​Minh Phuong Nguyen's
Foundation Portfolio
[9 FRAME ANALYSIS]
The Shape Of Water
"The Shape of Water" (2017) is a romance fantasy drama film directed by Guillermo del Toro, portraying the unique bond that develops between a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a high-security government laboratory and an amphibious creature held captive there.
FRAME #1
The film opens with a captivating underwater establishing shot that sets the initial tone for the entire film. The scene strikes the audience with its prominent blue and green color grading. This use of color grading serves various symbolic purposes which contributes significantly to the film's visual storytelling: water, fantasy, emotion, escapism, isolation and also connection. It is also an opening voiceover, emphasizing the fantasy elements in the narrative with typical words like "princess" or "monster," setting the story "a long time ago" in "a small city near the coast, but far from everything". The voice also refers to the "princess" as "mute", hinting that the "princess" chracter - likely the female protagonist - is a mute woman.
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The camera glides with the water flow through the submerged apartment, showing that the film's language is about flow and camera motion's continuance, helping the audience to immerse themselves in the environment. The tracking shot moves forward, transitions through some isolated building ruins, protected by waving aquatic plants - an impression so ethereal, so mysterious that only a fantasy film could achieve.
The floating camera turns into a steadicam as it enter our female protagonist Elisa's apartment, submerged in water. This therefore introduces water as the central element of the film's narrative and perhaps has a special connection to Elisa. It is not just a physical setting, it is also a mephorical space which represents the fluidity of emotions, love transformation and sometimes foreshadows the unknown. The surreal image of the underwater apartment establishes a fantastical, dreamlike sentiment. The shot then reveals Elisa sleeping soundly while floating weightlessly, suggesting Elisa is unburdened and living a life of freedom.
FRAME #2
Next up is a mid shot of Elisa waking up as the alarm clock rings, indicating that it is currently daytime in the scene. The lighting, shadows of the water flow and floating objects in the previous shot disappears as the room becomes a normal bedroom. This subtle change shows the film's blurred boundary between reality and fantasy. The use of dimmed lighting and muted colors contribute to the film's ethereal tone, enhances a sense of intimacy and privacy that draws the audience's attention to the film as Elisa starts her day.
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This shot also provides us a better chance to understand Elisa. She is quite slim, has short hair and wears plain clothes, implying that she is likely to belong to the working class and has a modest lifestyle.
FRAME #3
In this midshot, as Elisa steps out of her bed and puts on her coat, a siren suddenly pierces through the window, disrupting the peaceful silence of her environment. This sound introduces urgency and tension, foreshadowing upcoming events which might be a turning event for Elisa. However, judging her reaction, which is emphasized through her facial expressions and the act of putting on her coat (a protective shield against the future hardships) proves her being ready for the extraordinary.
FRAME #4
The film progresses with Elisa's next step in her daily routine: preparing her bathtub. It is now clear that the key colors in her apartment are blue and green, and Elisa's frequent involvement with the tub emphasizes her deep connection with water. Moreover, so far, the presence of water-related elements like the bathroom and fish in the apartment (frame 1) can be recognized, reinforces the film's symbolism.
FRAME #5
In this long shot, the audience can get a better grasp of Elisa's casual environment. The composition in this camera angle makes Elisa look somewhat really tiny in a big apartment, revealing that she is, in fact, lonely. With the simple design combining with the calming color grading, Elisa's bathtub serves as her comfort place. The soft, muted colors with dim lighting enhance the dreamlike, cozy atmosphere (unlike the unsettling, mysterious but clinical green color grading in the previous shots) highlights her personal and emotional interactions with water. Moving on, the audience have a broad view of the dining room which has the subdued brown and green all over the wall, window and simple furniture hence helps establish Elisa's socio-economic status, showing that she is a part of the working class.
FRAME #6
The camera glides down as it shows us an air vent, which is likely to be located inside the structure of the apartment. From its run down look with dead animals decaying, hinting that the building is very old. The use of low key lighting in this shot also makes the film more dramatic, ominous.
FRAME #7
The camera continues moving downwards as it shows a broad view of a cinema. The film being played during that moment was Cleopatra (1963). This tells the audience that The Shape Of Water is set in the 1960s. Diving deeper into the meaning behind this, Cleopatra's historical narratives follows the personal and political complexities of Cleopatra's emotional relationships, therefore hinting that The Shape Of Water might follow the same themes. In terms of historical events, it was the Cold War and the "space race" in the 1960s between the US and USSR (Russia). The war is obviously at the forefront of the minds of innovators and scientists as they want to compete against the USSR, so there must be a trend of discovering and solving mysteries, and the unknown. It would be more understandable now to note that the overall blue and green color grading from the beginning of the film also suggests that there are science elements in the film.
FRAME #8
The following scene is a close up of Elisa's next step in her morning routine: boiling eggs. Up until now, it is inherent that almost every of the furniture and objects in Elisa's apartment like the bathroom and the pot is really small and suitable for one person using, indicating that she lives alone. Using low key lighting, the film draws the audience's attention to the boiling pot with 3 eggs in it. This could be foreshadowing that Elisa, together with her other two companions, might face troubles in the near future. In other words, they are the three eggs "in hot water."
FRAME #9
The 9th frame is a midshot of Elisa in her kitchen. The kitchen looks like a small, modest space that serves as a reflection of Elisa's lifestyle. Moreover, the egg timer used in the last seconds must serve as Elisa's "time manager" througher her daily routine, helps adding depth to the narrative. Therefore, the simple furniture and appliances, under the effects of subdued, earthy color grading, it is revealed that Elisa has a monotonous and routine life.
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Finally, by the end of the frame, the audience should be fairly clear about Elisa's characteristics. The film has had no dialogues so far, this means Elisa is the "mute princess", whose turning point is likely to be the "monster" mentioned at the beginning of the movie by the narrator. As she is the female protagonist, she would be depicted as a character with depth and emotions rather than monotonous. To fully understand and connect to Elisa's character, the audience will have to follow her character representation, which is beyond traditional means like spoken words, throughout the film.