Visual Foreshadowing — Why It’s Everywhere, and Why You Should Use It

my mother there. She's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds.

>> You can tell an audience what's going to happen, or you can show them. We often

think of visual foreshadowing as Easter eggs that are later spotted by IMDb trivia users on their sixth watch.

But nearly every filmmaker uses a form of visual foreshadowing to create a narrative that has a feeling of inertia and logical cause and effect.

So, what is visual foreshadowing?

We hope this is a bit of foreshadowing.

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We'll be spoiling the following movies.

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Foreshadowing is a technique in which a storyteller gestures to events that will happen later in the narrative.

Foreshadowing can be split into two categories. Direct foreshadowing, which

categories. Direct foreshadowing, which explicitly lays out future events, and indirect foreshadowing, which more subtly indicates what will happen.

For more on these two types, check out our video on the subject.

Visual foreshadowing is largely indirect, priming an audience for what's to come without telling them forthright.

A smart filmmaker is always employing visual foreshadowing, whether it be in their production design, their cinematography, or their editing.

Visual foreshadowing undergards a story with a level of innate coherence.

It ensures that when a plot point occurs, it doesn't feel unearned, even if it is surprising.

Let's take a closer look at how this works in production design.

Production design with its many variables has lots of opportunities for visual foreshadowing.

Think of a simple prop like the many pens Amy uses while journaling in Gong Girl. An audience might not think

Girl. An audience might not think anything of it at first.

>> I'm so crazy stupid happy. But when we realize what Amy has been up to creating fictional journal entries, the pens are part of the visual evidence that have

been there all along. This kind of indirect foreshadowing is extremely subtle, subliminally adding to a plot's texture without giving anything away.

>> You need a diary. Minimum 300 entries on the Nick and Amy story. Start with a fairy tale early days. Those are true and they're crucial. You want Nick and

Amy to be likable. After that, you invent.

>> But foreshadowing in production design could be more overt while still remaining indirect.

Take the iconic opening sequence of Blue Velvet. Production design plays a large

Velvet. Production design plays a large role in establishing the themes that will be present in the film. The white

picket fence, the old-fashioned fire truck, the green manicured grass.

All these idilic suburban images are subverted by the writhing insects that end the montage.

The foreshadowing here isn't hard to see.

In this picturesque community, something darker is lurking, but we don't know what it is or how it will manifest. So,

the foreshadowing instead puts us on edge without spoiling the horrors to come.

More obvious foreshadowing in production design can also operate as misdirection.

This is a go-to strategy for the Final Destination franchise, especially Bloodlines.

>> I see you. You

>> directors Zack Leovsky and Adam Stein know that the audience is expecting characters to die, so they load each scene with a plethora of ominous

details. Some of these set elements end

details. Some of these set elements end up being part of a character's demise.

But others are red herrings simply meant to keep us guessing.

>> Eric, >> ma, grill's ready.

>> Costume design can also operate as visual foreshadowing.

In the World's End, for example, the characters who end up being revealed as robots are dressed in blue, which also happens to be the color of the insides of the androids.

Double Indemnity, meanwhile, opens with an image of a man in a cast making his way toward the camera on crutches.

For much of the rest of the movie, the audience is on the lookout for this injury to reappear. And when it does, we know it is somehow important.

>> You like a chair?

>> No thanks.

I'd rather stand.

>> A similar idea can be carried through to character design in animated films. >> In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Dr. Live Octavius is made up of

octagons. So, it's only fitting when

octagons. So, it's only fitting when she's revealed to be Dr. Octopus.

>> Can I assume that your friends call you Doc O?

>> My friends actually call me Liv. My

enemies call me Doc O.

>> Visual foreshadowing can also extend to choices in cinematography.

Foreshadowing in cinematography can take many forms. A framing choice can speak volumes. In Jojo Rabbit, for example,

volumes. In Jojo Rabbit, for example, Taika White has Rosy's shoes be the center of attention in several shots, which makes the devastating reveal later

in the film feel all but fated.

Framing can also hint at character dynamics to come. In the wind that shakes the barley, the distance between the two brothers is often made literal.

Here, a long pan emphasizes the split between the two men and in turn foreshadows the conflict that is escalating.

A common bit of cinematography foreshadowing in horror films is utilizing a handheld shot from afar, which signals to the audience that someone may be watching the characters.

Cinematography can also create visual motifs which gesture to later plot points, such as the repeated mirror shots in Black Swan, which foreshadow

Nah's split personalities.

Camera techniques can also underscore foreshadowing that is happening on the page. In Vertigo, for example, we are

page. In Vertigo, for example, we are introduced to Scotty's difficulty with heights early on, which foreshadows the trouble he'll have in the film's climax.

Hitchcock's use of the dolly zoom both times, however, draws an even clearer parallel between both events. We are

visually reminded of Scotty's affliction.

Color, too, can function as visual foreshadowing. The Matrix's green sheen

foreshadowing. The Matrix's green sheen gives it a distinct aesthetic. Yes, but

it also hints that Neo's world isn't natural and links it to the green text we see on the computers.

Staging choices can also hint at things to come. Think of this famous shot from

to come. Think of this famous shot from Citizen Kain. Charles and his sled

Citizen Kain. Charles and his sled remain in the center of the frame even as our focus turns to what's happening inside.

Orson Wells therefore visually links Charles and his sled with the event that completely changed the direction of his life. This link is a bit of

life. This link is a bit of foreshadowing for the answer to the film's central question, Rose.

Who or what is Rosebird?

A filmmaker can further hone their visual clues in postp production.

>> Ghosts are real. this much I know.

>> Even if you've covered absolutely no foreshadowing on set, there is plenty of foreshadowing that you can create in the edit.

>> People are always asking me if I know Tyler Deran.

>> It can be as simple as cutting to future events as Bob FSY does in All That Jazz.

We see flashes of Joe in a hospital bed throughout the runtime of the film, making his ending up there feel inevitable.

A similar but more direct form of foreshadowing in an edit is a more extended flash forward. In Oppenheimer,

for example, we see the trials the scientist is put under after his creation of the nuclear bomb. The

so-called derogatory information in your indictment of me cannot be fairly understood except in the context of my life and my work. This directly tells us

that his privileged status within the US government while he is building the palm won't last.

>> 80 babies delivered the first year. This

year we've had 10 a month.

>> Birth control is a little out of my jurisdiction General.

>> Clearly, >> General But flash forwards don't need to be so direct. In Afterson, we see an older

direct. In Afterson, we see an older version of Sophie, but it doesn't tell us much about what will happen in the main story line. Beyond that, this is an emotional resonant memory for her.

>> Oh, that's so embarrassing.

>> That's not embarrassing.

>> In the editing room, a filmmaker can create loaded juositions which act as signs of things to come. In the opening of Don't Look Now, the death of Jon's daughter is juxtaposed with red ink

spilling over a photo of the church he'll be working on.

This combination hints at the climax of the film where Jon chases a red-hooded figure into the church, and it also helps us understand why he chases them.

He, like the viewer, associates that image with the death of his daughter.

Wait wait.

>> Music can be its own form of foreshadowing. In a scary movie, for

foreshadowing. In a scary movie, for example, we often hear eerie music before we are exposed to a scare.

>> Are you okay?

But it can also be more intricate than that. In Star Wars, John Williams' theme

that. In Star Wars, John Williams' theme for Anakin uses melodies from his theme for Darth Vader, which foreshadows who the innocent seeming boy will become.

>> The chosen one the boy may be.

Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training.

>> Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I

will train Anakin.

bulletproof vest. GREAT FLAKE. GREAT

FREAKING FLAKE.

>> Visual foreshadowing is everywhere in film making, even if it's not on the page.

It's a sign that a director intimately understands the story they're telling and know how to weave its elements into every frame.

>> If you take them off before then you're complaining.

>> Let this video foreshadow the creation of your own movie. Get started with Studio Binder pre-production software.

Your one-stop shop for story building, scheduling, and much more.

With that, here's our own hint at the future. We'll see you next time.

future. We'll see you next time.

>> That's a new one. Blue sky on Mars.

>> Been married long.

>> 8 years.