What filmmaking techniques does West Side Story use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in West Side Story (2021): Steadicam, Diegetic Musical Performance, Untranslated Dialogue and Moral Complexity Without Villains.

Who directed West Side Story?

Steven Spielberg directed West Side Story, released in 2021. 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 West Side Story?

Films that share techniques with West Side Story include The Shining (1980), Princess Mononoke (1997), Atonement (2007), Gravity (2013).

Musical · Romance · Drama

West Side Story

Steven Spielberg, 2021

In 1957 Manhattan, the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks fight over a neighborhood about to be torn down for Lincoln Center. Tony and Maria fall in love across the gang line, and the feud closes in around them. Watch how Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski move one smooth camera through a crowded dance.

1 Cinematography 1 Sound 2 Narrative

At a glance

West Side Story is a 2021 musical, romance and drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 cinematography, 1 sound and 2 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Shining uses several of the same techniques.

Cinematography

Steadicam

Mounting the camera on a stabilizing rig worn by the operator so it can glide smoothly through a space. It moves as freely as handheld but without the shake.

How this film uses it

The gym dance starts with the camera following the actors down a hallway on a Steadicam, then it lifts and travels across the gym. Kaminski has described the opening as 3 shots stitched together, yet it plays as 1 smooth move. You glide into the party at the same speed as the dancers, so the meeting of the 2 gangs feels like something you walk into.

Where to see it

The gym dance: The Jets and the Sharks arrive at the dance and the camera glides in with them. Tony and Maria meet and fall in love here.

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

Most songs were pre-recorded and played back on set. A few were sung live, including 'One Hand, One Heart' and 'Somewhere'. When a voice is caught in the moment, you hear the breath and the nerves, and the number feels like a confession.

Where to see it

A Boy Like That / I Have a Love: Anita confronts Maria after the rumble, and the 2 women sing against each other and then together.

Narrative

Untranslated Dialogue

Leaving a character's language unsubtitled so you follow tone, gesture and context. You share the position of someone outside that language, and the language keeps its full weight.

How this film uses it

The Spanish dialogue in this film has no subtitles. Spielberg has said he did not want English to hold power over Spanish. You read faces and tone, and you get a small taste of being outside the conversation.

Where to see it

The gym dance: The Sharks talk among themselves in Spanish and no subtitles appear, while the 2 gangs size each other up.

Narrative

Moral Complexity Without Villains

Writing a conflict with no villain whose defeat would fix things. Every side has real reasons, and the harm comes from ordinary people protecting themselves, so nothing resolves cleanly.

How this film uses it

You can read the gang war as a fight between 2 groups who both have something to lose. Both sides are about to lose the same blocks to demolition. Nobody's defeat would fix anything, and the pride and fear on each side cost lives.

Where to see it

The rumble: In a salt warehouse, Bernardo kills Riff and Tony, who had tried to stop the fight, kills Bernardo.

Questions

West Side Story: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does West Side Story use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in West Side Story (2021): Steadicam, Diegetic Musical Performance, Untranslated Dialogue and Moral Complexity Without Villains.
Who directed West Side Story?: Steven Spielberg directed West Side Story, released in 2021. 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 West Side Story?: Films that share techniques with West Side Story include The Shining (1980), Princess Mononoke (1997), Atonement (2007), Gravity (2013).

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