What Is The Cinematography In Captain Phillips

1069 Words3 Pages

Richard Phillips; played by actor Tom Hanks; is introduced packing his bags and checking his route. He and Andrea; his wife; are then on their way to the airport while talking about their kids, and what is to come. The intimacy of the scene portrays the Captain as a kind hearted soul, humanizing him. The next scene he is aboard the MV Maersk Alabama headed towards Mombasa, Kenya. The movie “Captain Phillips” directed by Paul Greengrass is based on the April 2009 pirate hijacking. Paul Greengrass then begins to portray the movie in a more fast-paced manner and depicts the hardship and pressure that occurred with the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama. The movie that Paul Greengrass portrays is one where the viewer feels like a captive. The story …show more content…

Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd with his background in documentary-style filming allowed him to capture the intensity and realism of every event happening within the film. One of the main scenes that express the realism of the story would be when Tom Hanks is held at gunpoint in the lifeboat. The amount of panic in such a confined space brings forth the feeling of being there in the hostage situation. Barry Ackroyd’s not only allows the viewer to view the stresses that unfold as the movie progresses, his filming style also shows the economic hardship and motivation of the pirates and the difficulties that they have. Key evidence to this would be the scene in the beginning where the pirates are gathered, deciding on who should be allowed to go in the raid. “Paul is going to throw you into this world that is tough: ‘How do we film a war zone?’ With some directors, you'd have to find some highly technical way with CGI. But with Paul, it comes down to ‘let’s just do it”’ (). With the help of Paul Greengrass, Barry Ackroyd’s cinematography shows the stress and horrors of being a Captain in pirate infested …show more content…

The Cinematography that was done by Barry Ackroyd depicts the films as if a documentary, with facts to back up the story. Barkhad Abdi as Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse took the movie over, showing how dangerous desperation can be. Constantly armed with a weapon, pointed at the captain. The facts that were used for the movie may not be the real truth, however it is these facts that depict the piracy that happens in Somalia. Paul Greengrass’s Directing allowed for the Story of the MV Maersk Alabama attack to be

Open Document