This is the story of Queen, from Farrokh Bulsara's days as a Heathrow baggage handler to the band's Live Aid set in 1985, with Freddie Mercury at the center. It is a crowd pleaser built around the songs. Watch how the film rebuilds that famous concert on a set.
Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 drama and music film directed by Bryan Singer. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 narrative, 2 sound and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Grave of the Fireflies uses several of the same techniques.
Starting the film by showing or telling you how it ends, such as the main character's death or defeat. The rest of the story then explains how things got there.
How this film uses it
The film begins at Live Aid in 1985 with Freddie heading for the stage, then jumps back to 1970. You know where the road leads before it starts. The whole story then plays as the climb to that stage.
Where to see it
The opening walk to Live Aid. Freddie heads toward the stage at Wembley, then the film cuts back to a young Farrokh Bulsara in 1970.
Letting characters perform the songs on screen, so the music comes from their own hands and voices. You hear the song and the performer's nerves at the same time.
How this film uses it
Most of the music comes from the band playing on screen, on stage or in the studio. Rami Malek performs to Freddie's real voice. Because the band is playing the songs in front of you, you feel the nerves and the effort behind them.
Where to see it
The Live Aid set. Queen plays on a recreated Wembley stage, including Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions.
Rebuilding a real and well-known event on a set so it matches the footage people remember. A few extras are scanned and copied digitally to make the crowd huge.
How this film uses it
The Live Aid concert was shot on a large set at a former airfield. About 100 extras were scanned from all sides and copied digitally to fill the crowd. You feel like you are at Wembley, which is the point.
Where to see it
The Live Aid crowd. Wide shots show a sea of people stretching back from the stage, built from a small group of scanned extras.
Mixing a real singer's old recordings with a sound-alike voice so the actor's lip-sync carries the real sound. You hear the star's voice while watching a new performer.
How this film uses it
The producers blended Freddie's original vocal recordings with vocals by singer Marc Martel. That means Malek can act each song while the voice you hear still feels like Freddie's. The film also has no original score, so the songs carry everything.
Where to see it
The title song recording session. The band records Bohemian Rhapsody in a recreated Welsh farm studio, and Freddie pushes them through the layered vocals.
Questions
Bohemian Rhapsody: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Bohemian Rhapsody use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018): Proleptic Opening, Diegetic Musical Performance, Historical Event Recreation and Archival Vocal Blending.
Who directed Bohemian Rhapsody?
Bryan Singer directed Bohemian Rhapsody, released in 2018. CineCode also covers The Usual Suspects (1995).
What films are similar to Bohemian Rhapsody?
Films that share techniques with Bohemian Rhapsody include Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Ikiru (1952), Cinema Paradiso (1988), Persona (1966).
