Cinematography

 

The cinematography in the opening of ‘Moon’ shows the contrast between earth and the space station; setting up the binary opposition of the earth and the moon. The opening infomercial montage sequence is the only colourful and saturated part of the movie, and it contrasts greatly to the monochrome and desaturated space station and moon. This could represent Sam’s isolation on the moon, as the only other thing with him is Gertie, a robot. Aesthetically this might cause the reader to feel uncomfortable, as lack of colour has negative connotations such as the isolation and sadness that Sam is experiencing; you could even say his life is void of colour. Presenting the station immediately in a negative way could show how the film is representing exploiting the moon for energy as wrong, as it’s just replacing one finite source with another and that the humans in the movie haven’t learned their lesson; this has contextual links as the film was released in 2009 meaning that problems with energy sources was well known and a topic that was being explored in real life.

There are also lots of establishing shots to not only contrast the earth with the moon but to set up the film. There are extreme long shots of places on earth such as fields and New York as well as establishing shots of the moon. This shows the lack of colour and isolation on the moon as well. The only coloured lighting used on the moon even has the connotation of isolation, when Sam opens the hatch to go into the vehicle there is blue light inside. This has links to how Sam’s wife isn’t actually video chatting with him and how it’s all a lie but contrasts to when the other Sam clone awakes, and he has company. We have reason to believe that the subject of isolation strongly damages Sam’s mind as often when he hallucinates, he imagines other people, possibly meaning that his need and want for company is showing; such as when he see’s the woman in the yellow dress where the yellow could show his obsession with needing company.

 

 

Mise en Scene

 

The mise en scene uses dramatic contrast in single shots to portray the ideologies and binary oppositions that are explored throughout the film. Such as, the long shot of many people enjoying their day at the beach with the grey factories behind them. This contrast shows the binary opposition of human against machinery but also represents problems at the time the film was published in 2009, how many people ignored the environmental and energy problems that were happening around them; this links to the ideology of environmentalism which the LUNAR company appears to support. This is part of the binary opposition of those who have and those who have not got an easy way of living, the people on the beach contrast with the children in a pile of rubbish; you could suggest that the representation of children in the advert was used by the company just to evoke emotion and therefore positive emotions towards the company as they say they will help. We also learn that the company can only help 70% of the world, and on the globe they present this as West America, instantly showing the company as unable to help everyone and corrupt.

The monochrome space craft against the colourful and saturated earth shows the emptiness and loneliness of being on the moon. This as well as the set design (aesthetically) makes the space craft appear claustrophobic throughout the film as Sam has a very limited amount of quite small spaces to spend time in, possibly making the audience feel uncomfortable and uneasy, making them feel more anxious for Sam to leave.

 

The mise en scene of the company’s logo links to modernism. The white background and the way that the words are made out of the grey lines which links to them using the moon, suggests a simpleness and logical answer to the environmental problems that the earth is facing and that Lunar Industries will supposedly be able to help.  The use of yellow and grey is also part of the binary oppositions the sun and the moon.

 

Performance

 

In the opening sequence we immediately learn about narrative, specifically character motivations such as Gertie the robot. At the beginning of the film, Gertie can appear ominous due to monotone voice and his face pictures which come across insincere and a bit creepy; plus the fact that the machinery can be used as the villain in these types of films such as in 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, as the film goes on we learn for definite that Gertie’s only motivation and goal is to help the Sam’s, this is shown in the opening sequence as Gertie is compliant to Sam, ‘Okay Sam’, showing how Gertie will always fulfil his needs. The robot also adds to the theme of isolation, as the robot is the only “alive” thing with Sam, and Gertie doesn’t even have real emotion, only programming. This adds to the theme of human and machinery, suggesting how lonely the earth might be if machinery start to take human roles.

Sam’s activeness contrasts to him at the end of the movie when he is very ill and dying, it sets up the narrative course of Sam’s decent into illness that we see happening on screen. It does however also sets up the similarities to Sam and the other clone Sam, as one of the first things that we see the clone Sam doing is being active. This has links to determinism which is an idea explored in philosophy, which on a basic level considers that if we were to start our life again, we would end up in the same place as free will is an illusion. The opening of the film sets this up as true, as both Sam’s are active which is just one of the ways that they act similar, suggesting a meaninglessness to life as humans have no real choices. However, by the end of the film this idea is contradicted, as the two Sam’s meet very different fates suggesting humans can make their own decisions and have free will, which makes the audience feel happier.  This might be the film suggesting that we are capable of change including environmental change as it’s an issue brought up in the opening infomercial montage sequence which promotes environmentalism.

 

Editing

 

The editing in the opening sequence establishes the company’s intentions, the state that the world is in, causes moral questioning and sets up the narrative and plot, forming the exposition.

 

The infomercial is a montage of images from around the globe highlighting the problems that people are having, such as the children going through rubbish and suggesting that the company can help them by using a new energy source from the moon. The images from this montage also show the binary oppositions (ideology and narrative) of those who do have and those who do not have an easy life, but they also possibly suggest that the company will only help West America, as that’s the 70% that they represent on the globe; setting up an untrustworthy relationship between the audience and their ideas about the company and starting the binary opposition of the West and East.

 

After the first montage there is a graphic animated sequence that shows how their energy resource idea works. This reminds the audience that they are exploiting the moon and that humans haven’t learned as they are just replacing one finite resource with another; the movie may be suggesting that this is what humans are like/will be like in real life as the film was set in 2009, meaning energy problems were known of. This also sets up the plot and narrative of the movie, as we know why Sam is on the moon and what he is working towards.

 

The graphic match of the Ferris wheel to the sun connotates the company’s idea with happiness, as they take the positiveness of the Ferris wheel and then link it with the sun and their project. As this is an infomercial, it was probably done to convince people that they had good intentions, to the audience however, it might show how they are trying to portray being a good company but isn’t, as the Ferris wheel is near a sign saying ‘Tsunami’ suggesting the disaster that will happen to Sam and possibly their project as we know the moon is a finite resource, putting the audience on edge slightly.

 

The montage of Sam on the moon after the montage on earth contrasts greatly due to change in saturation and colour. The earth is colourful and saturated, and the moon is monochrome and desaturated. Aesthetically, this sets up the theme of isolation and gives the audience the feeling of how something is going to go wrong, as lack of colour and desaturation is normally negative. This montage also allows us to see how Sam is in a sense trapped and going nowhere, we see him running on a treadmill suggesting he is working towards something but going nowhere; he is a hard worker and getting no benefit.

 

 

Sound

 

The overhead speaker in the opening sequence says things like ‘There was a time when energy was a dirty word’ while showing factories producing pollution and fires. They are comparing the current state of the earth and the trouble that it is in with lovely places such as an open field and greening desert. The audience is left considering how on one hand, the company is promoting environmentalism which is good and on the other hand, to what extent the company is lying making them seem untrustworthy; especially since during the time the film was released, having no energy source problems would seem almost impossible, therefore making the audience feel slightly uneasy as the company is probably hiding something and how they imply that they are only helping West America, setting up the binary opposition of the West an East.

 

The non-diegetic music during the infomercial montage is news like with arpeggio piano playing and overall seems happy or at least neutral, but when the infomercial is over and the voice over has stopped, and we see the companies logo the music changes to less happy tune with eerie screech/electric long noises (but still piano), these sounds give negative connotations rather than positive suggesting to the audience that the company is untrustworthy, making them feel on edge or possibly more tense.  Making the audience feel bad about the company was probably easier than making the audience feel good about the company because in 2009 there were no companies that had a set solution to the energy crisis up and running, suggesting that it wasn’t currently possible and so though company must be hiding something, despite finding a new energy resource being good (environmentalism). Despite this, the change from positive to negative connotations with company made by the sound/music, was not un-expected due to the concerning lack of help going to the East.