Sarah Aminian

Mr. Brian Ganter

ENGL 104

May/21/2015

What makes House of cards distinctive from other TV shows?

A movie is a combination of acting and music. Beside these basic components, filmmakers use visual storytelling techniques to make a film more effective and impressive. These visual methods include lighting effects, on-screen text messages and camera movements, which help the viewers to immerse in the story and grasp a better sense of the situation that the story is trying to portray. Not only the visual techniques make a movie more interesting, but also it can help telling the story in a much more efficient way. House of cards, a political drama series shown on Netflix, is a good example of a film with effective and modern visual techniques. In my opinion, this series is in fact quite distinctive from other shows in terms of its cinematography and visuals, which have led to its huge success.

First of all, the opening scene of House of Cards is one of its most powerful parts. Most of the times, viewers skip the opening credits because they have seen it several times and are bored of it, but in my opinion, the beautiful shots of D.C.’s glorious historical places and its assimilation to an amazing music, is an artistic combination that doesn’t get boring. Although I am not American and have never been to D.C., when I watch every single episode of House of Cards, its introduction part puts me in the mood for following the complications a political story. This show is about a ruthless congressman, Frank Underwood, who has no morality but has a great ambition to become the president of the United State. Unfortunately not only him, but also most of his campaign has this sort of negative character. In my opinion there is a creative match between these dark individuals and the opening part of the show; in every single shot, the brightness changes to darkness and the clouds cover the city. White House is mostly shown at night, and every shot ends with blackness. I think this is a great and very effective way to show the concept of the film and to reveal that the politics is dark. In addition, the epic and yet dramatic music combines the darkness of the scenes with a sense of power and integrity that exists in one of the world’s most influential cities.

Cold blue and senseless yellow colors, as well as the dark high-contrast lighting effects are the fundamental visual storytelling styles of House of Cards and are symbols of the show. Some people believe that darkness is a sign of corrupted power and some believe that it is a symbol of fear, death, evil and ambiguity. All of these factors associated with darkness, exist throughout the story of the movie; from fear and murder to absolute power, corruption, and bribery. In almost every scene of House of Cards, there is a blue object or a blue lighting effect at the front of the scene while there is a yellow object or a yellow lighting effect in the background. In my opinion this is an amazing way of combining two colors to transfer the negative mood of the show to the viewers. This darksome condition, which has been used extensively in the decoration, can also be seen in the actors clothing, makeup and hair. Although this visual style is one of the important factors of the film, I believe it has been used too much, and some occasional variety in the visual effects would be interesting for viewers.

Another factor that makes this film unique is showing the text messages on the screen. In our daily lives, most of us use our phones to send text messages and this has been displayed in this show in an innovative way. Instead of showing the cellphone screen, which is time consuming and distractive, displaying the little pop-up bubbles at the corner of the screen is much more efficient because it is easier for the viewers to follow the character’s feelings while he or she is reading text messages (ex. season 1, episode 3). Although this technique has been used previously in other TV shows, the brilliant use of iPhone sounds, blue and gray text bubbles, and fading effects makes this film distinctive from others.

Finally, another visual storytelling style that has used in this show in a useful way is the camera movements. One interesting fact in its camera movements is that the pan and the tilt motions are rare, which induces a sense of stillness and immobility to the viewers. The close-ups, also, are very interesting, especially when Frank Underwood looks at the camera and shares his emotions and thoughts with the viewers (ex. season 1 episode 1). In addition, there are some low angle shots throughout the film, which have a powerful influence on spectators.

In conclusion, House of Cards, a political drama TV series that has been shown on Netflix since 2013, is a great example of a show that uses the modern visual storytelling style of the 21st century in a very innovative and influential way. The combination of lighting and dark color effects, together with powerful cinematography and impressive music, makes this film very unique and distinguishing from other dramas.