Cinematography in 'Saving Mr Banks'

A variety of shots were used to create ‘Saving Mr Banks’, these consisted of the following: close up, over the shoulder, low angles, long shot, mid shot, panning and many more. In particular, the primary shots that were used were mid shots, long shots and close ups along with panning to really capture the essence of the film’s main characters: Walt Disney and P.L Travers, especially considering the difficulties that Disney had to face in order to get the rights to produce the film: Mary Poppins. These specific shot types help to accentuate the emotions within and between characters and educate the audience on the reality of the situation. The colour palette that was used within the film also varied as the film is set in three key locations: Australia, England (London) and America (Los Angeles). The scenes within Australia have a very warm colour palette consisting of golden tones which suggests a state of calm however, the circumstances that were occurring for P.L Travers as a child were quite the opposite, this is supported by the extreme long shot of her and her family standing facing back against the tones creating a sense of emptiness. The colour palette then becomes quite mixed when the scenes shift to London, England: darker tones are used but there is still a warm feeling. The shot types consist of close ups and mid shots to capture the emotions of the characters: in this particular scene, P.L Travers is debating whether to go to Los Angeles to meet Walt Disney about her film. Finally, when she arrives in Los Angeles, the colour palette changes to bright and warm depicting the vibrant Hollywood feel and again, the types of shot consisting of long and medium shots, close ups and panning motion. Perhaps the director chose to do this intentionally to portray the characters emotions and also for the audience to relate and sympathize with them. Overall, in terms of the colour palette, there seems to be a gradual progression from disequilibrium to equilibrium.