What filmmaking techniques does Her use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Her (2013): Color Palette as Worldbuilding, Off-Screen Space, Shot-Reverse-Shot Subversion and Diegetic Sound Design.

Spike Jonze directed Her, released in 2013. CineCode also covers Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation. (2002), Where the Wild Things Are (2009).

What films are similar to Her?

Films that share techniques with Her include Amélie (2001), In the Mood for Love (2000), Lost in Translation (2003), Rosemary's Baby (1968).

Is there a video breakdown of Her?

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

Romance · Science Fiction · Drama

Her

Spike Jonze, 2013

A lonely writer in near-future Los Angeles falls in love with an AI operating system. It's a tender, melancholy film about connection and loneliness. It also asks what it means to love something that exists differently than you do.

2 Cinematography 1 Editing 1 Sound

At a glance

Her is a 2013 romance, science fiction and drama film directed by Spike Jonze. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 cinematography, 1 editing and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Amélie uses several of the same techniques.

Video breakdown

Color Palette as Worldbuilding

Limiting the film to a tightly chosen set of colors, or giving each place or state its own set. The colors tell you about the world and its mood without dialogue.

How this film uses it

Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography bathes the whole film in warm reds, oranges and creams. The rich colors make the world feel comforting and artificially cheerful at the same time, which matches Theodore's emotional numbness.

Where to see it

Theodore walking through the city. Every frame is filled with warm amber light.

Cinematography

Off-Screen Space

Keeping a character or threat outside the frame on purpose. You sense it through sounds and other characters' reactions, and your imagination fills in the rest.

How this film uses it

You never see Samantha. She exists only as a voice and in how Theodore reacts to her. Oddly enough, that makes her feel more present and intimate than a character you could see.

Where to see it

Every scene with Samantha. The technique is that she is never in the frame.

Editing

Shot-Reverse-Shot Subversion

Changing the standard way of filming a conversation, which cuts back and forth between 2 speakers. Breaking that pattern makes the exchange feel off and shifts who seems in control.

How this film uses it

Spike Jonze films Theodore's conversations with Samantha as long close-ups of him alone. There is no cut to the other speaker, since there is no one to cut to. The closeness feels real, and you still notice how uneven the 2 of them are.

Where to see it

The 'date' sequences and the late-night conversations in Theodore's apartment. The camera stays on Theodore.

Sound

Diegetic Sound Design

Using sounds the characters themselves can hear, like footsteps, radios or traffic, to build tension or show how someone feels. The sound does more than make the scene realistic.

How this film uses it

'The Moon Song' is performed inside the scene. Theodore plays the ukulele and he and Samantha sing it together. The song is intimate, lo-fi and vulnerable, and it belongs to the world of the film. It backs up Theodore's inner tenderness.

Where to see it

The 'The Moon Song' scene. It plays out between Theodore and Samantha.

Questions

Her: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Her use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Her (2013): Color Palette as Worldbuilding, Off-Screen Space, Shot-Reverse-Shot Subversion and Diegetic Sound Design.
Who directed Her?: Spike Jonze directed Her, released in 2013. CineCode also covers Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation. (2002), Where the Wild Things Are (2009).
What films are similar to Her?: Films that share techniques with Her include Amélie (2001), In the Mood for Love (2000), Lost in Translation (2003), Rosemary's Baby (1968).
Is there a video breakdown of Her?: Yes. There is a short video breakdown of Her on the CineCode YouTube channel, embedded on this page.

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