preview

Lighting In Arrival

Decent Essays
Open Document

One of the important technical elements of the film in the movie Arrival is lighting. Lighting is used in this film to set tone and mood. For instance, dark shadows of the alien ships are used to create a tense mood about the arriving aliens. Additionally, in this film, especially the chamber where Banks spent most of her time, light is absorbed rather than reflected and this creates a gloomy mood. Dr. Banks is in a “relationship” with death and the ominous and dark lighting of her chamber represents this connection. Furthermore, this movie depicts Louise’s enlightenment and as result, the director uses the lighting to reflect her (Dr. Banks) journey of learning about the alien culture, and a change in her perception of time, life, and death. This concept is replicated in other scenes in the movie. For example, in Dr. Banks’s home, a large window opens up to a blinding, yet cloudy lake contrasting with the …show more content…

Language can modify one’s thinking patterns, but this film shows that language can be used to teach one how to experience time in a non-linear manner. For example, the Heptapods (aliens) can move freely through the timespans of their lifecycles and know more of what is about to happen at every moment. When Dr. Banks is finally enlightened, she is given the gift of the language of the aliens, which is the understanding of time. More specifically, she is given the ability to see the future, and she sees the death of her dear daughter. While this gift to foresee the future breaks her, it eventually motivates her to embrace her future role as a mother, and to make most of the time she gets with her daughter. The second theme involves space, and it is depicted in the arrival of 12 mysterious pods from space. Dr. Banks is tasked with the responsibility to communicate with these aliens out of space to monitor their behavior and understand their purpose on

Get Access