Breaking Bad.
Breaking Bad is a series that has ran from 2008 to 2013, following an unlikely pairing of a teacher, Walter White and his student Jesse Pinkman cooking methamphetamine (referred to here on out as the short term 'meth') together to raise money for Walter's family after he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
The first season is directed in the following order-
The first season is directed in the following order-
- Pilot- Vince Gilligan
- Cat's in the Bag...- Adam Bernstein
- ... And the Bag's in the River- Adam Bernstein
- Cancer Man- Jim McKay
- Grey Matter- Tricia Brock
- Crazy Handful of Nothin'- Bronwen Hughes
- A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal- Tim Hunter
The second and third episodes are directed by Adam Bernstein, the director of the episode I've chosen to recreate. Vince Gilligan is the show's executive producer and writer, so has had an involvement in most if not all episodes. I have watched the whole of the first season to get an idea of how Breaking Bad began, and to get an idea of how the characters are initially introduced and developed. I am writing about the series as a whole, referencing to the first season, with examples from the particular episode 'A Crazy Handful of Nothin'' by Bronwen Hughes.
I love Bronwen Hughes' view on directing, that passion is a key ingredient to getting a film made in the first place. In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Hughes speaks about how, when she thought about her favourite directors, she never thought about their gender, and that the 'Best Male Director' and 'Best Female Director' should not be categories, which I find inspiring.
I love Bronwen Hughes' view on directing, that passion is a key ingredient to getting a film made in the first place. In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Hughes speaks about how, when she thought about her favourite directors, she never thought about their gender, and that the 'Best Male Director' and 'Best Female Director' should not be categories, which I find inspiring.
I have tried many times in the past to start watching Breaking Bad, but only made it as far as the 4th episode after not finding it to be really my kind of show. However, after watching it for the purpose of this post, I'm hooked. I never gave it the time it deserved and only now do I understand why it's such a big show.
One factor that you really can't overlook is the character development. They are so detailed, and the audience understands the people, their emotions, and how Walter in particular, changes over time as he becomes more experienced in the world of meth production and distribution. In this interview with Esquire, ex drug-lord Cavario H. speaks about how Walter evolves, but also how he may be smart to Chemistry, but when it comes to everything else, Walter uses his common sense, noting the moment Walter and Jesse steal a chemical in a barrel from a warehouse.
Jesse is a well-rounded character, and he feels like, if you were to know somebody in the business, this is how you would imagine him to be. He may seem to be a little of a melodramatic version of a character, however, on online forums people seem to agree that he was really quite realistic as the kind of person that was kind at heart and didn't deserve to be in the situation he was in.
I found myself very fond of Jesse by the end as I found him a comic relief in between the drama and violence. I really didn't like the character of Walter's wife, Skyler, in relation to the story. I think this was depicted perfectly as it makes the audience feel for the criminals and dislike the people who are only wanting the best for their family. Making the viewer feel conflicted emotions towards characters is what starts conversations and I imagine this played a part in how big Breaking Bad became, as people wanted to discuss their opinions on the characters as each character is so complex, which also reminds me of what I wrote for Black Mirror's Shut Up and Dance episode, in that the viewer was made to feel conflicted about their emotions by the end of the episode.
Colours used in Breaking Bad do remind me of the grade in Fargo, although there's more red, yellow and green whereas Fargo is mostly brown, yellow and blue.
As you can see in these colour palettes I've made taken from screenshots of scenes in Breaking Bad- Crazy Handful of Nothin', the colours are very strong, with dark shadows. Even the highlights in the shots are quite dark in the particularly tense scenes, but light is used to separate the characters from the background. The character's clothing is dark or light depending on the style in the scene and how light the background is. In the shot of Walter and Jesse stood outside their RV, Jesse and Walter are wearing dark and light clothing which brings them out from the yellow and brown background, with Walter's jumpsuit complimenting the highlighting colour in the sky.
In each image, the 4th bar is an example of the skin tones in the shot. They are considerably darker that you would expect to see, especially noticeable in the Walter and Jesse shot. This is as a result of the lighting and the colour grading, and depending on the type of shot the skin tones stand out more so that we can see the character's face clearly, or it's dark so that we can't see their face clearly which alienates the viewer from them. In the image of Tuco the cool toned browns compliment the white of the 'meth' and makes it stand out among everything, with the light hitting the side of Tuco's face bringing him out from the background and making the image more 3D. However, the lighting on Walter in the shot of him is very subtle, making him mold into the background more. The harsh light on Tuco accentuates his emotions and the creases in his face so that we can see how he is feeling as he is an unpredictable character. This also makes him seem more stern. But the softer light on Walter means we can still see his emotion but we know how he must be feeling, and we can see his face much more clearly which means we can empathise with his character more.
The mise en scene creates the impression of a low quality of life, thanks to the run-down buildings used and darker yellow and green tones in the set (the grass, on the side of the RV, in Walter's clothing) creating a sense of illness (reminding us of Walter's illness, and also reminds us of the drug-taking and sickness of this aspect of the show). The use of the costumes also say a lot about the characters, as Tuco's glittery patterned shirt is reminiscent of Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, and Jesse's yellow-infused street style (for season 1, at least). All of this comes together to create a sense of falling apart in my opinion; Walter is preparing to lose his life, and although his reputation as a drug distributer grows, his health dimishes, and over time the sets seem more bland. Maybe this is down to the increase in hospital visits.
The casting of each character is interesting. I can really imagine Bryan Cranston as my chemistry teacher, but not as someone who regularly cooks meth, until he shaves his head and he becomes almost a different character. He seems to have a harder shell, and you can see his expressions more clearly which seems to make him more of a 'transparent' character, the stark opposite to Walter and his relationship with his family. His dark eyes and glasses also adds separation. As the viewer we want to be able to make clear eye contact which helps us understand emotion. This is the opposite for Aaron Paul however, who is often very wide-eyed. One plot-hole that Vince Gilligan has 'always regretted' which is Jesse Pinkman's teeth. His perfect smile is completely contrary to what may be expected of someone who so regularly uses meth, and Gilligan has apologised for this oversight.
One factor that you really can't overlook is the character development. They are so detailed, and the audience understands the people, their emotions, and how Walter in particular, changes over time as he becomes more experienced in the world of meth production and distribution. In this interview with Esquire, ex drug-lord Cavario H. speaks about how Walter evolves, but also how he may be smart to Chemistry, but when it comes to everything else, Walter uses his common sense, noting the moment Walter and Jesse steal a chemical in a barrel from a warehouse.
Jesse is a well-rounded character, and he feels like, if you were to know somebody in the business, this is how you would imagine him to be. He may seem to be a little of a melodramatic version of a character, however, on online forums people seem to agree that he was really quite realistic as the kind of person that was kind at heart and didn't deserve to be in the situation he was in.
I found myself very fond of Jesse by the end as I found him a comic relief in between the drama and violence. I really didn't like the character of Walter's wife, Skyler, in relation to the story. I think this was depicted perfectly as it makes the audience feel for the criminals and dislike the people who are only wanting the best for their family. Making the viewer feel conflicted emotions towards characters is what starts conversations and I imagine this played a part in how big Breaking Bad became, as people wanted to discuss their opinions on the characters as each character is so complex, which also reminds me of what I wrote for Black Mirror's Shut Up and Dance episode, in that the viewer was made to feel conflicted about their emotions by the end of the episode.
Colours used in Breaking Bad do remind me of the grade in Fargo, although there's more red, yellow and green whereas Fargo is mostly brown, yellow and blue.As you can see in these colour palettes I've made taken from screenshots of scenes in Breaking Bad- Crazy Handful of Nothin', the colours are very strong, with dark shadows. Even the highlights in the shots are quite dark in the particularly tense scenes, but light is used to separate the characters from the background. The character's clothing is dark or light depending on the style in the scene and how light the background is. In the shot of Walter and Jesse stood outside their RV, Jesse and Walter are wearing dark and light clothing which brings them out from the yellow and brown background, with Walter's jumpsuit complimenting the highlighting colour in the sky.
In each image, the 4th bar is an example of the skin tones in the shot. They are considerably darker that you would expect to see, especially noticeable in the Walter and Jesse shot. This is as a result of the lighting and the colour grading, and depending on the type of shot the skin tones stand out more so that we can see the character's face clearly, or it's dark so that we can't see their face clearly which alienates the viewer from them. In the image of Tuco the cool toned browns compliment the white of the 'meth' and makes it stand out among everything, with the light hitting the side of Tuco's face bringing him out from the background and making the image more 3D. However, the lighting on Walter in the shot of him is very subtle, making him mold into the background more. The harsh light on Tuco accentuates his emotions and the creases in his face so that we can see how he is feeling as he is an unpredictable character. This also makes him seem more stern. But the softer light on Walter means we can still see his emotion but we know how he must be feeling, and we can see his face much more clearly which means we can empathise with his character more.
The mise en scene creates the impression of a low quality of life, thanks to the run-down buildings used and darker yellow and green tones in the set (the grass, on the side of the RV, in Walter's clothing) creating a sense of illness (reminding us of Walter's illness, and also reminds us of the drug-taking and sickness of this aspect of the show). The use of the costumes also say a lot about the characters, as Tuco's glittery patterned shirt is reminiscent of Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, and Jesse's yellow-infused street style (for season 1, at least). All of this comes together to create a sense of falling apart in my opinion; Walter is preparing to lose his life, and although his reputation as a drug distributer grows, his health dimishes, and over time the sets seem more bland. Maybe this is down to the increase in hospital visits.The casting of each character is interesting. I can really imagine Bryan Cranston as my chemistry teacher, but not as someone who regularly cooks meth, until he shaves his head and he becomes almost a different character. He seems to have a harder shell, and you can see his expressions more clearly which seems to make him more of a 'transparent' character, the stark opposite to Walter and his relationship with his family. His dark eyes and glasses also adds separation. As the viewer we want to be able to make clear eye contact which helps us understand emotion. This is the opposite for Aaron Paul however, who is often very wide-eyed. One plot-hole that Vince Gilligan has 'always regretted' which is Jesse Pinkman's teeth. His perfect smile is completely contrary to what may be expected of someone who so regularly uses meth, and Gilligan has apologised for this oversight.
How It Influenced Me
I chose to watch Breaking Bad because of Adam Bernstein's involvement in the show and I had never had the chance to watch it properly. I have taken from this how important character research is when it comes to topics such as drugs and violence. This isn't the most common lifestyle but if mistakes had been made about the lifestyles there would have been a lot of backlash, and the research that went into this show has really paid off. The lighting and colour has also become particularly apparent to me and I think this is very important to be giving the production a mood and style depending on what is in the shot. This also helps me to figure out what colours I would like to use in my character's costumes and also in the grading.
I am really going to be aiming to get the lighting and colour right as I think this is very apparent in the Fargo original and if I can carry this across into my project I'll be glad to be taking something from such a great series.
great research on colour theory there!
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