Film Techniques of Gus Van Sant's "Elephant"

Elephant, directed by Gus Van Sant, is an interesting film on the technical level due to the way the cinematographers use basic film making technology to explore the issue of teenage violence. The use of the long shot in conjunction with the characters point of view leaves the audience with the feeling of being a "fly on the wall" as the plot unfolds. The cinematographers begin the film with extensive use of long shots supported by steady cams to explore the school and educate viewers with the space in which the action will occur. 

The cameras Van Sant employs in the film are not the high definition or high exposure cameras as would be used in higher budget films. They produce darker and grainy images, lending themselves perfectly for the mood which the film is trying to convey. As the climax draws closer, the cinematographers relinquish the steady cam and the suspense is added by the steadily increased movement of the camera by its hand held operation. When Alex and Eric begin their assault of the school, the filming includes even more movement, as if to mimic the panic and anxiety the event would cause as students attempted escape. An interesting exception is when the camera is positioned behind the sites of a semi automatic rifle, in an attempt to mimic the video game shown earlier in the film. It is an interesting link to the Columbine massacre due to the media's insistence that "first person shooter" games such as "Doom" were played by the assailants before the massacre. 

The technical dimension of the film is brilliant when the budget and resources available for filming were limited due to the films difficult social nature. Van Sant's post production of the film should also be considered notable due to the use of a basic digital editing program. The text used for credits is stock and i feel well chosen to avoid drawing attention from the film. Most of the transitions used are natural and not digitally altered giving the film a raw and untouched feeling. As a low budget film, i feel that Van Sant's cinematography is understated and is a brilliant shift from traditional filming and editing techniques.