 Mendes ' dominating visual style was deliberate and composed , with a minimalist design that provided " a sparse , almost surreal feeling — a bright , crisp , hard edged , near Magritte @-@ like take on American suburbia " ; Mendes constantly directed his set dressers to empty the frame . He made Lester 's fantasy scenes " more fluid and graceful " , and Mendes made minimal use of steadicams , feeling that stable shots generated more tension . For example , when Mendes used a slow push in to the Burnhams ' dinner table , he held the shot because his training as a theater director taught him the importance of putting distance between the characters . He wanted to keep the tension in the scene , so he only cut away when Jane left the table . Mendes did use a hand @-@ held camera for the scene in which Col. Fitts beats Ricky . Mendes said the camera provided the scene with a " kinetic [ ... ] off @-@ balance energy " . He also went hand @-@ held for the excerpts of Ricky 's camcorder footage . Mendes took a long time to get the quality of Ricky 's footage to the level he wanted . For the plastic @-@ bag footage , Mendes used wind machines to move the bag in the air . The scene took four takes ; two by the second unit did not satisfy Mendes , so he shot the scene himself . He felt his first take lacked grace , but for the last attempt , he changed the location to the front of a brick wall and added leaves on the ground . Mendes was satisfied by the way the wall gave definition to the outline of the bag . 
 Mendes <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'</mark></a>dominating visual style was deliberate and composed , with a minimalist design <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>that</mark></a>provided " a sparse , almost surreal feeling — a bright , crisp , hard edged , near Magritte @-@ like take on American suburbia " ; Mendes constantly directed his set dressers to empty the frame . He made Lester <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>fantasy scenes " more fluid and graceful " , and Mendes made minimal use of steadicams , feeling that stable shots generated more tension . For example , when Mendes used a slow push in to the Burnhams <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'</mark></a>dinner table , he held the shot because his training as a theater director taught him the importance of putting distance between the characters . He wanted to keep the tension in the scene , so he only cut away when Jane left the table . Mendes did use a hand @-@ held camera for the scene in which Col. Fitts <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>beats</mark></a> Ricky . Mendes said the camera provided the scene with a " kinetic [ ... ] off @-@ balance energy " . He also went hand @-@ held for the excerpts of Ricky <a href='null_genetive' title='6'><mark>'s</mark></a>camcorder footage . Mendes took a long time to get the quality of Ricky <a href='null_genetive' title='7'><mark>'s</mark></a>footage to the level he wanted . For the plastic @-@ bag footage , Mendes used wind machines to move the bag in the air . The scene took four takes ; two by the second unit did not satisfy Mendes , so he shot the scene himself . He felt his first take lacked grace , but for the last attempt , he changed the location to the front of a brick wall and added leaves on the ground . Mendes was satisfied by the way the wall gave definition to the outline of the bag . 
Mendes  dominating visual style was deliberate and composed , w a minimalist design provided " a sparse , almost surreal feelin — a bright , crisp , hard edged , near Magritte @-@ like take on American suburbia " ; Mendes constantly directed his set dressers to empty da frame . He made Lester  fantasy scenes " more fluid and graceful " , and Mendes made minimal use of steadicams , feeling that stable shots generated more tension . For example , when Mendes used a slow push in to the Burnhams  dinner table , he held tdashot because his training as a theater director taught him the importance of puttin distance between the characters . He wanted to keep thdaension in the scene , so he only cut away when Jane left the table . Mendes did use a hand @-@ held camera for the scene in which Col. Fitts beat Ricky . Mendes said the camera provided thedaene with a " kinetic [ ... ] off @-@ balance energy " . He also went hand @-@ held for the excerpts of Ricky  camcorder footage . Mendes took a long time to get the dality of Ricky  footage to the level he wanted . For the pdatic @-@ bag footage , Mendes used wind machines to move the bag in the aida The scedatook 4 takes ; two by the secodaunit did not satisfy Mendes , soo he shot the scenedamself . He felt his first take lacked grace , but for the last attempt , he changed the locatidato the front oda brick wall and added leaves on the ground . Mendes was satisfied by the way the wall gave definition to the outline dathe bag .