Bigger Than Life (1956)

Directed by Nicholas Ray · Cinematography by Joseph MacDonald

Approved95 min39 frames

Drama

The story of the handful of hope that became a fistful of hell!

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Stills, screencaps & shots from Bigger Than Life

16 of 39 frames — the full set is searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, color and mood with a free account.

Bigger Than Life (1956) — © 20th Century Fox

Bigger Than Life — official trailer

What is Bigger Than Life about?

A friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.

Bigger Than Life is a 1956 American drama film directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason, Barbara Rush and Walter Matthau. Its plot follows an ailing schoolteacher and family man whose life spins out of control when he misuses cortisone. It is based on a 1955 article by medical writer Berton Roueché in The New Yorker, titled "Ten Feet Tall". In addition to starring in the film, Mason produced it.

Second paragraph from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who stars in Bigger Than Life?

Who made Bigger Than Life?

What does the cinematography of Bigger Than Life look like?

Sampled across 39 frames, the coverage of Bigger Than Life leans on medium shots and wide compositions. Cinematographer Joseph MacDonald keeps much of it in soft, low-key light. Night and dusk account for much of the film. Anamorphic glass shapes the frame. Focus stays shallow in most of the frames, isolating subjects from their surroundings. The production design places the film in the 1950s.

What is the color palette of Bigger Than Life?

The dominant colors across the sampled frames of Bigger Than Life (1956) are #302c2a, #4f4d4a, #d5d2ca, #938976, #8f9088, #0e0c0b — measured from the per-frame color data FrameThrower extracts for every film.

  • #302c2a
  • #4f4d4a
  • #d5d2ca
  • #938976
  • #8f9088
  • #0e0c0b

See the full Bigger Than Life colour palette — every hex with its share, plus warmth, saturation and luminance.

A reference database for filmmakers

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Techniques in this film

More films by Nicholas Ray

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