What is Sicario Cinematography? - Peerspace

Framing tension

Additionally, Sicario cinematography frequently limits the camera’s frame to emphasize the unpredictability and gut-wrenching tension of particular scenes. In one of these, we follow the protagonists of Sicario on a busy highway as they pursue an unknown number of bad characters.

Here, the camera angles are narrow, focused either on the interior of the vehicles occupied by the protagonists or from their perspective, recreating the actual experience of being in a car on the highway. At no point does the audience see the scene from above and, because of this, is unable to orient the different camera’s perspectives in relation to one another. It’s like the audience is right alongside the protagonist, exposed to the same threats as they are. 

With these closeup and cropped shots, there is no distance between objects on the screen to provide a buffer of safety. The camera angles are cramped and focused, imparting to the audience the same sense of claustrophobia and tunnel vision experienced by the characters on screen.

Just as the characters are unaware of the location and number of bad guys on the highway, the audience is unable to sense where exactly the impending threat might erupt. Everyone outside of the protagonist’s vehicles is a possible threat and the impossibility of anticipating that threat is what drives the action and suspense of the scene. A firefight might break out in any direction to the surprise of the audience.

What we aren’t meant to see

The narrowed perspectives and close-up framing employed by Sicario cinematography have two purposes, one of which we alluded to above. It puts the audience in the shoes of the characters on screen and recreates the drama of the action for the audience to reflect on lived and realistic experiences. 

The second purpose is to remove any extraneous objects or characters that are irrelevant or may distract from the narrative or action. To accomplish this, a wide shot of a busy public street, which gives a sense of the setting, will jump to a particular individual. This type of cutting allows the audience a general understanding of the context that immerses the characters. It then cuts away the extraneous details of that scene to focus the audience’s attention on a particular detail or individual with actual significance to the plot.

Sicario cinematography seamlessly and deftly guides the audience through the narrative by stitching together focused scenes that limit perspective to enhance a plot feature. 

Light and darkness in Sicario cinematography

Just as the framing of a shot will focus the attention of the audience on particular details and events, the use of dramatic lighting in Sicario imparts aesthetic and narrative significance to important movie scenes. The audience’s understanding of a character comes from their interpretation of the actions and dialogue of that character. It also comes from the cinematographer’s use of light and shadow to underscore certain character traits. With Sicario cinematography, you can employ light and visibility to communicate good and heroic attributes. However, they use darkness and shadow to communicate bad or amoral qualities. 

In the final scene of Sicario, the characters Kate and Alejandro sit opposite each other at a table. To enhance the contrast between the two characters and what they symbolize, Alejandro is obscured by deep shadow, and Kate is lit by the fluorescent lights above her. It’s truly amazing how differently-lit two characters can be who are so close together in the same scene. The purpose of this is not to be realistic, but to communicate to the audience what the characters represent in the narrative, as well as how the two characters view one another. 

In this scene, Alejandro demands that Kate sign her name on a document. Kate’s reluctance prompts Alejandro to hold a gun to her throat, attempting to force her signature. Just as Alejandro’s character is disfigured by the violence of his threat, the deep shadow cast over him completely disfigures and conceals his face. In fact, he is only recognizable by his voice. Sicario cinematographyuses shadow to reflect the interior nature and character of Alejandro. Meanwhile, Kate is entirely visible, appearing elevated above Alejandro, who has sunk in his seat.