In the film A Single Man directed by Tom Ford, film techniques were used to help us understand the main character, George Falconer (Colin Firth) and the transformation on his outlook of life, allowing us to sympathise/empathise with him along his journey.

Ford uses the technique of saturation technicolour to develop our understanding of George, who is finding a reason to live again. In A Single Man, saturation represents the unexpected beauty found in moments of life. When the character of Kenny (a metaphor for George’s salvation and redemption) is introduced to us on-screen, George’s world is gradually lit up in saturation, an explicit contrast to the film’s monotonic, desaturated tones.  In the scene when Kenny purchases a pencil sharpener for George is a very accurate potrayal of George’s subconscious desire to keep stay alive.  The three avaliable coloured pencil sharpeners are: red, yellow and blue, which are all boldly saturated. Kenny picks a red sharpener, which is symbolises “rage” and “lust”, whilst George selects yellow – a sterotypical representation of happiness. In the closing sequence of the film, when George is beginning to feel alive again, the shots are glowing with a combination of red and yellow - the colours they chose earlier in the film for their pencil sharpeners. This may be interpreted as an honor to the bond between George and Kenny. As a result, we can see that the technique of colour saturation develops the symbolic meaning of George’s actions and feelings, producing a solid and everlasting imprint of his decisions.

Our understanding of George is heightened through the cinematic technique of soundtracking. Diagetic sounds provide a certain atmosphere in a scene. Throughout A Single Man the loudly ticking clock is a symbol of the harsh, unsentimental, all-too-rationalising modern world, which George is constantly conflicting with. This assists our understanding George’s struggle against a ‘perfect’ society in the 1960s – the majority of which, do not seem to understand him; he is painted as an outcast by most. It expresses his desire to stop time through methods of suicide, reflecting on the world that is exhausting culture, by killing feeling. Immediately after we see George’s emotional response to the phone call he received informing of Jim’s death; the scene cuts to a piercingly-loud diagetic sound that is drowned out by the turmoil of weather. We are able to sympathise with George, as he mourns his partner’s death. This helps re-enforce the connection they shared and the effect it has on George (being forced apart - as a result of Jim’s death). The slow-tempo of the waltz played as George drives through the neighbourhood, helps us understand that he is beginning to take in the beauty of little things in life that seem unexpected. Hope is starting to grow for George, as he realises that reality isn’t a dead end for him - seen by the children and their happiness as they play in the backyard. This tells us that he is slowly opening himself up to creating new memories, even if they may not carry the same intensity as the ones he shared with Jim.

In conclusion, director Tom Ford successfully used cinematic techniques such as cinematography, saturation and soundtrack to support our knowledge of the main character, George Falconer. Through these techniques, we are able to understand George through his emotional response, allowing us to sympathise/empathise for him. It can be seen that he changes from a feeling of despair to beginning in hoping again as a result of the connections he makes through his day. The film ‘A Single Man’ conveys a final message of hope and profound insight that makes it all worthwhile.