The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has extremely distinct colour choice but is never used to signify anything in its execution. Similarly, akin to most musicals it is literal in its story and does not often use metaphors. The part that does use metaphor however comes at half way in where Genevieve (main character) finds the lucky bean within her food and thus must choose a King and make a wish. Due to Guy, her almost childhood sweetheart, leaving to go to war she must choose a man who is more financially stable. At this moment Genevieve states "I have no choice.." and looks up to the camera. Though she does this several times throughout The Umbrellas of Cherbourg it's this scene that keeps standing out to me over and over. The mix of a head-on break of the fourth wall is so effective! Somehow I want to include it in the scene I make; though having a scene where everything is facing forward and direct to the camera seems most unnatural. (Simiarly to the effect Kubrick gets with symmetry and one-point perspective. In this case it would be something to avoid..)
Right now I have an idea of starting the shot from 3/4 or in a way that infers reflection/self-thought (like the above screenshot of Genevieve sitting by her dressing table) and rotating the camera round towards a portrait shot of her face that would then have some "hold" factor. (Maybe backed by a slightly slower version/melody of the infamous duo between Guy and Genevieve. ) It had crossed my mind initially that perhaps a character would not even be needed, as the Umbrella shop could speak for itself with its design, but as the story focuses on Genevieve and Guy it wouldn't make sense not to include a character element.
Currently I'm trying to break down the most important parts of the film (so in some ways, the three act structure of it) and from that decide what should be included. I would really like to be able to make the shot be simple yet very well put together to evoke curiosity for the film! An ode of sorts.
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