Editing Darren Aronofsky (section)

==Directing style==
[[File:Aranofsky, Libatique, Weisblum 2011.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Aronofsky with frequent collaborators Matthew Libatique and Andrew Weisblum]]

Aronofsky's first two films, ''Pi'' and ''Requiem for a Dream'', were low budget and used [[montage (filming)|montages]] of extremely short shots, also known as [[hip hop montage]]s.<ref name="Boyd 2008">{{cite book | last = Boyd | first = Susan | title = Hooked | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-415-95706-9 |pages=97–98}}</ref> While an average 100-minute film has 600 to 700 cuts, ''Requiem for a Dream'' features more than 2,000. Split-screen is used extensively, along with extremely tight [[closeup]]s.<ref name=post>{{cite book | last = Booker | first = M. | title = Postmodern Hollywood | publisher = Praeger | location = New York | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-275-99900-1 }}</ref> Long tracking shots, including those shot with an apparatus strapping a camera to an actor, called the [[Snorricam]], and [[time-lapse]] photography are also prominent stylistic devices.<ref name="DASF">{{cite book |last=Powell |first=Anna |title=Deleuze, Altered States and Film |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7486-3282-4 |page=75}}</ref> Often with his films, Aronofsky alternates between extreme closeups and extreme wide shots to create a sense of isolation.<ref name="Tech">{{cite book |last=Dancyger |first=Ken |title=The Technique of Film and Video Editing |publisher=Focal |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=0-240-80420-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/techniqueoffilmv00danc_1/page/257 257–258] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/techniqueoffilmv00danc_1/page/257 }}</ref>

With ''The Fountain'', Aronofsky restricted the use of [[computer-generated imagery]]. Henrik Fett, the visual effects supervisor of Look Effects, said, "Darren was quite clear on what he wanted and his intent to greatly minimize the use of computer graphics&nbsp;... and I think the results are outstanding."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.awn.com/news/visual-effects/look-effects-does-more-less-cg-fountain | title=Look Effects Does More With Less CG on The Fountain | publisher=[[Animation World Network]] | date=October 26, 2006 | access-date=April 23, 2010 | archive-date=March 17, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317032549/http://www.awn.com/news/visual-effects/look-effects-does-more-less-cg-fountain | url-status=live }}</ref> He used more subtle directing in ''The Wrestler'' and ''Black Swan,'' in which a less-visceral directing style better showcases the acting and narratives. Aronofsky filmed both works with a muted palette and a grainy style.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barry |first=Colleen |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100901/eu-italy-venice-film-festival/ |title=''Black Swan'' opens Venice Film Festival |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |date=August 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113014051/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100901/eu-italy-venice-film-festival/ |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Part of this consistent style involves collaborations with frequent partners cinematographer [[Matthew Libatique]], editor [[Andrew Weisblum]] and composer [[Clint Mansell]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Fireside Chat Darren Aronofsky|url=https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/fireside-chat/episodes/darren-aronofsky|website=Red Bull Radio|publisher=Red Bull GmbH|access-date=May 8, 2017|archive-date=August 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814220650/https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/fireside-chat/episodes/darren-aronofsky|url-status=live}}</ref> Mansell's music is often an important element of the films.<ref name="makers">{{cite news |last=Weiland |first=Jonah |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5080 |title=Talking with the Makers of "The Fountain" |work=[[Comic Book Resources]] |date=April 11, 2005 |access-date=November 10, 2006 |archive-date=December 30, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230044357/http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5080 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Themes and influences===
''Pi'' features several references to mathematics and mathematical theories.<ref name="darren1"/> In a 1998 interview, Aronofsky acknowledged several influences for ''Pi'': "I'm a big fan of [[Akira Kurosawa|Kurosawa]] and [[Federico Fellini|Fellini]]. In this film in particular I think there's a lot of [[Roman Polanski]] influence and [[Terry Gilliam]] influence as well as a Japanese director named [[Shinya Tsukamoto]]—he directed ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man|The Iron Man, Tetsuo]]''." The visual style of ''Pi'' and ''Requiem for a Dream'' features numerous similarities to ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man''.<ref>[http://aronofksy.tripod.com/interview14.html "Darren Aronofsky: THE ASK HOLLYWOOD INTERVIEW"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055458/http://aronofksy.tripod.com/interview14.html |date=September 21, 2013 }}. ''Darren Aronofsky Online'' (1998). Retrieved August 27, 2013.</ref><ref>[https://www.indiewire.com/article/an_interview_with_darren_aronofsky_and_sean_gullette_of_pi "An Interview with Darren Aronofsky and Sean Gullette of "Pi""] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510153440/http://www.indiewire.com/article/an_interview_with_darren_aronofsky_and_sean_gullette_of_pi |date=May 10, 2016 }}. ''IndieWire'' (January 21, 1998). Retrieved August 27, 2013.</ref>

The majority of reviewers characterized ''Requiem for a Dream'' in the [[genre]] of "[[drug movies]]", along with films like ''[[The Basketball Diaries (film)|The Basketball Diaries]]'', ''[[Trainspotting (film)|Trainspotting]]'', ''[[Spun]]'', and ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]''.<ref name="Boyd 2008"/> But, Aronofsky placed his movie in a wider context, saying:
{{blockquote|''Requiem for a Dream'' is not about heroin or about drugs&nbsp;... The Harry-Tyrone-Marion story is a very traditional heroin story. But putting it side by side with the Sara story, we suddenly say, 'Oh, my God, what is a drug?' The idea that the same inner monologue goes through a person's head when they're trying to quit drugs, as with cigarettes, as when they're trying to not eat food so they can lose 20 pounds, was really fascinating to me. I thought it was an idea that we hadn't seen on film and I wanted to bring it up on the screen.<ref>[http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/int/2000/10/13/aronofsky "It's a punk movie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430065323/http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/int/2000/10/13/aronofsky/ |date=April 30, 2009 }}. ''Salon.com'' (October 13, 2000). Retrieved 2010-12-12.</ref>}}Dream logic is another [[leitmotif]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/07/darren-aronofsky-on-mother-jennifer-lawrence-was-hyperventilating-because-of-the-emotion|title=Darren Aronofsky on Mother! – 'Jennifer Lawrence was hyperventilating because of the emotion'|first=Xan|last=Brooks|date=September 7, 2017|website=The Guardian|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921025240/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/07/darren-aronofsky-on-mother-jennifer-lawrence-was-hyperventilating-because-of-the-emotion|url-status=live}}</ref>

With his friend Ari Handel, Aronofsky developed the plot for ''[[The Fountain]]''; the director wrote the screenplay. In 1999, Aronofsky thought that ''[[The Matrix]]'' redefined the science fiction genre in film. He sought to make a science fiction film that explored new territory, as did ''The Matrix'' and its predecessors ''[[Star Wars]]'' and ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]''. He wanted to go beyond science fiction films with plots driven by technology and science.<ref name="epic"/>

In the [[Toronto International Film Festival]] interview conducted by James Rocchi, Aronofsky credited the 1957 [[Charles Mingus]] song "[[The Clown (album)|The Clown]]" as a major influence on ''The Wrestler''. It is an instrumental piece, with a poem read over the music about a clown who accidentally discovers the bloodlust of the crowds and eventually kills himself in performance.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2207076/ |title=''The Wrestler'' Is Good |journal=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |last=Foley |first=Mick |publisher=[[The Slate Group]] |date=December 18, 2008 |access-date=December 18, 2008 |author-link=Mick Foley |archive-date=December 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220151907/http://www.slate.com/id/2207076/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Aronofsky called ''Black Swan'' a companion piece to ''The Wrestler'', recalling one of his early projects about a love affair between a wrestler and a ballerina. He eventually separated the wrestling and the ballet worlds, considering them as "too much for one movie". He compared the two films: "Wrestling some consider the lowest art—if they would even call it art—and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves."<ref name="kisses"/> About the psychological thriller nature of ''Black Swan'', actress Natalie Portman compared the film's tone to Polanski's 1968 film ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Wigler |first=Josh |url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/08/05/natalie-portman-likens-black-swan-to-rosemarys-baby-in-terms-of-tone/ |title=Natalie Portman Likens ''Black Swan'' To ''Rosemary's Baby'' In Terms of Tone |work=MTV Movies Blog |publisher=MTV |date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=August 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806183010/http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/08/05/natalie-portman-likens-black-swan-to-rosemarys-baby-in-terms-of-tone/ |archive-date=August 6, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> while Aronofsky said Polanski's ''[[Repulsion (film)|Repulsion]]'' (1965) and ''[[The Tenant]]'' (1976) were "big influences" on the final film.<ref name="kisses"/> Actor Vincent Cassel also compared ''Black Swan'' to Polanski's early films, commenting that it was also influenced by [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]]'s movies<ref>[https://www.filmin.es/blog/las-peliculas-favoritas-de-darren-aronofsky las películas favoritas de darren aronofsky&nbsp;– filmin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408221950/https://www.filmin.es/blog/las-peliculas-favoritas-de-darren-aronofsky |date=April 8, 2014 }}. Filmin.es. Retrieved on May 22, 2014.</ref> and [[David Cronenberg]]'s early work.<ref>{{cite news |last=Buchanan |first=Kyle |url=http://www.movieline.com/2010/08/vincent-cassel-on-mesrine-black-swan-and-acting-you-need-a-hard-on-perpetually.php?page=3 |title=Vincent Cassel on ''Mesrine'', ''Black Swan'', and Acting |work=[[Movieline]] |date=August 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904074450/http://www.movieline.com/2010/08/vincent-cassel-on-mesrine-black-swan-and-acting-you-need-a-hard-on-perpetually.php?page=3 |archive-date=September 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

Aronofsky has also mentioned that he "learned a lot" from [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s film ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|Breathless]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Jamey|last1=Keaten |first2=Thomas|last2=Adamson |title=Iconic French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard dead at 91 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/french-media-iconic-director-jean-luc-godard-dead-at-91/2022/09/13/5a595a30-3345-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=15 September 2022 |date=13 September 2022 |quote=“Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky tweeted: “learned a lot from my vhs copy of breathless… thank you maestro.”}}</ref>