Cinematography technique · used in 7 films

Desert as Protagonist

Treating a desert or vast landscape as a main character with as much screen time as the actors. It has its own arc and can dwarf, kill and transform the people in it.

Examples

7 films that use it

  1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) poster

    Lawrence of Arabia

    David Lean · 1962

    Freddie Young's cinematography makes the Arabian desert feel like a character. The film reveals it slowly, and it has moods, like calm at dawn and violence at midday. It also kills people, directly and indirectly. You can't understand Lawrence without the desert or the desert without Lawrence. The 2 are in conversation for the whole film.

    Where to see it: The Nefud Desert crossing. The landscape fills the huge Super Panavision frame, and it's so vast that the people in it look temporary.

  2. 3 Women (1977) poster

    3 Women

    Robert Altman · 1977

    The dry California desert surrounds every scene, from the health spa to the apartment complex and the roadside tavern. The heat and emptiness cut the women off from anything outside, so they have only each other to turn into.

    Where to see it: Purple Sage Apartments: Pinky and Millie share an apartment owned by Edgar and Willie, who paints strange murals. The building sits in the desert next to a pool.

  3. The English Patient (1996) poster

    The English Patient

    Anthony Minghella · 1996

    In Minghella's film, the love affair between Almásy and Katharine plays out in and through the Sahara. The desert is vast and doesn't care about human suffering. That indifference is the film's central irony.

    Where to see it: Almásy carrying Katharine across the dunes after the plane crash. The desert is what ruins them. For a short time, it is also the last world they have.

  4. Vampires (1998) poster

    Vampires

    John Carpenter · 1998

    The New Mexico desert is bright, dry and empty. Sunlight is the vampires' enemy, and the landscape is full of places to hide or to burn. The wide spaces make the characters look small and exposed.

    Where to see it: The opening raid: Crow's team attacks an abandoned house in the desert in daylight. They use a winch to pull vampires outside to burn in the sun.

  5. Revenge (2017) poster

    Revenge

    Coralie Fargeat · 2017

    Fargeat chose Morocco because it offered a villa, desert and water together, in a desert you could not place. A nearby village was left out of frame to make the characters seem alone. The land is vast and open, with nowhere to hide.

    Where to see it: Escape into the desert: Jen runs from the villa and Richard pushes her off a cliff.

  6. Dune: Part One (2021) poster

    Dune: Part One

    Denis Villeneuve · 2021

    Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser shoot Arrakis as a living thing. The sand dunes get as much weight in the frame as human faces, and the spice storms are shot as enemies made of the elements.

    Where to see it: The sandworm's first full emergence from the dunes. You can't tell the creature and the desert apart, and it looks like the planet defending itself.

  7. Dune: Part Two (2024) poster

    Dune: Part Two

    Denis Villeneuve · 2024

    The second film makes Arrakis feel even more like a living system. The sandworms, the spice and the weather all act on the story. By the end, the desert is as much a character as Paul or Chani.

    Where to see it: Paul riding his first sandworm. You can't tell the creature from the dune, and Paul is impossibly small on a living mountain of sand.

Questions

Quick answers

What is desert as protagonist in film?
Treating a desert or vast landscape as a main character with as much screen time as the actors. It has its own arc and can dwarf, kill and transform the people in it.
Which films use desert as protagonist?
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), 3 Women (1977), The English Patient (1996), Vampires (1998), Revenge (2017), Dune: Part One (2021) and 1 more films in the CineCode library.
What kind of technique is desert as protagonist?
It is a cinematography technique. Related cinematography techniques include IMAX Large-Format Space, Human Figure in Vast Landscape.

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