Composition, Costuming, & Color: The Clever Ways 'Ida' Expresses a Nun's Inner Turmoil | No Film School

Ida, the Polish film about Anna, a young novitiate nun is a triumph in visual storytelling, evidenced by its Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography. There's so much to be said about the film's incredible visual style, from its use of black and white to its 1:33 aspect ratio, but there's much more that adds weight and substance to the story.

The filmmakers' clever use of costuming, use of color, and framing allows Anna's story to unfold in subtle, unconventional ways, making her inner battle of finding her identity both a delicate and powerful experience. These aspects and more are analyzed in this intriguing video essay by Steven Vredenburgh.

As beautifully composed as Ida is, framing was clearly not the only cinematic method used by director Pawel Pawlikowski and DPs Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal to communicate Anna's struggle to find herself. Lighting, costuming, makeup, aspect ratio -- they all work together to speak to your audience. It's an important lesson to learn, as filmmakers, that we have more tools at our disposal than we think we have to construct the stories we want to tell.

Source: Steven Vredenburgh

Ida composition Aspect Ratio aspectratio Black and White oscars Oscars 2015

28 Years Later iPhone

Why Did Danny Boyle Shoot ‘28 Years Later’ on an iPhone 15?

Here’s everything we know about the reports of the new ‘28 Years Later’ thriller being shot on an iPhone 15.

Move over, Sean Baker and Steven Soderbergh—Danny Boyle is the latest director to make the bold choice to shoot his latest feature film on an iPhone. Why, you ask? Partly, perhaps, because the team knows it will get them some nice headlines like this one. And partly just because they can.

Whether you love or hate the idea of shooting professional video on iPhones, it’s hard to argue that these latest smartphones aren’t capable of high-end video.

The iPhone 15, which is what Boyle and his team reportedly used for the long-awaited follow-up to the original 28 Days Later in 2002 and its 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, in particular, has proven to be a major step forward for Apple and was very much promoted as a filmmaking-capable camera.

Still, as is always the case with these smartphone-shot feature films, there’s more to the story than just the headline here. So let’s explore how Danny Boyle and his team were able to shoot 28 Years Later on an iPhone.

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