Films › Cinematography
First Cow
Directed by Kelly Reichardt, 2020
Kelly Reichardt and DP Christopher Blauvelt shot First Cow in the boxy 1.37:1 Academy ratio, a format choice that crops out the wide Oregon vistas a period frontier film would normally sell itself on and instead keeps the frame close around two men and their small transactions. Much of the film is lit to look like available daylight filtered through trees or a single interior fire, with underexposed shadow areas left uncorrected, which slows the eye down to the pace of the characters' labor rather than offering scenic spectacle. Blauvelt favors static or slow-tracking shots that follow characters at a walking pace through the forest, refusing handheld urgency even in scenes with real stakes, a rhythm that matches Reichardt's long-standing interest in process over incident. The milking sequence, filmed with patient wide coverage rather than tight suspense cutting, treats an illegal act as ordinary labor, which is itself a directorial statement about class and economy embedded in camera distance.
What to watch for
Notice how the boxed-in aspect ratio keeps focus on the two men's hands and tools instead of the frontier landscape around them.
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