In keeping with the basic principle of auteur theory, these directors tend to continually create beautifully atmospheric films. This does not, however, strictly preclude other films from containing well executed atmospheric elements. While the majority of films fall short of creating a fully realized universe, a number of them contain scenes which come extremely close to providing the audience with a brief glimpse into the world of the characters.

Such scenes are often the ones which are termed to have made use of the subjective camera (ie. when the camera's lens acts as an eye into the mind of the characters). Just such an example is from the film Hackers directed by Ian Softley. The screenplay by Rafael Moreu is excellent, hinting at and directly alluding to a number of actual events, people, and techniques used in the heyday of the hacker underground. Softley, however, doesn't appear to have the skill required to make use of this subtlety throughout the film. The sub-climactic hacking foray at Kate's (Angelina Jolie) apartment fills the scene with not only the detritus of a hacker's life, but presents the scene with an undercranked camera clearly illustrating the passage of time (mostly spent eating pizza and drinking cola). Hackers, while not compelling in entirety, represents a vast number of films which make use of an atmospheric style by portraying the events as colored by the mindset of the characters.

The subsequent sections of the Film Atmospherics site compare and contrast various films, directors, and genres which are deeply atmospheric an whole or in part. If you would like to be contacted via email when the next installment is available, send email to:

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J. Trent Adams is visionary technologist working on a better digital tomorrow.