Trainspotting cinematography

Lighting and colour - bleak unless showing heroin use, shows their outlook on life, especially without it, and also links to addiction. I.e. Mother Superior's red light and carpet, the green of the park
Camera - Perfect Day, showing people in a wide angle shot, highlights the people and the system he's abused to perpetuate his habit, while still gaining preferential treatment to save his life. Also go past two nihilistic punks who look at him confused - they don't think that's what nihilism is about
Baby scene/death - sets up disequilibrium, first time in the film that he's cared and has been deeply affected by something. Interrupts the status quo, possibly eliminates the idea of nihilism as he moves to London after and shows he cares
Used a wide angle lens without edges bowed out, makes things look further away, spend a lot of time at a low angle, like a 'rats' eye view down on the floor. When entering Mother Superiors, at same levelish as baby, but when the woman takes heroin we're on a level with her
People inject each other, comradeship, but Renton's in a different room as if not part of it
When showing people's opinions they're far away, as if it's not real. Colour is browns and greys, Renton in shadow in middle of parents
Friends-narrative-cinematography - friends are together by chance and use, no allegiance to each other (as shown in the end and that he can move away so easily when he's sober). His friends are almost antagonistic 'the problem with being sober is that I have to interact with my so called friends (park scene) and when Tommy takes him walking. And with Begbie he's using them as cronies, to respect him while he has none for them or their habit. Nihilistic, selfish. Heroin use is solitary, not communal like party drugs, so they don't even take it together, literally just score together
As Renton improves the camera gets closer and higher (as with Diane's conversation) he sees her for the first time properly as a person and not part of his surroundings. And when Begbie comes to visit him it's clear he's annoyed as the amount of reaction shots showing it increases. Shots on Begbie are steady while Renton's are handheld - unsure.


Mise-en-scene
'Who needs reasons when you got heroin' and other heroin shots - nothing in the shot but them, the main thing in your life. Even in pub when showing people's opinions
Let windows burn out via ISO to show the outside as a fuzz, irrelevant


Renton's bedroom when trying to quit - still at a low level and far removed from him. Almost like establishing shots in the room. No decoration. Tommy's becomes that as well, wide angle and barren with low angles as he's laying down, both from his perspective and not
But when Rentons clean its filmed closer, conventionally as he's talking to Diane and even before she turns up, as is his room in London even if it's still a bad place, and has warmer colours
Renton shifts to align himself with us (during the Begbie betting montage), not us getting on his side like is typical. Specifically the building up of cigarette packs like his stress, and Renton always wearing a suit even when relaxing - represents society even though he says 'if there was a society I wasn't part of it', foreshadows last scene where he says to choose the stuff he didn't before. The resolution is accepting society (maybe he doesn't feel the need to go back to it after seeing the value of society)

Trainspotting music

90s music but set in the 80s, which adds to the 'Cool Britannia' aesthetic and theme. Used a lot of recognizable hits

Trainspotting

Main focus of British film is ideology (nihilism and a bit on addiction) and narrative

Controversial

Released in 1996
Directed by Danny Boyle, considered his and Ewan McGregor's breakout film
Nominated for Best Picture Oscar, won Oscar for Best Adopted Screenplay from Irvin Welsh - Trainspotting

Kick started 'Cool Britannia' along with other British films which inspired pride in British culture

Inspired heroin chic

Both surreal and realism
Cinematography to nihilism

Which comes first, nihilism or heroin? Is there any ideology in nihilism at all? Or is it just addiction

Ideology in Trainspotting

Everyone's morally reprehensible - taxi driver ditching Rent Boy, Diane blackmailing Renton into a relationship
Sticks to the dominant ideology that 'addicts are bad' but shows that its to do with their addiction not them as people



Anti London-Centric media representations:
First time since 1960s we've had representation of working class British people - before that it was Richard Curtis films - middle class London was the worlds view of Britain, shown by Renton describing the British as 'effete'
Challenges notion that London is the centre of the world, high vs pop culture - linked to Cool Britannia

Colour palette - dark but high contrast colours - red=danger, green=healing

Called Trainspotting because it's a hobby that no one else understands why you'd do it, you're ashamed to admit it etc. + you get 'track marks' on your veins when you inject heroin
Honest representation of heroin - challenges the view that junkies are passive victims
See loads of addicts - Begby alcohol/fighting, Renton's mum's Valium, Tommy exercising. In society there's power, attention, wealth, shopping, work addictions

Binary oppositions:
Addiction vs sobriety
Passivity vs choice
Culture vs depravity
Civilisation vs wild

Scenes showing addiction:
Toilet Scene - pills glow pure white while everything else is brown, even though they wouldn't realistically be clean
Bar Scene - Begby putting knife down, needs a quick fix of violence, but doesn't need the knife but is willing to use it
Knife Scene - Spud gets cut, repercussions of addiction harming others, last straw for Renton
Working Out Scene - Tommy's addiction to fitness

Anti-British scenes:
Renton's Rant - Why being Scottish is 'shite' (down to the English) and why the English are worse
Describing his London real estate job (the epitome of what life in London is/represents) as 'cheating, scamming, fragmenting, breaking... there was no such thing as society and if there was I had nothing to do with it' - directly comparable to the lifestyle of a heroin addict
Judge was English - us vs them, English in position of power
Nihilism - apathetic about situation, life, goals, drugs
Can't discuss the significance of Trainspotting without discussing Cool Brittania


Postmodern - style over substance ie sinking into the carpet, James Bond intertextuality especially with Sean Connery who's very pro Scottish, toilet scene. This gives us ideological views of drug addiction
WE ATTACH ONE IDEOLOGY TO EACH FILM