Gary Ross crafts a picture that is aesthetically beautifully, but is shot in a way that the story truly lives. His use of still frame photographs of the era turns what could be a dramatization of the real thing into reality for the viewer. The still photos slow down the viewer, they remind us that this actually happened and people's lives were changed forever because of it. The photographs also set us in the time, one in particular is when Seabiscuit is racing he cuts away to a still photo of people listening to the radio broadcast of the race before cutting back to the trampling of hooves on the track. We get to be right in the frame with the race but also experience the time along with it.
Ross' use of composition and staging creates a tone for the film that carries the viewer to a deeper understanding of the story without being hit over the head. One example is when Tom sees Seabiscuit for the first time in the 5am morning fog. While it holds to the truth of the story, Ross uses the reality to create a depth of character as well. Tom becomes a man who sees far deeper than what is on the surface, and Seabiscuit is a horse that is on the right "track" but is running in the darkness and fog rather than the light. This setting is an example of all the main characters in the film and what they are going through.
Ross tells a story that could easily be made by many other directors, but he doesn't allow the delicacy of emotion to overpower to force of perseverance that is so present within each of the characters. It is Ross' ability to balance this tension throughout the film that makes the picture pay off so beautifully in the end. Ross exemplifies this in how he shoots Jeff Bridges throughout the film, Bridges doesn't break out into tears, but he withstands the great pain of loss in his life. He is a sturdy while not unshaken, and seeing this is a representation of the film as a whole: there is a raging sea going on beneath the surface and at times it shows its strength, but for the most part it transforms and becomes the energy needed to drive the film forward, and Ross captures this with skilled craftsmanship.
