Callie Pidoriano FYS

     Originally, I selected Bohemian Rhapsody because I had seen the film before and was amazed by the soundtrack and cinematography on screen. I have a fondness for classic rock music, and I was eager to learn more about the band Queen. During this project I learned a lot about the history of Queen and Freddie Mercury, while simultaneously learning how to analyze film and cinematography. I have seen Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety about 5 times now, and I continue to learn, or pick up on something new each time I watch it. One of the most interesting takeaways I have learned from this project is that films can be analyzed and interpreted in many different ways. I now find myself much more aware of decisions made by the cinematographer and director in films, and how they evoke messages and ideologies to their audience in a similar way that authors do so in literature. Prior to this class and this final film analysis, I had never thought about movies as anything more than entertainment but the reality of it is that films reveal a lot about life lessons and culture. Bohemian Rhapsody in particular made me realize what struggles any famous person may face and that being a star is not as glamorous as the media presents it to be.

     The Bryan Singer film Bohemian Rhapsody contains ideologic meanings that are both implicit and explicit. Freddie Mercury, the main character in the film represents both the loneliness of stardom and the struggles faced by homosexuals in society. 

     Singer gives subtle hints at some of the internal struggles faced by homosexuals during the 1970s and 80s in the film through Freddie, who can not seem to accept himself for fear of losing the people that are close to him like Mary. Although there were no obvious signs of homophobic behavior by any of the characters in the film, Singer evokes an ideology about the past societal acceptance of gays through Freddie’s unwillingness to admit his sexuality for a majority of the fim. It was a hard time for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Singer presents this theme implicitly.

     Singer’s ideology about the loneliness of stardom however, was more explicit and obvious. After achieving great success as a singer, the film focused a lot on Freddie’s great wealth but lack of companionship. While on tour, the band was surrounded by people, groupies, and fans yet Singer juxtaposed this with continued clips of Freddie alone in his mansion. Celebrities can be surrounded by people yet still feel alone. This explicit ideology goes hand in hand with the implicit ideology about sexuality in the 1970s and 80s, creating a very difficult and isolated time for Freddie Mercury in the story. 

    On the ideological continuum, Bohemian Rhapsody could be placed between the centrist and liberal categories. Liberal ideals put an emphasis on equality and individual rights, and the liberal party was a big part of the LGBTQ+ movement of the 2000s. The implicit ideology about homosexuals made this film shift towards the left for me on the ideological continuum. However, I felt that the film was not very political and mainly focused on Freddie’s loneliness, so Bohemian Rhapsody should remain between centrist and liberal on the chart. 

         Newton Thomas Sigel is the cinematographer for the film Bohemian Rhapsody. He is most known for his work with director Bryan Singer on the films X-Men, The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, and again, Bohemian Rhapsody. He has been the primary cinematographer for a number of films, many of which earned him awards for outstanding cinematography. Sigel has worked on films of numerous genres, and focuses his work on the storytelling aspect of movies. Critics say Sigel has no actual style of cinematography because of his ability to adapt to many different genres of cinema. The film Bohemian Rhapsody is dominated by medium shots, although Singer does include various different camera angles and viewpoints. An equal emphasis on both the characters and their setting is created through these–predominantly medium–shots. Sigel and Singer create a world on screen that resembles the life of Freddie Mercury during his time in Queen. Due to their accuracy at creating this view on screen, the movie is clearly realistic.

• Dominant: Our eye is first attracted to Freddie in the center of the frame, due to the fact that he is taking up a lot of space in the view with his arms spread open wide. 
• Lighting/shading: The lighting in the image is unique because the main focus, Freddie is in the dark as he is coming out of the shadows onto the brightly lit stage at Live Aid. The contrast in lighting is powerful in this image as it captures the energy that radiates from a giant crowd for these performers.

• Proxemics: In this image Freddie Mercury is the main focus, as he gets excited to run on stage for unfortunately one of the last times. The audience can see his upper body from the waist up. Sigel likely chose this angle because he is lower than the stage, so it allows the audience to get a view of what goes on backstage before a concert while simultaneously viewing Freddie.
• Angle: The image is viewed from eye-level, as if you were standing behind Freddie following him up to the stage. Following this shot, the cameraman follows Freddie making it feel like viewers are right there running behind him.
• Color values: The colors in this shot are fairly dull. By keeping the colors dull Sigel is able to really emphasize the difference between light and dark. In the film, colors really emphasize what is happening in Freddie’s life. For example when the band is on tour of America and everything is going good for Freddie, the images on screen are vibrant and colorful, however when Freddie gets diagnosed with AIDS and his life falls apart, the dull colors reflect this struggle. At this final Live Aid concert–despite the tremendous accomplishment of performing at Live Aid–the fact that this could be Queens final performance together hangs heavy over Freddie and the band. Singer and Sigel portray this deeper emotion through the colors on screen.

*Here, the bright colors used during the bands great success on their tour of America is shown.

• Subsidiary images: After taking in the dominant image of Freddie, the audience can get a glimpse of how many other people there are working behind the scenes of a concert. Examining this image can also emphasize the theme that even when surrounded by thousands of people and fans, a star can still feel alone just as Freddie did in this film.

• Density: This image is moderately packed with visual information. Freddie is in the center of the frame which establishes some simplicity to the view, although as the viewer’s eye moves around the image, they can absorb a lot of visual information which foreshadows the importance of Freddie’s character in the film to come.
• Composition: The two-dimensional space is organized by the contrast in lighting created. The center and top of the image are brightly lit, bringing the audience’s attention to here. Freddie is a darker image in the center of this, depicting him as the most important figure in this scene. The tunnel in front of him also serves to force viewers to look at Freddie.
• Depth: This image contains all three planes of view. The background is higher up than the foreground, allowing for a clear view of the midground in the image. It is an interesting view because one can really feel Freddie transition from the foreground to the background through this tunnel, leaving backstage behind him.
• Character placement: Characters occupy all three planes in this frame, and seem to be scattered across all parts of the framed space. Freddie however is clearly the main focus of the image as he is directly in the center of the view and all these people.

     Throughout the film Bohemian Rhapsody, music by the famous British rock band Queen is used to emphasize different challenges that Freddie Mercury and his band are fronted with. One of the many examples from Singer’s film includes the sequence of scenes when Freddie writes the song “Love of My Life”. The lyrics of this song evoke tremendous emotion; highlighting Freddie’s internal conflict and feelings for Mary. Prior to this scene, Singer hints at Freddie’s homosexuality through an interaction Freddie has with a man while on the phone with Mary. In this scene we hear the audience at a concert singing along to the popular Queen song “Love of My Life”, while Freddie on stage is in awe of his fans. The audience on screen chants the line, “love of my life, can’t you see? Bring it back, bring it back, don’t take it away from me.” The lyrics of this song strongly influence what is occurring on screen. Mary and Freddie have been having some problems with their relationship, mainly because of Freddie’s dishonesty towards himself and Mary. 

     It  is evident that Freddie is in love with Mary, but he can not ignore his sexuality. The lines “bring it back, bring it back” are powerful in their way of expressing Freddie’s emotions, and how he wishes his relationship with Mary would work out. This song acts as foreshadowing for the following scene, where Mary tells Freddie of her suspicion, and he confesses his bisexuality. The two have a falling out, and Freddie’s life takes a turn for the worse. It was powerful of Singer to include this song in the plot line of the story because it separates Freddie as a person from the way he is on stage. Although he was an extremely successful singer, Freddie struggled with loneliness after feeling ostracized and rejected by his family, Mary, and the band. The line “you don’t know what it means to me” clearly describes Freddie at this time in his life, where his connection with Mary seemed to be the only connection he had. Singer includes this song in order to emphasize not only Freddie Mercury’s post-stardom struggles, but also to portray the struggles homosexuals and bisexuals faced during the 1970s. 

Bohemian Rhapsody. Directed by Bryan Singer, performances by Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Lucy Boynton, Aaron McCusker. 20th Century Fox, 2018.

Film Reference. “Musicals – Film, Movie, Cinema, Scene, Story, Song.” Film Reference, www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Musicals.html.

Hellerman, Jason. “What is a Biopic & Why Are They Dominating Hollywood?” No Film School, 5 Aug. 2019, nofilmschool.com/Biopic-films-In-Hollywood.

      Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody is characterized by cinematic elements of a musical biopic, following the dramatic and unique life of Freddie Mercury throughout his years as lead singer of Queen. The film provides background on Freddie Mercury’s past, including everything from his Indian Parsi roots, to how he became lead singer of the band that was globally known and loved in the 1970s. Singer has produced a number of Science Fiction movies including the X-Men series, which sharply contrast the cinematic characteristics and style of Bohemian Rhapsody. 

     This Singer film can be compared to the documentary Don’t Look Back, the D.A Pennebaker movie following Bob Dylan on his tour of England in 1965. Although the genres differ slightly, both films are characterized by music solely from the artist being focused on. In Bohemian Rhapsody, the whole film is marked by popular Queen songs, and in Don’t Look Back the same approach to the soundtrack is taken. Although in Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie is not played by the real Freddie Mercury, it still gives strong insight to his life and background. Bohemian Rhapsody can be classified as a biopic because it fictionally portrays the nonfiction story of the life of Freddie Mercury through the actor Rami Malek. These movies are unique and often challenging for actors, who must take on the role of a character already known by the audience (Hellerman). In this film Rami Malek is able to closely resemble and act like the real Freddie Mercury. Biopics often use the main characters to reveal an important movement or discovery made in history (Hellerman). In this film’s case, Singer uses Freddie Mercury to show how the 1970s were a difficult time for people of the LGBTQ+ community, homosexuals in particular. Freddie struggles with opening up about his sexuality to the media–who are shown continuously interrogating him in interviews– as well as his fellow band members and traditional family. It is a clear focus of Singer to emphasize the way homosexuality tended to ostrasize people during this time period. This film can speak to people living today, who are reminded of the struggles the LGBTQ+ community went through to achieve the acceptance they thankfully have today. It also serves as a reminder for society to continue to treat everyone equally, and is relevant today as politics become a heated and dividing force in America especially. Bohemian Rhapsody fits into the film category of “New Queer Cinema”, focusing on the life of a successful and famous gay star, yet relating to all, even current members of the LGBTQ+ community. This film takes place during the Gay Libertarian Movement in America, where members of the gay community were urged to unite and speak out against societal driven shame. 

     Both Singer and Pennebaker reveal the behind the scenes life of famous musicians, giving insight to the fact that rock and roll is not as glamorous as it may seem. Bob Dylan and Freddie Mercury dabbled in drugs and alcohol, which was emphasized in both films alike. Along with the approach to conveying their themes, both Pennebaker and Singer use exclusively diegetic sound in their films. Similarly to Don’t Look Back, Bohemian Rhapsody contains cinematic elements of a musical, including songs and dances performed by the main characters, woven into the narrative of the film (Film Reference). Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody displays clear cinematic elements of both a biopic and a musical while hinting at societal issues and a greater theme about rock and roll stars.

     Bryan Singer’s film titled Bohemian Rhapsody, is a biographical drama that explains how the famous rock band Queen came about, and unfortunately ended. The film is mainly focused on the life of lead singer Freddie Mercury, who is known for his unique and flamboyant presence, and also for his tragic death from AIDS in 1991, during a time where the world knew little about the disease AIDS. The movie opens with a clip of the band and lead singer Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), preparing and running on stage for LiveAid, the acclaimed 1985 concert that funded relief for Africa, and would unfortunately be one of the last times Queen played live. The rest of the film carries on as a flashback, creating background on how the band came about and reached enough stardom to perform at LiveAid, in front of thousands of people and on live television. 

     Freddie Mercury was a Indian Parsi, who fled with his parents and sister to England after tragedy struck their homeland. Freddie was very talented, and knew he was born to be a star– not just a regular airport worker as shown in the beginning of the film. He is disapproved of by his traditional parents who do not understand his hopes and dreams. Freddie meets future band members guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee), singer John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello), and bassist Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) outside a bar after one of their performances. Confidently, Freddie proposes becoming their new lead singer, and after being laughed at by the men, sings a riff that changes their mind. Freddie and the band have a bit of a shaky start as he originally has a clunky stage presence, butchering some words to their songs during the first performance. Soon enough Freddie and the band are playing local venues every night.

      Freddie becomes romantically involved with the English woman Mary Austin, as the band takes off and decides to sell their van to produce their first record. At lunch with Mary’s parents, Freddie receives a call from the producer of Elton John, John Reid (Aiden Gillen). Freddie, Brian, John and Roger are proposed a deal with John, as well as Paul Prenter (Allan Leech), another producer with this record company. Freddie declares the band to be named Queen.

     Queen’s debut with their newly signed producers is their performance of the song “Killer Queen,” on a popular television show. The band members’ rebellious and conflicting tendencies are first hinted here, when they argue with the producers who want them to lip sync the song. Freddie and Mary’s relationship gets serious and they get engaged just before finding out that Queen has been booked to tour America in 1975. 

      The band begins working on their next album titled, A Night at the Opera and get very creative in the process, crossing boundaries never before seen in music. The band’s creative edge, and Freddie Mercury’s unique musical talent is portrayed through the scene when they write their most groundbreaking song, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This song is not approved of at first by any of the producers, who say an eight minute song would never make it on the radio. The band plays it all over the world on tour, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” becomes the epitome of Queen’s unique musical style. On tour, hints of Freddie’s bisexuality start after Paul kisses Freddie. Feeling obligated to the love of his life, Mary, Freddie denies these feelings. Freddie tells Mary that he is bisexual, once returning from tour, and she– tired of being ignored– tells him he is gay and breaks up with him despite her love for him. 

      Freddie grows extremely lonesome living alone in a giant house, so he throws a huge party. Drunk, and upset Freddie is rude and disrespectful to the other band members who leave and head back to their families at home. Freddie makes sexual advances on one of the waiters, who is first disgusted but then tells Freddie to come find him once he finds and learns to “love himself.” It is in this scene where Freddie stops hiding his sexuality and embraces being gay.

      The Queen members experience a lot of turmoil in the following scenes, when Freddie’s ego seems to get in the way of his relationships with people. John comes up with the bands new hit “We Will Rock You” involving fans in the bands performance. Despite the rise of tensions between Freddie and the other band members, Queen produces more hits, this time the songs “Another One Bites the Dust” and “I Want to Break Free”. A hint at the disapproval 1980 society still had of homosexuals is made in the scene, where the band performs “I Want to Break Free” on MTV. Suspicions from the press and media of Freddie’s own sexuality arise as they relentlessly attempt to have Freddie admit to being gay. 

     Paul, who becomes the antagonist of the film proposes Freddie to start a solo career, with clear jealousy of Freddie’s dedication to the band. Freddie is first disgusted, but eventually is convinced after receiving a 4 million dollar deal with CBS records. Freddie toggles with drugs and an unhealthy lifestyle as Paul takes advantage of him, keeping Freddie in the dark about an offer Queen received to perform at LiveAid. Finally, just after Freddie is diagnosed with AIDS, he finds out about LiveAid. Freddie believes this may be his last performance, and attempts to rekindle his relationships with John, Brian and Roger. 

     The band performs “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Radio Gaga” on stage in front of 75,000 people, and Freddie seems to have finally mended the bonds he broke with a number of people in his life, including Mary, the band, and his family.