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Weather in Films

ChristopherJChristopherJ Posts: 976
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in Movies #1
Which films do you enjoy the weather in? – not necessarily as the focus of the film, but captured incidentally to the story. I enjoy the the chilly autumn weather in First Blood, and the similar overcast weather in Jumanji. Then there's the brilliantly sunny autumn weather in Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry.

Comments

  • dodradedodrade Posts: 23,797
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    #2
    Track of the Cat, have always liked winter westerns, agree about the beautiful autumn colours of the trouble with Harry as well.
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,326
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    #3
    Good question.

    Pale Rider (another western) springs to mind, as does Paris, Texas. More recently the underrated Skelton Key caught southern humidity very well.

    Weather often goes hand in hand with location - both The Thing and The Shining benefit from their snowed-in isolation.

    There must be loads more.
  • AbominationAbomination Posts: 6,483
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    #4
    The Day After Tomorrow.

    Bit nippy, but they had coats. :D
  • ironjadeironjade Posts: 10,005
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    #5
    dodrade wrote: »
    Track of the Cat, have always liked winter westerns, agree about the beautiful autumn colours of the trouble with Harry as well.

    "Track of the Cat" is probably the only colour movie which looks like black and white, apart from Robert Mitchum's shirt. Very odd movie.
  • rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,771
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    #6
    No Country For Old Men. The bright sun really enhances the cinematography.
  • mialiciousmialicious Posts: 4,686
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    #7
    The constant oppressive rain in Se7en
    The Crow
    The Ice storm
    Jurassic park
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    #8
    Hero

    The weather plays a big part. Different weather is used in each fight sequence.

    Colour is also important.
    The costumes worn by the characters and the environment have distinct colors for particular layers of the story. All the flashbacks have green dominance and heroes wear green costumes. In the first version of the story (which Nameless have made up) characters wear red and environment have shades of red. In the second version (which Emperor tells) characters wear blue and environment have shades of blue. And in the last version (which Nameless tells the real story) characters wear white and environment have normal colors.
    The "red fight" between Moon and Flying-Snow was filmed in a forest in Mongolia. Director Yimou Zhang had to wait until the leaves turn yellow, and hired local nomads to gather even more yellow leaves in order to cover the ground completely. In fact, he was so fanatic about the leaves, that he had his crew separate the leaves into four different "classes" which were each put at increasingly farther lengths from the camera.
    The lake scenes took almost three weeks to film because director Yimou Zhang insisted that the lake's surface had to be perfectly still and mirror-like during filming. Due to the natural currents, this occurred every day for only two hours starting at 10am. To adjust to this phenomenon, the filmmakers arose at 5am each day to begin five hours of preparation and set-up.

    The fight between nameless and sword was in pouring rain.
    The red fight was in heavy winds (caused by the the character's martial arts skills IIRC)
  • abigail1234abigail1234 Posts: 1,292
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    #9
    Directors really do like their weather don't they? There is always a scene in romantic films where the heroine and hero get caught in a torrential downpour and they are so overwhelmed by passion, they kiss madly as the rain lashes down. on them

    Because that's exactly what happens in real life, right? ;-) No one dashes to find shelter / fight with an umbrella
  • Ancient IDTVAncient IDTV Posts: 10,166
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    #10
    Excellent weather effects in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
  • rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,771
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    #11
    Another Coen brothers film, Fargo. The snow enhances the sense of a small town in Minnesota being aloof from the rest of the mainstream of American society.
  • TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    #12
    The Ice Storm (1997) - the approach and breaking of a freak ice storm are in parallel with certain events.

    Melancholia (2011) and Confessions (2010) - both use weather (as well as colour and motion) to empathise an emotion or mood.

    Do the Right Thing (1989) - it uses the heat of a summer as a measurement of emotions in a local neighbourhood. It's slowly revealed that the day it all breaks is the hottest day that summer. Absolute Beginners (1986) did the same thing, but Do the Right Thing executed it better, I think.
  • CBFreakCBFreak Posts: 28,602
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    #13
    What Dreams May Come is not the best film but the use of Colour Pallet to bring the afterlife to life was beautiful.

    When Andy escapes in The Shawshank Redemption the rain really fits the mood for it and made quite the iconic moment.

    I just love the snow/Ice scenes from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,766
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    #14
    I love Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons, though the weather is just part of the background to the drama in these four films.
  • spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    #15
    did somebody say eric rohmer ?

    surely in La Rayon Vert ..... the weather is the main character in film !

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Ray_(film)

    http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/cielbleu-rayonvert4.htm
  • ChristopherJChristopherJ Posts: 976
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    #16
    The snow and winter light in Rohmer's My Night with Maud.
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