What filmmaking techniques does Schindler's List use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Schindler's List (1993): Black-and-White as Moral Urgency, Isolated Color Insert, Handheld Cinema Vérité, Strategic Silence and Perpetrator Perspective.

Who directed Schindler's List?

Steven Spielberg directed Schindler's List, released in 1993. CineCode also covers Duel (1971), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

What films are similar to Schindler's List?

Films that share techniques with Schindler's List include 12 Years a Slave (2013), Platoon (1986), Das Boot (1981), The Battle of Algiers (1966).

Is there a video breakdown of Schindler's List?

Yes. There is a short video breakdown of Schindler's List on the CineCode YouTube channel, embedded on this page.

Drama · History · War

Schindler's List

Steven Spielberg, 1993

A German industrialist uses Jewish slave labor to run his factory during the Holocaust, then risks everything to save as many lives as he can. The film is shot almost entirely in black and white. It is cinema's longest and most committed act of bearing witness to atrocity.

3 Cinematography 1 Sound 1 Narrative

At a glance

Schindler's List is a 1993 drama, history and war film directed by Steven Spielberg. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 cinematography, 1 sound and 1 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, 12 Years a Slave uses several of the same techniques.

Video breakdowns

Black-and-White as Moral Urgency

Choosing to shoot in black and white to take away the comfort and pleasure of color. The film feels more serious, and you watch as a witness.

How this film uses it

Janusz Kamiński and Spielberg shot almost the entire film in black and white despite pressure to use color. That makes it look like the historical record (newsreels and photographs). The choice insists that you treat the film as a record too.

Where to see it

The opening shift from color to black and white as the candle flame dies. This is the film telling you how it is going to look and feel.

Cinematography

Isolated Color Insert

Adding 1 colored element to an otherwise black-and-white image, or a brief color sequence to a black-and-white film. The contrast pulls your eye and gives that color a lot of meaning.

How this film uses it

The girl in the red coat is the most discussed visual choice in the film. She is a single burst of color in the black-and-white liquidation sequence, and Schindler follows her with his eyes from a hillside above the ghetto. Later, she appears on a cart of corpses. By then, the mass killing has a face.

Where to see it

The Kraków Ghetto liquidation sequence. The red coat moves through the chaos.

Cinematography

Handheld Cinema Vérité

Shooting with a handheld camera so the frame shakes and moves with the action. This documentary-style look, called cinema vérité, puts you uncomfortably close to the character.

How this film uses it

Kamiński shot much of the film with a handheld camera, often using available light or a single light source. He refused the polished compositions of conventional cinematography. The camera feels like it is trying to keep up with events.

Where to see it

The Auschwitz shower sequence. The unsteady camera gives you the terror of not knowing.

Sound

Strategic Silence

Removing music, background sound or dialogue from a moment where most films would fill it. The quiet forces you to sit with what is on screen.

How this film uses it

John Williams's score runs through the film, but it drops out completely during the Płaszów liquidation sequences. The silence doesn't feel peaceful. You have to listen to the sounds of the event itself, with no music telling you how to feel.

Where to see it

The mass shooting sequences in the Płaszów labor camp. They play without music.

Narrative

Perpetrator Perspective

Telling the story from the side of the person doing the harm, and letting you inside their head. You start to understand them, which is more uncomfortable than simply condemning them.

How this film uses it

Spielberg starts with Schindler as an opportunist using slave labor. The film argues that his eventual heroism shows you what everyone else chose when they did nothing, and it refuses to treat him as exceptional for it. You're left asking at what point going along with it becomes unbearable.

Where to see it

Schindler's breakdown at the end of the war. He says 'I could have got more' and 'I didn't do enough'.

Questions

Schindler's List: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Schindler's List use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Schindler's List (1993): Black-and-White as Moral Urgency, Isolated Color Insert, Handheld Cinema Vérité, Strategic Silence and Perpetrator Perspective.
Who directed Schindler's List?: Steven Spielberg directed Schindler's List, released in 1993. CineCode also covers Duel (1971), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
What films are similar to Schindler's List?: Films that share techniques with Schindler's List include 12 Years a Slave (2013), Platoon (1986), Das Boot (1981), The Battle of Algiers (1966).
Is there a video breakdown of Schindler's List?: Yes. There is a short video breakdown of Schindler's List on the CineCode YouTube channel, embedded on this page.

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