Film Techniques In The Film Day-Lewis

Daniel Day–Lewis is an actor of many great talents. He is someone who pushes himself beyond our imaginations to provide his audience with entertainment. Looking at the two films My Left Foot and Gangs of New York, we are presented with two controversial characters played by Day-Lewis. Presented in these two films, Day–Lewis allows the audience to forget that they are watching a film by allowing them to become part of the world that has been created by the actors as well as the directors and their incredible filming techniques.
Day-Lewis in My Left Foot took the idea of preparation of portraying a role to a whole new level. It is said that Day-Lewis spoke, ate and lived in a wheel chair like his character Christy Brown. The term used to describe his preparation is method acting.
However I feel that this is a serious understatement to Day-Lewis. He goes above and beyond of what is expected and it has resulted in his achievement of being awarded with an Oscar.
Jim Sheridan, the director of My Left Foot made great use of his talented filming techniques.
Throughout the film, Sheridan made use of mainly close ups and medium shots to emphasize the struggle that Christy Brown is going through. These types of camera shots allow the actor to be seen from the chest up and focus more on the facial expressions and emotions portrayed by the actor. Day-Lewis in these camera shots makes sure that the attention is all on him. An example of this is the drool he has left on his coat which was not put there by the costume designer but was left there due to the characterisation Day-Lewis showed.
Many of the camera shots are taken from eye level of Day-Lewis. It allows the audience to see from his perspective and it shows how people look down on Brown and in a sense they are belittling him. The film also makes use of High Key lighting meaning bright light with very few shadows.
Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese shows a whole other side of Day-Lewis’s acting skills. In comparison to My Left Foot where we see an emotionally driven performance, Day-Lewis now portrays a blood thirsty, power seeking and aggressive man in his role of Bill Cutting the
butcher.
In preparation for this role he again used what is to be said method acting as he attended butcher classes and insisted on wearing an olden day butcher apron until the end of the filming process. By doing this, Day-Lewis became his character therefore allowing the audience to become part of his world in the film.
Scorsese made use of many long shots in his film which was extremely effective in portraying the authority that Cutting is willing to uphold. The costume of Cutting emphasizes his decision as it is laid out to create height with the elongated hats. Scorsese also made use of use of medium and close up shots again to show the true depth of emotion and characterisation that Day-Lewis is portraying. Gangs of New York also makes use of High Key lighting again with little to no shadows.
In this film, Day-Lewis had to wear a cover over his eye with an eagle presented on it so resemble a glass eye. This then restricted Day-Lewis’s vision and in a sense his comfort of seeing out of two eyes, making his job that much harder to do. However, he took the job even more seriously to present an entertaining experience for the audience.
In these two films it is evident to see Day-Lewis’s time and dedication to his career. He allows himself to be challenged be and will put himself in any ones shoes to present an outstanding performance. He allows himself to immerse into any character and draws the audience’s attention making them feel part of his journey. Day-Lewis pushes himself to great strengths result in amazing acting skills with a great range of characters too. No matter what character Day-Lewis is portraying, he makes the audience suspend disbelief.