Dunealready won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, so Greig Fraser will have a big mountain to climb if he wants to surpass his previous film inDune: Part Two.Dune’s cinematography played on many old sci-fi aesthetics. It successfully created an atmosphere of grandeur and awe without becoming too involved with its CGI, as is the main complaint with many modern films. The wide shots and the numerous extras gave the viewer that feeling one is meant to have in space; that one person is so incredibly small among the unfathomably vast universe. The scope of the camera work reflected the scope of the film, allowing the cinematography to havea part in telling the story. Arguably the biggest space odyssey ever to hit the big screen, it’s important to remember thatDunewas only the first movie, and the sequels will only get bigger from here.
Dunefaced some challenges with its creation, the most famous being its legacy as a “cursed” film. The movie had been made (or had tried to be made) several times before, and each attempt was a resounding failure. While one version of the film had a small but loyal following, nothing had brought the story into the mainstream. ThisDunewas the first to be widely accepted as a success in the eyes of the public, and it can attribute a lot of that success to its modern CGI and gigantic budget. But the film’s commitment to a particular style cementedDune’s photography in the hallsof sci-fi classics. Hopefully, fans can expect to see that aesthetic revived and improved upon in the sequel.
Updated July 2023: This article has been updated to include new and fresh content for your enjoyment byNikole Finger.
What Is Sci-Fi Cinematography?
Science fiction is often identified by its use of massive objects, big flashing lights, and huge exterior shots, and just about every sci-fi movie has at least one reference to Kubrick’s2001: A Space Odysseyhidden in there as well. Science fiction as a genre is defined by its exploration of the unknown. While other genres often use fantastical world-building to create something the audience has never seen before, in science fiction, there is a sense that this amazing world could exist.
It is truly unique from other styles of film if only because of the way the images are meant to create a sense of awe. These aren’t bedtime stories of dragons coming to life. The awe of science fiction is more akin to the unbelievable sight of a rocket launching to visit the moon for the first time, or a plane actually flying through the air when that had never been possible before. Science fiction plays on the dreams of inventions and innovations that aren’t real yet but might be possible one day.
Related:The Best Sci-Fi Movies Led By People of Color
In movies that aren’t meant to challenge a viewer, like your average rom-com or early Adam Sandler movie, the cinematography tends to be fairly basic. Shots are straightforward and not very often used to communicate anything else besides the surface value of what the audience is meant to see, and that is fine for that type of movie. Sometimes, the job of the cinematographer is to put the audience in the moment without realizing they’re watching a screen.
In more artistic films, likeMulholland Driveor something fromthe French New Wave, the audience is meant to get more out of the visuals than just what is literally there. The scope of the frame, the ratio, and even the angle of the camera can send a hidden message. For example, a canted angle, or Dutch angle, views the subject of the frame at, well, an angle. It is often used in horror movies to show that things are not balanced or safe, like when Edward and Bella talk about having to be friends inTwilight.
But of course, the vast population of average movie-goers might not recognize the difference between a Gaussian or a box blur and might find it difficult to see a Fibonacci spiral in one frame or another. Not only is it unlikely that most audience members will recognize it, but even film students wouldn’t remember the names for it. That’s not to say that the average viewer shouldn’t educate themselves about cinematography but rather to point out the fact that if a movie is difficult to describe, that isn’t the only option for recognizing special cinematography.
Science fiction movies often bridge that gap between simple films and complex, artistic ones, giving the audience a more profound visual experience while still remaining accessible to the average viewer who doesn’t want to learn a new vocabulary list just to know the difference between a cut and a jump cut (Hint: A jump cut is a jump in time within the same frame, not a jump from one location to another).
So What Can We Expect from Dune: Part Two?
Dunegave us an excellent revival of the classic science fiction aesthetic. Something that, perhaps, we’re occasionally reminded of in Marvel, but still haven’t seen in a long time. While Marvel films have captured some of the grandiose feel of a space epic, they often only use wide shots. Compared withDune, which used a lot of extreme wide shots, the characters look very small compared toa massive spaceship, a sandworm, or legions of followers.
It is less about how the Avengers look fighting with aliens and more about how Paul’s life is being tossed around by the entire world he lives in. The extreme wide shot puts even more emphasis on the surrounding of a character rather than the character themselves, giving the impression that the environment is a character in itself. It helps to reinforce the scope ofDune, informing the viewer of how large the forces at play in the narrative and how small Paul Atreides might be at this point in time.
Related:Dune Part Two: What We Want to See in the Highly-Anticipated Sci-Fi Sequel
But we also got big swaths of color, blues, grays, browns, and yellows that immersed a scene in tonal differences from one part of the story to the next. This helped to offset parts of the narrative from others since the movie had several storylines playing through it.Dune: Part Twois expected to be of a much grander scale. Even Greig Fraser, the Director of Photography, was astounded by it.
Backstage, after he had accepted his Oscar, Fraser toldThe Hollywood Reporterthe following.
“I can’t give you any scoops…. .butPart Twois a bigger story. I read the script, and I was more blown away thanPart One.”
Naturally, we can expect the story to be more grandiose as the stakes slowly get higher for the Atreides family, but what does that mean for the man behind the camera? One might expect Fraser to raise this drama in his own way. We will probably see a significant change in color if the tone of this movie is to change as sequels often do. Depending on what our heroes go through, shots may become tighter and faster to increase tension. Will the frame close in on Paul as his enemies close in on him? Or will Paul become even more insignificantly small in the grand scheme of things What will truly matter is the mood the moviemakers are trying to portray.
Most epic trilogies tend to make their second movie darker and more intense, but there have been rumors ofDunebeinga project comprised of as many as four films. So the fans will have to wait with anticipation to see what creative choices accompany the next chapter of the story.
