Daybreak Express- D.A Pennebaker- 1953

This is a film I watched in one of my production practice seminars. Made in 1953 by DA Pennebaker, it's about the day blooming and the general busyness of life and the city coming alive from the daybreak. The train is the main focus of the film and it's used as a metaphor for life, another main focus is 50's New York City and showing it as it is in reality without interference. From the beginning, what stood out the most whilst watching this film is the camera work, colours and background music. The music in the film, gradually builds up the busier the film gets until it's booming which furthermore exemplifies the manic life in 50's New York. I also believe that the music is perfectly matched to the film because although it may seem mismatch with the style of film, you have to remember that this film was made in 1953 so it's right for the time and shows the manic lifestyle. Because this is such an old film, I feel that it's very ahead of its time because of the editing techniques he used and making use of a fish eye lens in his production. I liked this production because the colours in the film the oranges and yellows and reds show the daybreak side of the film, otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell. I also like that this is an experimental documentary because it stretches the boundaries of film because of the time it was made.

screen grab of daybreak express