What filmmaking techniques does Forrest Gump use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Forrest Gump (1994): Historical Compositing, Picaresque Structure, Innocent Eye Narration, Circular Structure and Bench as Narrative Stage.

Who directed Forrest Gump?

Robert Zemeckis directed Forrest Gump, released in 1994. CineCode also covers Romancing the Stone (1984), Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992).

What films are similar to Forrest Gump?

Films that share techniques with Forrest Gump include La Dolce Vita (1960), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Bicycle Thieves (1948).

Is there a video breakdown of Forrest Gump?

Yes. There is a short video breakdown of Forrest Gump on the CineCode YouTube channel, embedded on this page.

Drama · Romance

Forrest Gump

Robert Zemeckis, 1994

A man from Alabama with a below-average IQ moves through about 3 decades of American history by accident. He touches the lives of presidents and pop stars, and he never loses his basic decency. It's an emotional myth of American innocence told through the country's most turbulent decades.

2 Cinematography 3 Narrative

At a glance

Forrest Gump is a 1994 drama and romance film directed by Robert Zemeckis. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 cinematography and 3 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, La Dolce Vita uses several of the same techniques.

Video breakdown

Historical Compositing

Digitally placing a fictional character into real archive footage, or blending actors with rebuilt period sets and backgrounds. It looks as if the character was really there in history.

How this film uses it

Visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston inserted Tom Hanks into footage of JFK, LBJ, Nixon and John Lennon. He altered the archive footage so Forrest appears to be speaking directly with historical figures. The technique broke new ground for its time, and it required replacing the mouths of the archive subjects with CGI.

Where to see it

Forrest meeting Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Each time, he is blended seamlessly into the old footage.

Narrative

Picaresque Structure

Telling the story as a loose string of separate adventures, often following a low-status hero through different levels of society. With no single plot, the episodes add up to a portrait of a world.

How this film uses it

Forrest moves from childhood Alabama to Vietnam to the White House to the ping-pong diplomacy tour to Watergate, and no episode needs the one before it to work. A story built from loose episodes like this is called picaresque. As a matter of fact, it is the only structure that can hold 3 decades of American history as a single life.

Where to see it

The montage of Forrest's cross-country run. Here, the picaresque is pure motion.

Narrative

Innocent Eye Narration

Having a narrator describe events in a plain, matter-of-fact way, sometimes without fully understanding them. You notice more than the narrator says, which creates irony and sympathy.

How this film uses it

Forrest narrates his own extraordinary life with no idea how significant it is. He doesn't know he met presidents, started trends or inspired slogans. The irony is never cruel. It shows you the gap between history as people live it and history as the people who make it understand it.

Where to see it

Forrest explaining to JFK that he needs to use the bathroom. His literal mind collides with a formal historic occasion.

Narrative

Circular Structure

Ending the film where it started, or with a scene that echoes the opening. The repeat shows what has changed, or suggests the cycle will keep going.

How this film uses it

The film opens on a white feather drifting through a blue sky until it lands at Forrest's feet. It closes on the feather floating away again. The feather stands for the point where fate and chance meet. It leaves open whether Forrest's life is a miracle of destiny or the luck of the wind.

Where to see it

The feather coming down at the opening and leaving at the close. The film's main idea is in those 2 shots.

Cinematography

Bench as Narrative Stage

Sitting characters down in 1 simple, fixed spot like a bench, step or curb for long stretches of talk. It is where they tell their stories and open up to each other.

How this film uses it

Forrest tells his story from a bus stop bench to a series of strangers who may or may not believe him. The bench is in Savannah, far from history, and the strangers are ordinary people. The setup insists that this extraordinary story belongs to everyday talk and needs no monuments.

Where to see it

The recurring bench shots. Forrest sits with a stranger, the chocolate box on his knee.

Questions

Forrest Gump: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Forrest Gump use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Forrest Gump (1994): Historical Compositing, Picaresque Structure, Innocent Eye Narration, Circular Structure and Bench as Narrative Stage.
Who directed Forrest Gump?: Robert Zemeckis directed Forrest Gump, released in 1994. CineCode also covers Romancing the Stone (1984), Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992).
What films are similar to Forrest Gump?: Films that share techniques with Forrest Gump include La Dolce Vita (1960), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Bicycle Thieves (1948).
Is there a video breakdown of Forrest Gump?: Yes. There is a short video breakdown of Forrest Gump on the CineCode YouTube channel, embedded on this page.

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