The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

1. Overall Look: Julian Schnabel’s 2007 film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly utilizes the qualities of the film stock, lighting, lenses, framing, angles, camera movement, and use of long takes to achieve an overall look. The film stock used in the movie shifts to a jittery, blurred, and gritty composition to give us a sense of the chaos that Jean-Dominique Bauby experiences. The lighting also impacts the mood as shadows and bright lights are alternated especially in the scene in which Bauby awakens from his coma. In this scene, lenses are used to zoom in and out, focusing and unfocusing on objects. The film’s diverse array of framing, camera angles and camera movement as well as its use of long takes to create interesting cinematographic aspects throughout the film.
   
2. Images: A key image in The Diving bell and the Butterfly is that of a diver using a diving bell. The diver is alone in a vast ocean, struggling and trapped. This image represents the isolated suffocation of Bauby’s paralyzed state. The image of the butterfly emerging from its cocoon represents Bauby’s blooming imagination. The image of the collapsing icebergs is a representation of Bauby’s declining hope for recovery.
   
3. Shot Lengths: There are close up shots used in the film when intimacy is being projected as well as a technique used to give the audience a view of the world through Bauby’s eye. 
   
   Long shots are also used to give the audience a sense of Bauby’s isolation and loneliness, like in the scene in which he is sitting alone, encompassed by the roaring sea and little else.
   
4. Shot Types: A scene in the film that uses a shot type that breaks free from the norm is the scene in which Bauby’s eye must be sewn shut. Not only are close shots used to explore what Bauby would see, but we are able to literally see through his eyes as the doctor sews his bad eye. We see a blurry background and in the foreground, his eyelashes and his eyelids being sewn shut with a needle and thread in this unique shot type. 
   
5. Camera Angles: The camera angles used throughout this film are usually low angle shots. The reason for this allows for the continued allusion that the audience has been placed into the position of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Because Bauby is in a paralyzed state and is often in bed or in his wheelchair, a low angle shot allows for imitating his viewpoint. The scene in which Bauby is driving in his car also utilizes low angle shots, however this does not give the audience Bauby’s point of view, but rather gives dominance to his character as he is at a successful point in his career, and has not been paralyzed as of yet. 
   
6. Composition: While the film contains scenes that are equally balanced and properly composed to the rule of thirds, other scenes contain elements within the frame arranged with little pattern to evoke a more chaotic and uncertain composition. 
   
7. Camera Movement: The camera movements throughout the film often evoke a sense of confusion or chaos, whether it is in the scene where Bauby awakens from his coma, or when Bauby enters the shooting session at Elle. The camera moves wildly about the room in the scene of the shooting session to express Bauby’s excitement for his job.
   
    
8. Cinematography Style: The cinematography in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly intentionally calls attention to itself. The cinematography often gives the audience a firsthand experience of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s experiences after awaking from his coma. The film beautifully blends Bauby’s lush imagination with the horrors of his harsh reality into the film’s artistic styling.