FIRST PAPER | Response Paper | House of Cards

House of Cards is an American drama series revolving around politics in the United States capital of Washington D.C. The main character — Frank Underwood — is determined to gain power and rise through the ranks of the White House, at almost any cost. While he and the majority of other major characters are not necessarily painted as bad people, they are largely power-hungry and will deal and double-cross their way to the top. House of Cards is filmed using several visual storytelling techniques to throw the themes of good and evil, corruption, power and betrayal into relief. A big part of what makes the series popular is the dark and sometimes foreboding mood that is projected onto many characters. The tone of the scene, episode and series is set in large part by the distinct visual style of the filmmaker.

The nature of politics is rooted in good and evil. The basic goal of all political systems is to promote good and prevent evil in society. The visual style of House of Cards reflects this by using many techniques to contrast light and dark. As discussed in class we looked at the settings and camera work for the scenes in House of Cards. Every Angle of the camera focus on the topic or topics being said, for example, frank up-close to the camera, just talk to the camera as if others cant here him, this intensifies what he says, why it is important and gives further explanation as well as keeps focus on what is important; him and his words. The lighting and coloring of the scenes are also another example. We talked about dark foregrounds and dark character appearance contrasts with often-brighter backgrounds. This can be seen as symbolizing the political battle of several characters, engaging in illegal or immoral activities in the hopes of someday reaching the “promised land”: power, wealth, or even happiness. We also discussed colours; blue & yellow. Blue representing the colder colours; evil, wrong, unmoral, yellow; warmer and more trusting. Frank and most of the political characters are in blue as well as in any setting in the Whitehouse, which may represent that, the characters and the setting is cold. Clare’s office is yellow, it has a warmer environment, but if a blue colour was in that setting, you can link that the character is “cold” and “bad”.

As well as the political system being a reflection of light contrasted with dark, modern politics is full of corruption, coercion and other unpleasant practices. While most politicians likely enter politics with the goal of doing some good in the world, many are unable to avoid the pushes and pulls of various forces within politics. This is a strong recurring theme throughout House of Cards, and it is illustrated in a variety of ways, particularly by keeping many camera shots of the White House and other important characters in the dark. Critical conversations, deals and discussions often occur in dark rooms, symbolizing the desire to hide away from exposure to the world. Even the opening credits sequence has several shots of light being eclipsed by shadows. The bright, open landscapes descend into darkness. It is an effective storytelling tool to mirror many of the plot storylines and themes, which largely focus on power, corruption, manipulation and betrayal.

The simple yet contrasting visual style of House of Cards also helps to highlight exactly what the director wants noticed by the audience. An intense scene where it is important to highlight the emotions of a character can use darkness to draw attention to a character’s body language, appearance, expressions, tone of voice, and almost anything else, for example in this link https://youtu.be/mnMcnC3D59E when Frank address himself as a powerful friend to have (0.55 secs). It is a really powerful tool to help tell the precise story that the director wants. In a plot as complex and diverse as the one in House of Cards, particularly in the complicated and sometimes dry area of politics, using this visual tool to help audiences to understand storylines, characters, alliances, and so on.

Therefore is conclusion, one of the most essential aspects of a successful television series is to evoke emotion in the audience. Many filmmaking techniques are used to do this, but House of Cards particularly uses visual lighting to create the appropriate mood for the themes of the series. Contrasting dark foreground with light background symbolizing the conflicts between good and evil, power and corruption, and morality. It can create the appropriate mood for a scene, or eliminate the visual sense to the point where the audience notices more of the other elements such as dialogue, emphasis or body language. The use of these visual styles is particularly effective in House of Cards, and has played a big role in the success of the series. Even if they don’t know it, audiences respond to stimuli like the dark-light contrast, and can understand better the mood of the scene, plot points, character plans, and many other important parts.