One of my all time favorite movies would have to be Thirteen.( I don’t know really any thing about movie terms so bare with me) But the Director Catherine Hardwicke received the Sundance film festival directors award and when you watch this film you can see why. The main characters name is Tracy. But every scene is shot like it is from the eyes of the the person who is in anguish...

The use of lighting (although subtle) is phenomenal and is something that I hope to use myself. At the start of the film everything is pretty bright about as the film goes on things literally get “darker”. There are also vinaigrettes throughout the film where the light either goes sorta garish to over emphasize a point (like the scene after they are high and beat each other with cans (“hit me”) they go outside and have a picnic. Hardwicke uses full on circus lighting this for me was just very powerful, because it was not really the “safe” choice that most directors would use. Then in another short vinaigrette scene Tracy is self-mutating and the bathroom is only light by a night-light. This is hard for most people to understand (unless they cut) but her gorgeous choice of illumination conveys that sense of secrecy and displaced urgency. Also for me the “night light” held a symbolism that Tracy is really “only” a child no matter how “tough” she tries to be. Another potent use of symbolism that is often over looked is the scene where Tracy and evie snorting coke off a fairy tales book. I know I mention a lot about drug use in the film but really this is only a part of the overall content…
My favorite scene in the movie, was one that was extremely relatable, It s near the end where Tracy is all alone in the girls bath room looking in the mirrors all around her. She has a bruised face and things have really just fallen apart. The lighting is pretty ominous with hues of blue. ”. Her pale skin and the blackness just create this stark contrast that is viscerally haunting. Its probably the most powerful scene in the movie because her fragility is magnified not only by the darkness that surrounds her, and the many mirrors but also by her inability to face that she cant stop pretending that everything is “not ok”.

I believe the cover (of the movie and the poster as well) has turned a lot of movie buffs off on this film, but truly the “annoying teen scenes” are few and far in between. Even if you didn’t want to sit through the entire movie…some scenes just cannot be missed.