In The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrman has reinvigorated the 1925 classic novel by introducing many modern filming technology such as lighting and colour; sound and music and editing. While Joe Wright has attempted to do the complete opposite by taking the modern novel, Atonement ,and attempting to recreate the harsh reality of the past by using the same filmic techniques as Baz Luhrman. However Joe Wright is more successful in recreating the past and showing the harsh realities of the era in Atonement. The lighting in The Great Gatsby tends to be theatrical and illuminates the characters by bringing the focus on them and not on the background. An example of this would be when we are introduced to daisy for the first time, she is the focus of attention and is given almost a dreamlike quality by using soft lighting. We also experience a kaleidoscope of candy colours that almost take over our senses. This is used effectively as Luhrman wants the audience to feel as if everything is …show more content…
The lighting is used to show perception and how Briony’s perception differs from the truth. This is evident when Briony discovers that Lola has been raped. Light falls on Briony from above as she stares at the scene before her , signifying her understanding and more importantly shows that she realizes who attacked Lola. The colour in Atonement starts with lush tones that mirror the sexual tension and the façade of perfection that the upper middle class life of 1935 creates. The colour gradually become more earthen and grey to portray how life draining the war can be. Wright wants the audience to understand that many people who committed a sin during the war have spent their lives trying to atone for it and a good example of the way he expresses this is by the coloring of Briony 's clothing which gradually becomes darker shades of blue, as she matures, that symbolically means that her need to seek atonement becomes