What filmmaking techniques does Velvet Goldmine use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Velvet Goldmine (1998): Forensic Inference Narration, Non-Linear Narrative, Costume as Storytelling and Diegetic Musical Performance.

Who directed Velvet Goldmine?

Todd Haynes directed Velvet Goldmine, released in 1998. CineCode also covers Safe (1995), Far from Heaven (2002), I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017), Dark Waters (2019).

What films are similar to Velvet Goldmine?

Films that share techniques with Velvet Goldmine include Joint Security Area (2000), I'm Not There (2007), Inception (2010), Pulp Fiction (1994).

Drama · Music

Velvet Goldmine

Todd Haynes, 1998

In 1984, a British journalist investigates what happened to Brian Slade, a glam rock star who faked his own death on stage in 1974. Interviews and flashbacks tell of Slade's rise, his affair with an American rocker, and the reporter's own history as a fan.

2 Narrative 1 Cinematography 1 Sound

At a glance

Velvet Goldmine is a 1998 drama and music film directed by Todd Haynes. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative, 1 cinematography and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Joint Security Area uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Forensic Inference Narration

Revealing character and motive through physical evidence and a detective's step-by-step reasoning, with no confessions or backstory dumps. You piece together the truth alongside the investigator.

How this film uses it

Arthur Stuart does not get a confession. He talks to Slade's first manager and his ex-wife and then pieces together what happened from their stories. You learn the truth in the same slow way he does.

Where to see it

Arthur's interviews. He talks with Slade's old manager Cecil and ex-wife Mandy about the star's rise.

Narrative

Non-Linear Narrative

Telling the story out of order by jumping between time periods. The order you see events in changes how you understand them.

How this film uses it

The structure is modeled on Citizen Kane, with a reporter assembling a mystery through interviews and flashbacks. The film jumps among 1984, the early 1970s and Arthur's teenage years. Each jump adds a piece to the puzzle.

Where to see it

The Lyceum concert. The film keeps returning to Slade's faked death at the 1974 show at London's Lyceum Theatre.

Cinematography

Costume as Storytelling

Designing wardrobes that carry character, status or change as much as the acting does. Clothes tell you who someone is or has become before they speak.

How this film uses it

Sandy Powell's costumes tell you who Slade is becoming. The alien Maxwell Demon look shows a star building a character. Powell won a BAFTA for the work.

Where to see it

Slade as Maxwell Demon. His outfits show the rise of the alien stage persona.

Sound

Diegetic Musical Performance

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

David Bowie did not allow his songs in the film, so the glam stage is filled with new songs and covers. The fictional band Venus in Furs includes Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Bernard Butler. The music feels like it belongs to the world on screen.

Where to see it

The faked death. Slade's stage show at the Lyceum ends with him faking his own murder.

Questions

Velvet Goldmine: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Velvet Goldmine use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Velvet Goldmine (1998): Forensic Inference Narration, Non-Linear Narrative, Costume as Storytelling and Diegetic Musical Performance.
Who directed Velvet Goldmine?: Todd Haynes directed Velvet Goldmine, released in 1998. CineCode also covers Safe (1995), Far from Heaven (2002), I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017), Dark Waters (2019).
What films are similar to Velvet Goldmine?: Films that share techniques with Velvet Goldmine include Joint Security Area (2000), I'm Not There (2007), Inception (2010), Pulp Fiction (1994).

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