Charlie
St John
Tick, Tick... BOOM!
Lin-Manuel Miranda
2021
Drama
Genres and tropes in this film
This film, like Dead poet society, is a drama about a struggling artist who dies before his time. This film however, is also a biography and a musical based off of the work by Jonathan Larson about his own life.
The Tropes that are shown include the tragic artist, financial issues, relationship issues, Death of love ones and the AIDS crisis. These create drama in a character or persons life, hence why it fits into the genre of drama. This also includes the trope of 'the artist who died before his fame'.
Scene Overview
this scene takes place after Jonathan Larson finds out that his best friend Michael has tested positive for HIV. he leaves Michael's apartment distraught while a monologue is spoken from Johnathan in the production of 'tick tick boom'.
The scenes of him speaking in his musical biography, him walking and running away from the apartment and Michael at the hospital repetitively singing the words "is this real life" cutting between each other.
Context
This is a movie based of the biographic musical by and about Jonathan Larson. Jonathan Larson was a struggling composer, lyricist and playwright in Manhattan. He died right before the opening night of his one successful show called 'Rent', Narrowly missing any form of fame or pride earnt by this show. This movie is about the tragedy of his life and how he never knew how loved he would be by the world. The film takes place in 1990 while Larson was 30. he died 4 years later. It is also important to note that this took place during the AIDs crisis and the Broadway scene was heavily effected as a large amount of the homosexual community saw theatre as a way to express themselves. I will link a clip from the original performance of this musical in an embedded video down bellow.
This scene takes place during a time when Larson was in the process of doing workshops and writing finish touches of his musical 'Superbia' which is based off of an early attempt to write a music based off of George Orwells '1989'. This musical never Reached a full production past the workshopping events. he was also experiencing relationship issues with his girlfriend (Susan) at the time due to the stress of this writing process as well as money issues and a fight between him and his friend. his power cuts out so he is unable to write his showstopper song for the presentation of his musical the next day so he decides to go take a swim at a public pool to clear his mind. this inspires his song and he writes something reflective of his relationship with Susan but the presentation still doesn't work out. he visits his best friend in account to ask for a job calming that he is 'running out of time'. His friend, Micheal, tells him that he has so much more time and reveals to Jonathan that he himself has the complete opposite when Michael tells Larson that he is HIV positive.
Micro-Fetures
Cinematography
The scene begins with a shot of Larson using a payphone from the side. The shot has a shallow depth of field, drawing the viewers eye to the main character in the scene to show what he is doing is of importance. The phone call is to get in contact with his girlfriend to reach out for support during this time but she does not answer. This shot is composed using the rule of thirds.
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The scene then cuts away to the performance of 'Tick, Tick... Boom!' where Johnathan discusses Michaels untimely illness in the form of monologue. The shot is from the side and includes plenty of negative space only disrupted by the stage lights. The negative space with Larson surrounded in darkness makes him look lonely and clouded over with emotion. This scene uses golden ratio to help lead your eye to Larson as he is performing meaning all focus is on him inside the theatre.
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As Larson walks away from Michael's apartment, Various shots are taken from behind or from the front at an eye-level Hight. These shots are relatively close up as well. it is important to note that the camera is never static when the camera is on Larson and in this shot they use what's called a tracking shot which follows the subject as they move. the camera always in motion shows frantic feeling of which Larson is experiencing.
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A shot which is a flash forward to a hospital is then put into this sequence. The shot begins by displaying two men weeping and embracing over finding out that the other has contracted AIDs. A slow zoom directed towards the men also takes places. This shot is to exhibit the tension in this moment between the men and to show that they are the ones of importance from this shot as they are heading for death, and these may be some of their final moments with one another. The corridor leads to the men which also shows how important and life changing this situation really is. The shot then changes to Johnathan Larson watching this interaction take place with the same slow zoom effect. Larson is placed on the right of the screen and surrounded by more negative space which is reoccurring in this montage to show how empty he feels in this moment and to reflect how Larson's life will be if Michael passes.
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There is a shot in this sequence of Johnathan Larson running through a dark tunnel in a park. They follow him through using a tracking shot to show the process of his build up to a full run. The shot is composed using symmetry, surrounding him only by darkness which adds to the somber impression you get of Larson's emotional state and also preempts how empty the world will be without Michael. this also acts as framing, showing the significance of this milestone in his life. The tunnel also draws the audiences eyes to Johnathan Larson with the use of leading lines.
Mise-En-scene
The scene opens in a coldly-lit street with Larson making use of a payphone off to the left of the screen. The use of payphones re-enforces that the scene is set before the present day as the film is set in the 1990s when people did not rely on mobile phones to contact loved ones whilst on the move. The colour of the scene is cool-toned which suggests that the phone call is quite cold-hearted and unhappy. the coldness of the colour also suggests that the scene is set towards the end of the year/start of the new year when the climate is a lower temperature. this point can be proven by the outfits of the characters shown in this shot as Johnathan wears a thick, long winter coat. The people walking past him also are dressed in winter attire. The colour scheme of the costume design is yet again quite cool, making use of the grays and cool-undertones greens and browns. The lighting is made to look completely natural and may actually be natural lighting used by the filmmakers to give the scene a more realistic and relatable feel to the audience as it feels a lot less forced.
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The difference in colour when the shot cuts to one of tick tick boom is astronomical. The shot is quite warm and in a sense, the warmth shows the emotional growth that Larson has undergone since this moment in time where he found himself at his lowest. Although the scenery around him is warm, the lighting on Larson himself is quite cold. This is because of him reflecting back and remembering his emotional pain during the moment we are flashing back to. The angle of the lighting comes both from the left and front (at a low angle) of him as it imitates stage lighting which is unnatural and dramatic, casting spectacular shadows on the subject. This is to show that this shot is part of his performance of Tick Tick Boom. His outfit is quite basic yet smart, dressing Larson in a dress shirt and dark trousers to emphasize the formality of situation as this is Larson's one and only performance he gets to perform of this musical. he is sat on a stool alone on the stage surrounded by darkness. this imitates how alone he felt in the moment of which we are looking back at from his life. this also tells the audience that this is a very personal experience.
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Another interesting shot is the close us of Michaels face in front of the poster about HIV awareness. I find the scene to be a wonderful example of the use of mise-en-scene as it shows that he is in a hospital suffering from the same disease behind him. The poster extends to a height which is taller than Michael showing the power that this disease has taken over his life. the poster being situated behind Michael shows that it is now a part of him that others cannot see, hidden from plain sight yet tearing apart his life.
Sound
Throughout the entire sequence, ticking can be heard in the background. This ticking is used to emphasise to the audience that Larson feels as if he is running out of time in this particular scene. it also shows how he is literally running out of time as he is nearing his death. The ticking is diegetic to the character as it almost works as an internal monologue. The emotive monologue of which Jonathan speaks throughout the montage is also an internal monologue, but only in the montage.
The monologue however is also spoken to an audience as if we are experiencing his thoughts, making it diegetic to the rest of the crowd. The ticking sound is also sound is also diegetic to the audience of 'Tick, Tick... boom!' As a sound effect of ticking is played over the show times.Music is very crucial to this film as Larson was I musician and was able to make a song out of everything in his life. this musical is showing his life through the songs that he wrote about these moments and shows perfectly how he saw every thing as a performance.
Editing
The editing of this scene is non-linear, cutting together scenes of Larson reflecting on this moment in his performance and the actual events that took place. the editing is also at a slow pace, showing that time has almost stopped in this moment after getting the news of his friends illness. the slowness depicts the time Johnathan Larson is savoring while his friend, Michael, is still around. another important thing to notice is that the cuts often fall on the beats of the song. this is frequently done throughout the film and is to set again show how Larson sees theatrics in his everyday experiences.