Baz Luhrmann is known for having a highly individualised directing style which is often referred to as flamboyant, due to his lack of naturalism in his philosophy, being “[He] makes what [he] wants, how[he] wants” – Baz Luhrmann. From his debut in cinema with “Strictly Ballroom” (1992), to his most recent film “The Great Gatsby” (2013), Baz Luhrmann’s directoral style has evolved and adapted over his twenty four years in the industry.
Luhrmann’s style of directing has been characterised by wide ranges of shots, innovative and often bold chooses made with regards to his cinematic language and uses of colour and lighting. Luhrmann has also been associated with using signals “to the audience that they’re entering a contract with the storyteller”, in “Strictly Ballroom” (1998), Luhrmann achieves this in the opening sequence by placing the audience in an interview with the main characters. In “Romeo and Juliet” (1998) the opening sequence put the audience in a dark room watching the prologue on a news network on a television, and finally in “The Great Gatsby” (2013)…show more content… This creates Luhrmann’s intension of attempting to make the audience feel as if they are participating in the film.
Luhrmann’s cinematic language is the complete opposite of naturalism. In “Strictly Ballroom” (1998) there is an over exaggerated use of lighting, most of the main characters constantly have bright lights on them, colour, in the closing sequence costumes are extremely vivid and distracting to the audience, as well as a huge collection of zip shots and close ups as the camera doesn’t stand still with Luhrmann’s fast paced editing. Although Luhrmann has received a lot of negative criticism of his choice of editing, colour, lighting and costumes, it is effective in making the audience aware of the fasted paced and rambunctious world of