hit by space debris, causing her to spin in circles because she is harnessed to NASA’s shuttle. Watching her spin around, the viewer is able to see the Earth in the background, pieces of debris whizzing past Sandra Bullock, and the destroyed space shuttle floating around.
Another component of the film that had a huge emphasis on the tone of the scenes was the execution of various sound platforms. In the very beginning, the movie starts off with the quote, “There is nothing to carry sound – no air pressure – no oxygen.” With that quote being displayed, the viewer should expect the movie to be a quiet one. Although assumptions are led by common sense, this movie does the complete opposite. Yes, there are many scenes where there is no background music and all you hear is dialogue, however, whenever there is a scene that is displaying a specific feeling, there is always music playing that perfectly coincides with the tone of that scene. The music can range anywhere from calm instrumentals, to orchestra, or even to trippy techno music. Everything piece of music used somehow always fits to the scene perfectly. One really good example of this is the scene where the astronauts have their first encounter with the space debris.
The last piece that makes Gravity such an amazing film was the use of CGI/special effects to allow the movie to depict an authentic setting of outer space. Space is known to be a very quiet, dark, and desolate place. With zero gravity and no oxygen, it’s completely uninhabitable for humans to survive. The director of special effects for this film did an astounding job portraying that setting, making the movie look like it was recorded in space itself rather than a hollywood studio.
To close, on a scale from 1–10, I would rate Gravity a 9. By parts, the special effects, music, and setting of the film was phenomenal. However, the movie could have used some more character development or character identification. In other words, the lack of those details and overkill of CGI effects made the movie one notch lower than something absolutely amazing. Nonetheless, it is still one of the most extraordinary films ever produced.
Citations
"Alfonso Cuarón." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/>.
Bradshaw, Peter. "Gravity – Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 08 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/07/gravity-review>.
"Computer-generated Imagery." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery>.
"Gravity (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_%28film%29>.
"Gravity." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/>.
Miller, Ross. "'Gravity' Wins Seven Oscars." The Verge. The Verge, 2 Mar. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/2/5464334/gravity-2014-oscar-wins>.
"Space Debris Hits Explorer - Gravity Scene." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkILY1h6fA>.
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/>.
Bradshaw, Peter. "Gravity – Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 08 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/07/gravity-review>.
"Computer-generated Imagery." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery>.
"Gravity (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_%28film%29>.
"Gravity." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/>.
Miller, Ross. "'Gravity' Wins Seven Oscars." The Verge. The Verge, 2 Mar. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/2/5464334/gravity-2014-oscar-wins>.
"Space Debris Hits Explorer - Gravity Scene." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkILY1h6fA>.