Use of Visual Aids in Ex Machina
With the ever-growing presence and constantly advancing technology of artificial intelligence (AI), the 2015 film Ex Machina, directed by Alex Garland, played on the concerns and questions many people have on exactly what AI could be capable of. In the film, Caleb works for an internet company, the creator of which, Nathan, brings Caleb to his home research facility to test an AI robot called Ava that he has been developing. Caleb is to conduct a turing test of sorts by having several sessions with Ava in which they have a conversation with each other while Caleb determines how lifelike she is. Unbeknownst to Caleb however, Ava’s ultimate goal is to use him to help her escape, which she does by playing mind games and manipulating him into trusting and falling in love with her. While this theme has been explored in sci-fi movies before, Ex Machina manages to stand out from others. This is, in part, due to its competency in visual storytelling. Through its calculated use of cinematographic techniques, Ex Machina effectively communicates its themes of uncertainty and manipulation, displayed particularly in the sequence of Caleb and Ava’s second session, occurring from 25:45 to 31:58.
One of the more straightforward camera elements used in Ex Machina is the angle of view, along with its interaction with the characters’ blocking. The film frequently employs high and low angles to subtly imply dominance and submissiveness and to comment on how the characters play with those concepts. This especially comes into play during Caleb and Ava’s sessions. As Ava is first showing Caleb her drawing at the beginning of the sequence, the camera is tilted slightly down at her, implying a vulnerable state as she shares something Caleb would perceive as personal, trying to gain his trust. However there is a shift when she stands up and takes control of the conversation; the camera also tilts up, putting her in a position of visual power as Caleb begins to reveal personal details and opens up to her. He now becomes vulnerable as the camera looks down on him. Things change slightly when Caleb explains that his family is dead; Ava is visibly caught off guard and is being sincere when she says she is sorry, and although the camera still looks up to her, it also looks slightly up at Caleb, showing that he has gained some advantage as she drops her front for a moment. When her questions venture into subjects that she knows could raise suspicion, such as asking if he likes Nathan, she sits down. By adopting this more docile position, she is pushing the suspicion away from her while seemingly innocently instilling some doubt about Nathan as the camera follows suit, looking down on her. Again, she wants to appear trustworthy and non-threatening in this moment, which is reflected in the camera work. During the power outage, the camera remains tilted down on her, but she stands up, which creates a somewhat conflicting image. She stands to give herself a more authoritative presence, but by keeping the camera tilted down, she still appears submissive and vulnerable. This allows what she says about Nathan and how he cannot be trusted to have credibility while maintaining that she is not the threat here. However, because of the contrasting effect of her posture and the camera angle, one is left with a strange impression and confusion about whether to trust Ava or Nathan. This is also how Caleb feels, shown by the camera being level with him; now that he knows something is wrong he is no longer entirely at a disadvantage, but he is completely lost in terms of who is telling the truth. After the outage, the camera stays level with Caleb, but Ava is shot at a low angle as she very clearly has gained control once again. By simply using the angle of the camera and how it relates spatially to the blocking of the characters, the film is able to communicate the complex power dynamics and show which character is in control and which character is more passive. The difference between the two characters when it comes to their submissive moments is that while Caleb’s are genuine as he reveals honest information that Ava could potentially use to manipulate him, Ava’s moments are fabricated to make her appear more trustworthy, likeable, and weaker than Caleb, which she does in order to gain control of him.
Additionally, the placement of the camera on either side of the glass enclosure that Caleb sits inside during his and Ava’s sessions is used very specifically throughout those scenes. For the majority of Ava and Caleb’s second session, the camera is on Ava’s side of the glass, which gives a sense that Caleb is in a cage being observed and studied by Ava, almost like a zoo animal. This angle of view is a change from the previous session, where Caleb first meets Ava, and the camera stays mostly on his side of the glass looking out on Ava since she is the subject of Caleb’s test and he is observing her. The implication that Ava is now observing him in the second session made by the camera’s placement raises some suspicion and suggests there may be more to Ava than either the audience or Caleb had originally thought.
The filmmakers also use the framing and composition of the images in this sequence quite cleverly, as they do the rest of the film, to give the audience a more visual representation of the subtext and deeper emotions and intentions of the characters. The audience is immediately given a visual cue that what Ava says cannot be trusted. The first time her face is shown in this sequence it is in full profile; seeing only half of someone’s face leaves their expressions ambiguous and incomplete, leaving the audience with a feeling of uncertainty as to the character’s complete emotions and intentions. No more than one side of Ava’s face is visible at any point in this entire shot. Even when the camera moves around as though it is attempting to get a more head-on view, Ava gets up and walks away, her back facing the camera, still never turning enough to show more than half of her face.
Another example of composition giving the audience a sense of distrust of Ava is one minute and forty seconds into the sequence when she walks past Caleb and is pictured standing behind him, as he does not turn his body to face her. Rather than abandoning the 180 degree rule, as they do several other times during the sequence, in order to create a more visually pleasing image where Caleb might be placed in the left side of the frame with the camera looking at Ava over his shoulder or simply cutting to a close up of her, the filmmakers intentionally picture Ava behind Caleb’s back. This effectively creates an air of mistrust around Ava, calling to mind the imagery of someone being literally stabbed in the back by someone that they trust. This imagery foreshadows her later betrayal of Caleb when she escapes, leaving him locked in the facility.
Ava’s betrayal is also shown in the way that her reflection in the glass box that Caleb sits inside is often included in the frame. For the majority of this sequence, as well as much of Ava and Caleb’s other sessions, the audience sees a mirror image of Ava as she walks around the glass enclosure. This reflection is used as a visual representation of her manipulation of Caleb, and she is shown as being two-faced, literally, as she asks Caleb personal questions appearing as though she genuinely cares, while in reality, she is collecting more data on him, anything she can exploit to get him on her side, such as the fact that he is neither married nor has a girlfriend. However, in moments of sincerity, there is an abrupt change, such as when Caleb reveals that his family has died; the shot of Ava preceding Caleb’s statement contains a reflection with Ava in profile, whereas after his statement the film cuts back to Ava, but this time there is no reflection. It is a tighter shot, almost head-on to see more of her face as she displays a look of true sympathy for a moment as she is caught off guard.
While there are several different themes found throughout the film Ex Machina, many of the complex questions and commentaries on humanity, technology, gender, and modern society, some of the base themes that permeate the story and the characters of the film are that of deception, manipulation, and uncertainty. It is these themes that the filmmakers took careful consideration for when choosing what and how to visually communicate elements of the story with the audience, especially with the cinematography in the sequence showing Ava and Caleb’s second session. The film’s emphasis on visual storytelling over spectacle is what truly sets it apart from other films in the sci-fi genre.
Filmography
Ex Machina. Directed by Alex Garland. 2015. UK: Universal Pictures International, 2015.
Blu-Ray.