Cinema Arts Online Discussion

Scene Analysis

2009-12-16T15:35:00.001-05:00

In Charles Burnett’s 1977 film, Killer of Sheep, there are many scenes were children imitate or mirror adults. There is a particular scene where a mother is getting ready in the bathroom. She is applying make up, and grooming herself in the mirror. The camera is placed outside the door, where the actual doorway is framing her. In the next room is her daughter, the young girl is singing to herself and grooming herself as she sees her mother doing. The camera is placed outside the door, with the doorway acting as a frame. Both scenes create a feeling of voyeurism, and they are compositionally similar. The camera is straight on, documenting the action. This is done to show the parallel between mother and daughter, and how children watch and copy what they see. This fits into the broader theme of responsibility in this film.
The film opens with a boy being reprimanded for not taking responsibility of his younger brother during a fight. The film is filled with many vignettes of children playing without parental supervision or guidance. No one seems to be in charge, or looking after these children. As a result, children are ultimately left to their own devices. What they do and how they act, is a direct result of what they see. Burnett chose to keep the camera position the same, to articulate to the audience that these two characters although different age are the same.

Cinematography : Citizen Kane. E. Jones

2009-12-16T15:19:00.003-05:00

When asked to write a blog on cinematography only one film comes to mind: Citizen Kane. Gregg Toland, cinematographer, made many interesting choices which would impact the film world so much that some of his shots are used as a universal shorthand.

The easiest innovation to accesses immediately is Toland's use camera angles to tell who held power and who didn't. His "super hero" shot of Kane being shot at a drastically low angle is a shorthand for film kids all over the world of depicting a character having power. Another shot of descending down into a night club through the skylight to meet Kane's lover does the opposite effect of the "superhero" shot; through the camera movement alone we are told that she's fallen far from grace.

Another important innovation of Toland's is deep focus. Deep focus is defined as being able to see everything in the frame clearly; foreground, mid-ground, background. Nothing is fuzzy. By using this technique the entire space is active and produces an emotional feeling of powerlessness, a useful tool as the protagonist Kane looses power.

These two camera techniques employed by Toland have been long lasting innovations.

scene analysis

2009-12-16T14:59:00.003-05:00

The slow dancing scene in Killer of sheep by Charles Brunette captured the plight of Stan's wife.

Throughout the film Stan's wife tried her hardest to draw some sort of physical and emotional reaction from her husband. This scene is no different. In this moodily lit long take, while the couple slow dances Stan's wife pulls at him trying to get him to show some emotional and physical response; she's basically proposing a more intimate moment. Stan, unable to get himself there emotionally, leaves his wife standing there. She has a bit of an emotional break while leaning against the window while she fingers baby booties.

The very fact that this entire scene is done with only one cut lets the Stan's rejection unfold over time. We have to see her do all the work in this dance. We have to sit uncomfortably as she tries to get her husband to just show her some love. Then when Stan rejects her the weight of the rejection is heavy, almost like we the viewer just got rejected.

The fact that it's darkly lit, means that we have to invest just a bit more to see what's going on in the frame. It's also a slight metaphor for their relationship. We see just the outlines of people, a lesser detailed view. A "hollower" view. Just like their relationship is hollow.

The baby booties at the end tie into Stan's wife's jealousy of their little girl. The very person she carried inside of her is the one that is "taking" her husband's attention. Stan can show more emotional interest playing with his daughter then he can a proposition from his wife. Those booties end up representing so gloomy that it's no wonder it was placed at the end of the scene.

all of the fore mentioned elements makes this scene one of the most memorable of the film. It is a perfect depiction of Stan's Wife's desperation to keep her marriage a float.

Scene Alalysis - The Conversation

2009-12-16T14:00:00.002-05:00

When thinking of scene analysis and the film The Conversation, one particular sequence sticks out, this of course is the scene in which Gene Hackman obsessively labors over a bit of recorded information in an attempt to fully understand the conversation at hand. In essence, this scene in a microcosm of the entire film.

While sitting at his work desk toiling over a small sample of a recorded conversation, Hackman inches closer and closer to finding out the true contents of the conversation taking place. This one scene does many things at one, from showing Hackmans obsession with work, his bitter isolation, and the revelation of the films most important line, “He’d kill us if he found out.” In the context of the story as a whole, this one scene does everything from offer details into the protagonists personal life as well as let the audience know just how severe the consequences of Hackman turning over the tape to his employer may or may not be. Although the phrase is ultra ambiguous, it sets the tone for the rest of the story and proples into motion the obsessive state that Hackman enters in trying to find out the context of the situation and then prevent what he later deduces will be a murder. The murder takes place anyway, albeit, the murderers and the victim are not originally who the protagonist or the audience thought them to be, but rather the role is reversed. This single scene sets up the audience for the shock they receive when they initially find out what context the conversation took place in. As well as being a plot device to further the stories dramatic arc, it also allows us to further understand the paranoia that Hackman deals with in his every day life, and justifies him tearing his apartment apart in the final scene while searching for a wire tap he believes to be hidden there.

Rarely does one single scene due so much for the story of a film, but in this case, this particular scene offers an extraordinary amount of detail into the personal life of the protagonist, as well as set the story in motion for it’s eventual twist.

Editing - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

2009-12-16T14:00:00.001-05:00

Using a kinetic directing style and constant flashbacks and flash-forwards, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead constantly takes you from one location to another as well as one time frame to another.

While most films will flash forward or backward a substantial amount of time in order to reveal information about characters or the plot, this particular film does it not only as a means for the audience to grasp a deeper understanding of the situation at hand, but also to build tension leading up to a plot point. For example, the robbery of a mom and pop jewelry store is the main backdrop for the film; with flashbacks often taking place and then going right back to the store. The editing goes a step further here by flashing back and forth only a few seconds before the store is robbed, creating a stuttering, almost flip book like quality in the film. Also, the same scenes will be shown numerous times, but from another characters point of view, giving the audience a chance to fully grasp from each of the characters perspective the tension, and eventual repercussions for their criminal act.

Adding another layer to the story, the entire film is told out of chronological order. This allows the story to unfold at a brisk pace, and is aided by the use of the flip book-esque style of editing as mentioned earlier.

Cinematography - Blood Diamond

2009-12-16T13:59:00.000-05:00

Cinematography plays a key role in the development of a film. It is used to set tone, location, and add a layer of depth to the action that is taking place within the frame. Blood Diamond uses this to great effect, allowing the viewer to better grasp the chaos and uncertainty that takes place within the illegal diamond trade of Sierra Leone.

First and foremost, the cinematography in Blood Diamond paints a beautiful picture of the African wilderness with long portrait shots of mountains, and tranquil pans scanning across the mostly uninhabited landscape. This offers two different perspectives, the innocence and beauty of the uncorrupted African landscape, and at the same time the setting for some of the most brutal actions against human rights. A few key examples of this are the opening scene of a local fisherman walking his son home from school. Everything is quiet and settled on their home front until a group of rebels storm their small village and take the fisherman captive. Against the backdrop of sunny African day, a man has his hand hacked off and is subsequently killed at the hands of the rebels. Another strong scene that represents the duality of this particular cinematography takes place at the end of the film during its climax. Searching for his lost son, the fisherman and a local diamond smuggler engage in a firefight with the child army of a rebel warlord, spilling gallons of blood in the process. Fatally wounded during the shootout, the smuggler sits atop a mountain as he provides cover fire for the fisherman and his reunited son to escape. As he lies dying above the chaos below, the smuggler stares out into the void, seeing a beautiful landscape portrait of the African countryside, while war rages below.

There are also many tracking and dolly shots in this film that are used to escalate the tension of war torn Sierra Leone, particularly when rebels invade Cape Town and pillage everything in their path.

Mise-En-Scene - Fight Club

2009-12-16T13:58:00.000-05:00

Mise-en-scene is a tricky topic in that the term often refers to many things at once within the frame. Fight Club offers a good example of how stylization is a form of mise-en-scene.

In Fight Club there is basically one character acting as both the protagonist and antagonist. The audience does not realize this until the end, but once the revelation is made, numerous clues can be found throughout the film. For example, the protagonist, played by Edward Norton, is a jaded insomniac who has become disillusioned with his job, his daily routine, and basically his life in general. A fine example of this can be seen in the beginning of the film when Norton recounts how he has a hobby of buying furniture and appliances that he never uses from Ikea. The scene shows his apartment with price tags and descriptions floating above all of his furniture, ala a page setup from a retail catalog. Norton plays on the fact that this is what his life has become, a mundane existence of shopping and never putting to use any of the goods. While away on a business trip, his apartment, along with all of his possessions, are destroyed in a fire caused by gas emitting from a faulty stove and then igniting when his refrigerator clicks on. Everything Nortons character had been aimlessly clinging to is gone, and essentially his life his torched in the fire as well.

This is just one example of mise-en-scene in this film, but other examples can include the use of the house Norton moves into, which is a run down dump very contrasting to what he had previously been living in, and the books that he finds in there, detailing in the first person how certain organs in the human body think for themselves.

Narrative Form/Structure - The Usual Suspects

2009-12-16T13:57:00.000-05:00

Conventional storytelling has a set structure of beginning, middle, and end, however, they do not always happen in this order. The Usual Suspects is one such example.

The film opens as the main protagonist lays dying, waiting to be executed. In the context of the story this takes place just as the climax has come to a close and the credits are minutes from rolling. The basis of the story is a small time criminal named Verbal Kint, who while waiting to make bail, recounts the story of how himself and a group of criminals ended up at the scene of a major heist gone awry, resulting in the death of all his colleagues and the men they were there to kill. As a result of the Kint recounting the previous six weeks to the detective in the police station, the films narrative makes use of constant flashbacks that are used to reveal how the heist came about and subsequently goes wrong. Cutting back and forth between the past and present, Kint offers perspective into the mental make up of his partners in crime and each of their motives for taking place in the job at hand. This constant flashing back and forth from the past to present day allows the film to move at a brisk pace, while at the same time offering the viewers a chance to understand the complexity of the situation and what each of the criminals have at stake.

By using these flashbacks to flesh out the story, the film not only finds a unique way of grasping the audiences attention, but also a unique twist in how conventional storytelling is able to be altered in film for the sake of it’s story structure.

Scene Analysis: Meshes of the Afternoon

2009-12-15T23:22:00.001-05:00

Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon is a work that maintains all of the mystery, tranquility, unpredictability, and personal attachment that is ever present within the world of dreams. In the opening scene of the short film, these dreamy motifs are immediately established, bringing us into the strange world that we are about to inhabit for the next few minutes.

The first formal aspect of the film that becomes immediately evident is that of a very hard, very drastic cut that appears seconds into the film. This cut begins with the image of an arm gently placing a white flower onto the ground, and then immediately jumps to the exact same shot, yet with the arm suddenly gone. The effect is an awkward and obvious disconnect, as if an alternate chain of events, things that could have but did not happen at this exact moment time, is about to be explored.

Complementing this bit of hard editing is the curious cinematography within the scene. These first few minutes of film are just about completely comprised of close-ups, with deviances only toward mid-shots, which are still quite close, and full figure shots that obscure the identity or even form of the subject onscreen. Almost like a story being told on the fly, the viewer is presented with sequential details, given only the slightest bit of context, and focusing on very tiny bits of a larger picture.

Surrounding both of the aforementioned techniques within the film is the addition of Tijo Ito’s soundtrack. I am no musician, and do not venture to guess the instruments used in this piece, but the overall quality of the sound is one of methodical thumps which gently lull the viewer into the film, while simultaneously acting as sound effects for certain events within the film. At key moments, the music speeds up, and suddenly our meandering lull is broken by panic or anticipation.

Put together, these three formal aspects not only carry over into the rest of the film physically, but also establish the dream settings that the viewer is about to enter. The disconnected feeling of the hard cut that appears seconds into the film is truly a disconnect as we are just that quickly taken from physical and mental reality, placed into a dreamscape. The close ups and denials of identification play right into this theme as, just like a dream, we are only subjected to individual details, unable to really grasp what is occurring around us or throughout the rest of our minds. Here, the soundtrack to the film ties things up, as the dreamscape we enter is supposed to be one of meandering relaxation. However, these dreams begin to turn nightmarish as the viewer is subjected to anxious anticipation and excitement. The soothing dreamscape is musically interrupted by loud pounding, completing the technical trifecta that brings us into the dreams of Maya Deren and the dreamscape of Meshes of the Afternoon.

Editing: Be Kind, Rewind

2009-12-15T23:21:00.000-05:00

Be Kind, Rewind is a good study in editing as it compresses time in two distinct yet similarly humorous ways. The first is a meandering long shot, while the second is a succession of quick cuts.

During the most famous meandering long shot of the film, several days worth of activity are condensed not only into one scene, but also into one back lot alley. The camera pans slowly to the right at first, but then begins to swing around and loop in several interesting ways as several different contraptions parodying several different famous movies are strung together seamlessly. Despite what must have been a long period of hectic activity, this scene condenses all of that into a few minutes, highlighting the most humorous portions of the activities portrayed, drawing the viewer deeper into the staged productions shown, and humorously illustrating the long haul of activity that the featured characters went through. This very similar to a longer joke, where one is entertained by the content, but is not truly made to laugh until the entire thing comes together.
In contrast to this, many of the scenes within the film compress time in a completely different way with quick, snappy cuts. Here again, the aim is to highlight the most hilarious moments of the actions on the screen, where the main characters attempt to break into a friend’s video store. Instead of a long take or instead of utilizing subtle camera movements, the editing is done to convey rapid, humorous bits of information. The effect is a bit awkward and has an improvised feeling, but this perfectly suits the mood as the main characters are far from professional robbers, and aside from acting impulsively, are know for being quirky and awkward.

Mise en scene: Gettysburg

2009-12-15T23:18:00.001-05:00

The 1993 American Civil War epic Gettysburg tells the story of the brutal three days of fighting surrounding the small town in southern Pennsylvania of the same name. Ronald F. Maxwell’s film on this battle is one primarily devoted to historical accuracy, yet with a flair for the dramatic and heartfelt thrown in. This is shown clearly when studying the mise en scene of the production.

It is obvious that great lengths were taken to provide historical accuracy in the presentation of soldiers’ uniforms, generals’ faces, and other such details. On the surface, this film appears to be nothing but a dramatized documentary, taking pride in offering up even small and obscure bits of detail concerning the actual events of the battle, the men involved on both sides, and the atmosphere and grandeur of over one hundred thousand soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, brawling for their rights and the rights of others. A closer look will not only reveal small historical inaccuracies, but also simple and sometimes very subtle ways of dramatizing the conflict.

Most noticeably, for all of the brutal fighting presented within the film, very few scenes of outright gore exist. There are of course blood pools and splatters. There are also several instances of obvious shock gore scenes featuring severed and amputated limbs. This is done to create a sense almost boredom with the gore, which all of the characters within the film share. These characters are tired of the fighting, numb to it. As such, only in instances where the characters themselves are shocked by it, the audience is not subjected to moments of outright gore, making the death and maimings just as complacent to the viewer as it is to the characters.

There is also an excellent effect within the movie that conveys the hectic lifestyle of both leading and following a large army. In most scenes, characters are lost within a flurry of action, even if the forces nearby are simply at rest. Only during poignant times of self-reflective thought are main characters left out of the whirling madness behind them. Otherwise, most scenes throughout the movie focus on everyday life in both armies, several scenes paying particular attention to the poor conditions of and dirty atmosphere of the Confederate camps.

In addition, some subtle and clever cinematography lends particular feelings to raging battle scenes, conveying both the similarities and differences in particular points of the battle. During the battle of McPherson’s Ridge, quick cuts and extreme close ups of both sides engaging in battle lend a frenetic and hectic feeling to the fighting. This accurately reflects the plight of the smaller, somewhat ill-equipped force holding off a larger enemy force that actually occurred. In contrast, during the battle for Little Round Top, in which a force is entrenched and stationary at the top of hill, battle scenes tend to show more troops at once, with less severe camera cuts that cover less drastic distances. This reflects the stationary, withering assault that the forces defending the hill staved off. Only when these troops make their final, desperate countercharge are extreme close-ups and a flurry of quick cuts once again implemented.

Bare-bones three act structure: Hotel for Dogs

2009-12-15T23:15:00.000-05:00

As I was forced to watch this over Thanksgiving break, I might as well use it as a study in bare-bones three-act structure, with even a bit of deus-ex machina thrown in at the end as well. Expectedly, the Nickelodeon/DreamWorks production of Hotel for Dogs follows a wonderfully bland course of exposition, complication, and resolution. Yet despite the predictable structure of the film, all the two final portions of the film, complication and resolution, have a slightly less predictable component to them. These twists do not necessarily make the plot anything extraordinary, and could even be considered as lazily constructed, but neither of those subjective inquiries are my responsibility.

The exposition does a good job of introducing the main characters, their plight of poor foster parents, and said fallible foster parents fairly early. Fairly coherently, every strand in the web of the upcoming tale are laid out for the viewer, so that these strands can eventually come together for the finale. Before reaching the finale, however, the strands encounter the complication within the plot structure

Here, the main characters and their ragtag group of friends have been secretly sheltering many stray dogs within an abandoned hotel now filled with rube-Goldberg esque pet service contraptions. Interestingly, the main plot of the movie is formed as somewhat isolated from the main characters’ conflicts. When the complication occurs, however, these two plots meet. Several of the rube-goldberg contraptions are made out of ‘borrowed’ items belonging to the fallible foster parents. The foster parents happen to uncover the secret ‘hotel for dogs’ and also their stolen property. Cue the immediate shutting down of the hotel, its exposition to the public, a teen-drama meltdown involving an antique dress and liquid, and the threatened euthanization of scores of dogs. The complication is complete and the main characters devise a plan to rebel against the foster system that has now separated them.

This leads the film to the exposition. Here, within the exposition, the final strand laid out in the beginning of the movie intersects with the first two. The main characters stage a daring rescue of the threatened canines, and almost able them to flee the state and capture, but this plan fails. The horde of dogs, which had been running through New York City streets, suddenly divert from their goal and head to the now investigated ‘hotel for dogs’. This leads the public to ‘hotel’ where we see a small bit of dues-ex machina. Don Cheadle, playing the part of the main characters’ social worker, Bernie, gives the roaring public a grand speech just before they begin to call for the destruction of the hotel. The movie humorously plays as if Bernie’s speech is not the final act of exposition, but it is, as his actions during the speech convince the public, police force, news anchors, dog catchers, and fallible foster parents, that the hotel should not only stay available, but also be expanded upon. As if all of this were not enough, Bernie and his wife then go on to adopt the main characters mere moments later. While the obvious dues ex machina leads to a sappily happy ending to the tale, the film still holds very minor twists to the same old structure, adhering to its rigid under-form, but still providing a small amount of discussable material concerning story structure.

2001 - Mise en scene

2009-12-09T03:36:00.003-05:00

2001: A Space Odyssey is often considered a revolutionary film not only in the science fiction genre, but in the overall complexion of cinematic history. Stylistically, science fiction is among the most recognizable genres in film, and at first glance 2001 appears to adhere to its traditional staples. Although the film utlilizes the conventional motifs of space travel and technology, Kubrick crafts the mise en scene of 2001 to scrupulously explore each of these concepts.

Among the most indicative techniques used by Kubrick in 2001 is the long shot. The long shot sacrifices minor details in favor of observing the big picture, both of which prove to be conducive to the statements being made in this film. Sacrificing minor detail reduces the impression of human presence, while the big picture reveals the ideologies that have replaced it and become dominant instead. With the long shot the frame can focus on its subject while also observing the largest possible scope that depicts the elements that are influential to the subject's surroundings. In 2001, however, the elements are few. Instead the subject is enveloped in a seemingly endless environment.

This technique is integral because it relates back to Kubrick's commentary on the concepts of space travel and technology. With the long shot, characters are rendered almost completely helpless, either within the infinite emptiness of space or the overwhelming complexity of their technology. The film uses these two concepts almost interchangeably, encouraging parallels between the two especially when it comes to what cannot be grasped or overpowered. Scenes outside of the ship portray an abyss so vast that it is unfathomable. Likewise, characters' unquestioning reliance on the superior technology within the ship is expressed by the fact that the sea of machines within the frame are indistinguishable from one another.

Scene Analysis - The Conversation

2009-12-09T02:31:00.002-05:00

The film, The Conversation, intentionally employs an extremely limited perspective within the film's sujet. That perspective is almost entirely exclusive to the film's reclusive protagonist, Harry Caul.

As a renowned surveillance expert, although it has distanced him almost entirely from having a personal life, Harry's solitary nature has rewarded him with success by allowing him to remain detached from those he observes. He struggles to separate the neutrality of work with invasive curiosity, though, when he begins uncovering a murder conspiracy.

One scene that insightfully characterizes this is in the argument that Harry has with Stan while attempting to focus on the conversation. The scene intercuts between the man and woman's dialogue and Harry's dispute with Stan. It serves two essential purposes. There is the more obvious intention of progressing the storyline of the conspiracy for the audience, but there is also the less explicit unveiling of the development of Harry's character.

As the recorded dialogue plays, Stan cannot resist asking Harry nosy questions, provoking Harry. Stan's innocent inquiries cause Harry to grow defensive, insisting that what he is doing is work and not infringing on anyone's privacy. This examination of Harry's morality is punctuated by his demands that Stan abstain from cursing.

In the end, Harry earns his own privacy. With Stan gone, Harry finally indulges his curiosity by unscrambling what is clearly the most dramatic moment of dialogue, exposing the possibility of murder both for himself and the film's audience.

Narrative Structure of The Graduate

2009-12-08T23:27:00.002-05:00

The film, The Graduate, exemplifies the standard three act structure that has become emblematic to the cinematic narrative. The film follows the protagonist, Ben, a recent college graduate who has acheived success academically but struggles to find direction after receiving his diploma.

The setup of the film portrays this struggle as Ben insincerely accepts congratulations and lazes around the house. Ben's pre existing life is disrupted by Mrs. Robinson who proposes that they have sex. Ben resists initially, but after returning to his normal, monotonous daily routine he decides to pursue an affair with Mrs. Robinson.

The two of them continue to meet secretly at night, while Ben remains content to lounge around at home during the day. His parents grow suspicious of Ben's habits and try to persuade him to move on with his life, but Ben refuses to make any changes. Ben and Mrs. Robinson's arrangement is nearly ruined when she forces Ben to promise not to date her daughter. Although he is offended, Ben agrees. However, Ben has no choice but to go on the date with the daughter, Elaine, when Mr. Robinson and his parents coerce him to do so.

The midpoint of the film follows when Ben's plan encounters the complication of Elaine. Ben intends on keeping his promise to Mrs. Robinson by sabotaging his date, but finds out he has feelings for Elaine. They continue to date and grow closer until Mrs. Robinson finds out and threatens to reveal everything. Ben has no choice but to tell Elaine on his own, resulting in the second major reversal.

Ben follows Elaine back to school and nearly convinces her to marry him. However, Ben reaches his lowest point when Mr. Robinson finds out about the affair and threatens to take action if Ben comes near their family, and Elaine intends to marry another man.

The third act has Ben racing to the wedding. He arrives in time to rescue Elaine and the two of them escape on a bus.

Editing in Be Kind Rewind by Ashley Akunna

2009-12-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

Michel Gondry’s film Be Kind Rewind is a film that pokes fun at and removes the underpinning of film editing. This film is fundamentally about the art of story telling and editing. Throughout the film, the ideas of the rules of editing and filmmaking are completely nonexistent, as the main character of the film, Mike and Jerry, shoot films and release them, with no type of post-production process.
Be Kind Rewind follows Mike, played by Mos Def, and Jerry played by Jack Black, friends who work at a failing video store. When Jerry mistakenly becomes magnetized he accidentally erases all of the VHS tapes in the video store, leaving a mob of angry and disgruntled customers in his wake. To fix this problem, the pair decide to re-create famous Hollywood films, to satisfy their costumer’s needs. The results are films that are put together in one take, no budget, and no editing involved. However, the community is surprisingly receptive to these poor quality remakes, and business begins to boom. Gondry exposes the world of editing in this film, in a way that says big budget films and continuity don’t matter if the passion to make the film is there, someone will like it.
There is a use of pastiche in this film, where different forms of art collide. The story of Fats Waller is used throughout the film as a point of reference. These scenes are in black and white, and are visually creatively different then the rest of the film. The Fats Waller clips are more documentary style, with the use of voice over and interview.
The idea of time compression in this film is used in a montage sequence where the filmmaking team is in full swing. This montage sequence is unique in the sense that it shows the elapsing of time, as well as is also a montage sequence of the different films they are filming. As we move along the set, time passes, and we are introduced to various movies the group is “sweding”.

In The Mood For Love

2009-12-05T14:44:00.000-05:00

NARRATIVE FORM IN WONG KAR WAI’S In the Mood For Love
By Ashley Akunna

Wong Kar Wai’s film In The Mood For Love, is a film about two people finding love in the midst of heartache, and ultimately not acting upon these feelings. Chow Mo Wan is a journalist who has just moved into a boarding house with his wife, who is constantly working. Next door, is a lonely woman, So Lai-zhen, who lives with her husband who is continuously working. As the story unfolds we learn that both Chow and So’s significant others are having an affair with each other. The direction in which In The Mood For Love takes, affects the narrative form of the story, in an unexpected way.
The use of fabula, events that are implied but not overtly represented, can be seen extensively throughout the film. When Chow first gets his apartment, we know he views the apartment, but we never see him agree to live there. The next seen we see is of him moving his belongings into the apartment. This technique was most likely used to compress time.
A big omission in this film, are the faces of the spouses who are cheating, their faces are never revealed to the audience. This is done intentionally by Wai to emphasize the unimportance of them. The affair itself, and what the adulterers are doing is not supposed to be important to the audience. However, the way in which this affair affects Chow and So, and ultimately brings them together, is what the story is about. This choice is bold because, not only are we as audiences used to films where there is a big confrontation scene, but you find yourself waiting for one. Only to realize that this is not the direction in which the film is going. We never see Chow ask So out on a date. However, we see them out on date for the first time, after many nights of solitude and loneliness.
I would classify this film as an episodic narrative. In the book “Film” by Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Walls episodic narrative is defined as, “Events that are not tightly connected in a cause and effect sequence. Character actions may appear to be unmotivated, with hours or days unfolding in a spontaneous flow and the movie may seem to digress. An episodic structure emphasizes the repetition of everyday events rather than the dramatic accumulation of tension toward a moment of crises.” The film seems to be various moments between the couple in which they spend time together, eating, or contemplating what they would say if they were to confront their spouses. However, a confrontation never occurs on screen. Also, we never see a consummation of their relationship on screen, and the nature of their relationship is left ambiguous. This omission of sex on screen is done to emphasize the fact that the act itself is not what is important, but the emotions of the two and ultimate refusal to act on these emotions is what is intentionally being focused on. An episodic structure brings attention to the repetition of everyday events, which is clearly stated in this film. We continually see the pair together, discussing the affair, as well as spending time with each other and away from their neighbors. The film is left open ended, without a resolution, the pair do not get together, and we are left with many questions. Is So’s child a result of her relationship with Chow, and not her husband? Is that why she is not with her husband at the end of the film?

Me and You and Everyone We Know by Ashley Akunna

2009-12-03T23:26:00.000-05:00

ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW

Miranda July’s film, Me and You and Everyone We Know is a film that is ultimately about the connections human beings make. The film deals with the theme of the odd reality of human connections, through an ensemble cast of characters who cross paths with each other throughout the course of the film. The film also addresses the issue of loneliness, and how it enables the characters to do unusual things.
Throughout the film there is a theme of the fear of interacting and making visual connections with people. Instead many of the characters in the film take to other ways of communicating with each other. Andrew played by Brad Henke is a shoe salesman who begins a relationship with two teenage girls. However, the relationship only exists through written messages the trio writes and post to each other from a distance. For instance, there is a scene when the girls catch Andrew staring at them from his window, and he quickly falls to the floor in order to hide from them. The relationship within itself is odd because the girls randomly pick Andrew as a “guinea pig”, and Andrew readily follows their lead. However, the “relationship” becomes purely illusory, with both parties being afraid to meet with the other. At one point, the girls even knock on Andrew’s door, and instead of answering the door he hides. Which alludes to the fact that Andrew did not want to engage in sexual intercourse with the girls, despite what his vulgar messages said. It seems that he is just a lonely man, looking for some excitement.
The film deals with people who are looking to pass time. There is a scene where Miranda July’s, Christine, character is driving an older man home. The pair spot a car with a goldfish in a bag, accidently left on the roof of the car. The scene turns into such a dramatic escapade for the pair. They are truly worried for the fish, and the emotional distress the owner will eventually go through. The smallest of events, is turned into the most important, because this is a mechanism the characters use to pass time.
Christine’s character is an example of the loneliness we all feel, and how sometimes we rush into a connection just to have one. She meets a shoe salesman named Richard, and it is clear that she is instantly smitten with him. There is a scene where Christine and Richard are walking down the street and they begin to talk about a relationship between them, that has yet to have occurred.
At the end of the film Richard’s son Robby, goes outside to investigate a noise he’s been hearing repeatedly over and over. He finds a man standing outside tapping a coin onto a post. Robby asks the man what he is doing, the man responds, “Just passing time.” I think this statement ties all the characters together. None of the characters really with motivation, in fact it seems to be quite the contrary. They seem to just act. Like the two teenage girls who begin a sexual relationship with Peter. Throughout the whole movie they harass him, and then end up performing fellatio on him, not because they like him, but because they are simply passing the time.

Cinematography - The Conversation

2009-11-20T12:38:00.001-05:00

In The Conversation, The cinematography works to provide more image/sound relationships and more incite into Harry Caul’s mind. For example, many times, the camera will remain static in a place where the foreground, mid-ground, and background are separated by frames within the frame creating a sort of fractal image. Though Harry is moving from room to room, disappearing and appearing, the shot will not follow him. Every now and then it will lag far behind his movements, but it rarely moves at all. By having Harry Caul be obstructed from the audience’s view, the director manages to further the development of the character and the story by drawing parallels to how both Harry’s subconscious and the truth of the conversation the couple had are greatly obscure in their meaning.
We see this when William P. 'Bernie' Moran [Allen Garfield] is asking Harry about how he pulled off a certain surveillance job in New York. Harry does not want to talk about this case. It troubles him greatly. He also will never disclose any of his secrets to his competitor. So, to represent this with the image, Harry meanders over to the drinks, which lay behind a sheet of privacy glass. Now, aside from the obvious connection between Harry’s secrets and the privacy glass supporting it, you also see that the area of his shop, which contains his secret inventions, lays in the next fractal of the image behind Harry. This is another example of the image/sound relationship. Just as the truth of the target audio hides behind electronic and ambient garbage, Harry hides his secrets (and self) deep within his subconscious (or privacy glass). The cinematography gives the audience more incites into Harry Caul and the situation he is in.

The Conversation [Francis Ford Coppola] Scene Analysis

2009-11-04T12:51:00.001-05:00

The opening scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation sets up the themes and underlines the dramatic tension of the film. The very first shot in the film is an astonishing three-minute long take; the camera starts wide on the square, establishing it as a major set-piece for the story--the setting where the elusory conversation takes place. The first two minutes of this shot are spent easing down into the square by a slow zoom, where the camera lens focuses in on a mime. The significance of the mime is to highlight the auditory disconnect from the visual in the film. When the camera is wide at the top of the shot, the sounds of the square sound distant; but as the camera pushes in, sounds like the dog barking become loud and crisp. This is done to establish to establish the theme of distance in the film, bringing the viewer into the movie through the auditory perspective of protagonist Harry Caul. Before it’s explained that high-powered microphones are miking the square, bitcrusher/phase distortion obscures pieces of the soundscape, the primary source of dramatic conflict for Harry that sustains the duration of the movie--an unclear, incomprehensible conversation.

Continuing with the theme of separation of audio and their corresponding visuals, the next shot is blocked so that the characters being miked disappear behind a Christmas tree as the camera pans and don’t reappear on the other side.

The next orchestrated shot pans left following a piece of a conversation with Harry in the background eavesdropping, and as soon as the characters leave his earshot, the camera pans right following another conversation until Frederic Forrest and Cindy Williams enter into frame with Harry. This highlights the motif of auditory distance and proximity. The camera pans with them until it cuts to a shot with the eavesdropping cop in the foreground; he continues to pan and they walk in front of Harry again. This furthers the motif while characterizing Harry as a powerful combatant of the dilemma of hearing a quiet roving conversation in a loud wide-open space.

The viewer remains in Harry’s auditory point of view after he enters the van. There is a disconnect between watching Forrest and Williams talk in medium shot not from Harry’s perspective, but hearing the garbled audio transmitted to the van. It’s very voyeuristic, objective shooting with a very subjective soundscape, since this film is primarily about hearing, not seeing. This continues to build the character of Harry Caul as an individual who relies on hearing more so than any other sense. It also establishes the conflict and strengthens the motif sound plays within the film.

Ricky Leighton The Conversation

2009-11-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

In The Conversation, Gene Hackmans character Harry Caul is submerged in his own audible world that alienates him from the rest of society. Due to the mental trauma he received when people were first killed because of his work, his character becomes obsessive and skeptical of other human beings. The fact that Caul spies on people causes him to become cautious of getting too close to others as well.
Walter Murch (Sound Editor) isolates specific sounds that help to heighten the intensity of Harry's situation. For example when he runs into the women who he believes is going to be killed, Murch takes the sound of the elevator, eliminates everything else and raises the volume of that sound. This gives the audience the feeling that drama and tension are building.
When Harry listens to his recording of the conversation, he hears one of the subjects say "He would kill us if he had the chance". This causes Harry to become obsessive over the tapes and question whether or not he should hand them over. He is still troubled from the previous incident when people were killed. Harry's alienation is evident when he is laying in bed with the woman who eventually steals the tapes. Despite her attempts to capture his attention, Harry can't stop listening to the tapes over and over, evidence of his moral uncertainty.
Through out the rest of the film, Harry continues to cut people out from his own personal world. He installs several deadbolts on his door, he plays saxophone alongside loud jazz music and keeps a telephone in his drawer. Eventually, Harry starts to choose what he wants to hear. He goes to the Hotel and believes that he hears the woman and man getting killed. He is in his apartment in the end and believes that he is being bugged somewhere in his apartment. Harry's work leads to his demise but it also leads to his lack of personal relationships. Even when he has a party, he insults someone and everyone leaves. In the end, the film is not about the conversation between the two subjects but the effect of conversation on Caul and the people around him.

Me and You and Everyone We Know Redux - Stone

2009-11-04T11:12:00.001-05:00

In Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July 2005) there is one scene in particular that grapples with a huge theme in the movie, human beings reaching out through technology. The scene I’d like to look at is the one in which Nancy Harrington, the gallery director, returns to her office and watches the rest of Christine Jesperson’s (Miranda July) video.

The scene is shot in a sort of shot reverse shot between Nancy, standing at her desk, and Christine, superimposed on the TV. This gives the scene the feeling that there is a real conversation going on. This touches on a broader theme in the movie, this idea of technological communication in the new millennium. In the scene Christine has a mock back and forth with Nancy who naturally does not respond to any of Christine’s questions, as she is alone. And yet the scene feels like a real dialogue laced with each characters misconceptions about the other. Nancy Harrington looks at Christine as a young untalented young girl, and as expressed in the dialogue Christine is sure that Nancy, who she thinks will never watch the film, has a big family. Christine’s assumptions are immediately understood to be untrue, as Harrington is standing alone at her desk. What the viewer will find out later is that Harrington is trying to meet a man online.

You can see this developing theme in the scene of reaching out. Christine is desperately reaching out to Nancy, almost begging her to call so that she knows she has seen her work. Nancy as the viewer finds out later is reaching out for human interaction. As Christine’s words in the scene touch a nerve with Nancy the camera creeps in closer. This seems to be another theme in the film that is touched on in the scene, this idea that in the completely informal, impersonal technological world there are still moments that can change people, or touch them in some way.

"Daughters of the Dust" Scene Analysis

2009-11-04T09:33:00.002-05:00

In Julie Dash's "Daughter of the Dust", in a critical scene the family is gathered around on the beach to celebrate and commemorate the elder family members and the crossing of their family onto the mainland. The scene starts with an extreme long shot of two people riding across the beach on a bicycle who start in frame ad then go out. Then there is a cut to the face of an elder in the family speaking about the importance of their gathering. The actors are blocked in such a way that they overlap in a sense no one person is ever by themselves. Thus, no character is ever in a single shot alone. There is always at least one or more other characters within the same shot. For instance when the elder who speaks to the family is shown, the head of another family member is shown behind him, as if to comment on the family's supportiveness. Most of the characters lean on eachother and sit very closely which further reveals a since of protection and security amongst them that they value.
The interaction between the figures and the landscape is another key consideration for the setup of this scene as well. For instance, most of the family is seated on the sands of the beach while they listen to the elders in the family speak, but the audience doesnt see the vast space of the beach as shown previously. In one frame, the characters are seated specifically around the older man who talks about the importance of the things they're parents taught them and honoring the "old souls." They all look up at him, listening carefully and seem to be at one with eachother which calls attention to the theme of unity. The beach is a major forefront of the film as a whole cause most of the scenes take place on it. However, in this scene less attention is drawn to the depth of the surrounding shown by tighter framing on the family.
In addition, the costumes in this scene create an important aesthetic thematically. During the commemoration, there is a tight shot of half of the family sitting together looking up at the figures standing. It seems that the shot was put together in such a way that near the foreground of the frame from the center to the right, all of the characters are dressed whites and cream colored clothing. They also happen to be the younger members of the family. Whereas in the middleground and background towards the left, characters placed wear navy blue and black colored clothing. These are the older members of the family who take on leadership roles. This is important because the difference in costume immediately signifies a difference in the characters position or role within the family.
The stylistic use of blocking, the interaction between figures and environment, and costumes employed in this scene suggest a running theme throughout them film that calls attention to the importance of unity and security amongst a family, as in efforts to remember pay homage to those who have paved the way for the younger generations.

The Conversation

2009-11-04T06:49:00.004-05:00

The Conversation is a film in which the sound design shows incredible insight into the mind of the protagonist, Harry Caul. For example, the scene in which Harry runs into the woman he suspects will be murdered in the elevator.

The elevator is crowded, adding to Harry Caul's issues of paranoia, claustrophobia, fear and dislike of people in general. We see Harry see the woman from behing, watch him watching her. It adds to the suspense and panic. The use of close ups on Harry heightens our knowledge of his fear.

The sound design of the scene adds even more to the fear and anxiety of it. As the woman enters there is whoosh sound which grows louder and louder as the scene goes on. It finally stops with a loud screech which is then revealed to be a sound bridge to the next scene of what Harry is listening to.

All of these things work together to give the scene an intense feel of fear, paranoia, anxiety, claustrophobia, and guilt.

CONVERSATION, THE

2009-11-04T01:18:00.000-05:00

The final scene of The Conversation is a scene of purely over-powering paranoia. After Harry’s big realization about what the true motives of the couple were, he succumbs to an extreme revelation. He knew the truth. At this point he heads home and starts playing his sax again. The camera pans back and forth. This is the setup for one last twist. Harry plays his instrument and tries to fit in with another place. I find this to be symbolic, but it isn’t even close to the meat of the scene. While Harry is playing, the phone rings, suddenly he’s pulled back into the real world. He gets up to answer it, but no one is there. He sits back down, and starts playing again. The camera pans back to that side of the room. But then the phone rings again. He gets up again and this time Martin is on the line. He tells Harry that everyone knows that he knows the truth and who murdered who etc. Because of this, they’ll continue listening to Harry. They play a recording of him playing saxophone from moments earlier. At this point we pan the room, and Harry bursts into a fit of paranoia. He tears his house apart looking for contraptions or bugs that they are using to spy on him. At this point in the film we know he hates being spied on (although he’s pretty much completely susceptible to it). He tears up the floor and walls looking for the bug. He smashes everything, even his statue of Jesus. This proves his total commitment to his cause, altered incredibly by paranoia. He’s so paranoid and scared that he doesn’t even remember that we learned how this bugging trick was done earlier in the movie. Obviously Harry isn’t exactly stable at this point so he rips up his house until it’s no longer recognizable. This represents his cutting off of ties to the real world. Then he goes back to playing the sax, giving Martin something to listen to.

BY FRIEDMAN, SAMUEL

Meshes of the Afternoon

2009-11-04T00:02:00.000-05:00

Meshes of the Afternoon is a classic example of avant garde at its finest. The main figure in the film, Maya Deren, has some kind of subconscious struggle within herself that is shown through a repetitive dream sequence. In this nightmare of a dream, the viewer is put both subjectively and objectively in Maya Deren’s perspective of herself. The film leaves the overall thematic context open to interpretation, but the scene beginning the dream sequence is significant to the film in three aspects.
The scene starts off with a medium shot of Maya opening up the door to her house and gazing inside with a flustered look on her face for a few moments. It then cuts to a first person point of view shot that pans and ends focuses on a knife. Introducing the importance knife by cutting to a close up, it shows to the viewer that there is some symbolism within. The close up of the knife is the focal point for a couple seconds but as Maya enters the frame slow motion begins.
The slow motion of her feet running up the steps alters the perception of time by changing up what Maya Deren is experiencing and also emphasizing that she is dreaming. The slow motion continues even when it cuts to a shot above the steps showing her face rather than her feet, which makes it seem like she leading to something. As she reaches the top of the steps, that something she was heading towards was her bedroom, but in another dimension. A shot of her floating through the curtain signifies that she is in a different space in time.
This whole scene there nothing but ambient sound, but when she is in her alternate dimension she sees the knife again and her reflection inside of it. The cut to the close up shot of her reflection, the eerie repetitive musical score starts dramatically and she is sucked back into the reality of the dream. Everything with the film begins to get crazy as the banging pot and pan music radically increases. The cuts begin to get faster and the camera movement begins to twist and turn spiraling into a crazy hysteria.
This scene justifies that the main character, Maya Deren, has a deep inner conflict that is symbolized by the knife. The style of editing and choices in cinematography in this dream sequence, distorts the overall time and space of Meshes of the Afternoon.

Killer of Sheep

2009-11-03T22:53:00.001-05:00

Killer of Sheep, by Charles Burnett, is a film about the harsh realities of growing up and living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in the inner city of Los Angeles. Visually, this film parallels the lives of the children in the neighborhood with the main character, Stan’s, life and work at a slaughterhouse to convey the idea that growing up in this faceless environment makes its inhabitants anonymous beings also.

The scene I chose to analyze is a scene between Stan working at a slaughterhouse and its parallels to three boys living in the neighborhood. At Stan’s slaughterhouse, countless numbers of sheep are seen being mechanically moved throughout the factory. Later, three sheep are hung up vertically next to each other presumably to be slaughtered. The following shot shows three boys riding on a single bicycle together away from the camera. The bicycle tips over and the boys are nearly run over by a car before scattering off down the street. The cut between the three sheep and the three boys is no coincidence. It is clear that these two visuals and the matching cut are used to say something about the deeper ideas and themes within this film. Burnett compares the sheep to the boys to perhaps suggest the tight confines of the inner city slums, as well as to perhaps suggest the plight of the boys; not that they will be slaughtered but rather to suggest the affects and the danger of the monotonous routines and faceless surroundings on the neighborhood’s inhabitants. The sheep are indistinguishable, as are the boys, who are generally faceless amongst the large group of youth that inhabit the personality-less environment.

In summation, Killer of Sheep is in many ways a film about the seemingly never-ending plight of this neighborhood’s residents and Burnett’s use of cinematography and editing underline this. The scene with the sheep in the slaughterhouse paralleled with the three boys on the bike focuses the audience’s attention on the underlying message in Burnett’s film: that sometimes the most dangerous aspect of inner city poverty is the undistinguished environment’s affect on the neighborhood’s youth.

Michael Curcio-Scene Analysis- Be Kind Rewind

2009-11-03T22:25:00.001-05:00

The montage sequence in “Be Kind Rewind” played upon many different elements and themes carried throughout the film. The music bolsters the “ho-hum” small town attitude that the film portrays. It’s beeping indie soundtrack pumps the scene to an exciting pace but does not take away from the action at hand. This subtle display of music shows the characters’ “sweding” accomplishments but much like how the music is handled in the rest of the film, it allows the story to unfold without strangling the audience with an overbearing song.

Gondry edits this sequence in a flowing, transitional pattern that does not break into cuts. Instead, the camera turns, pivots, pinwheels, changes color, rotates, and bounces from one “shot” to the next all while maintaining clean and smooth camerawork. Gondry has perfected this technique, which is often cheaply imitated by less-than-savvy indie editors. This montage showcases Gondry’s attention to detail and mise-en-scene by including necessary props that show show the audience what kind of “Sweding Filmmakers” they’re dealing with at this point (and here on out) in the movie. Jack Black, Mos Def and their crew use household supplies and junkyard scraps and a whole lot of imagination to create their films. The entire film relies heavily on this concept that Gondry so geniusly extrapolates on in this montage; it conveys the motif of a rag tag group of filmmakers rushing to make blockbusters their own way. Gondry chooses not to break the scene up with any quick cuts or spliced edits because he takes the time to plan and execute this montage-which I’m sure took weeks-to show the audience that even though the filmmakers in the movie make hack interpretations of Hollywood films, their imagination and attention to detail, no matter how small, makes their films worth watching because they do so much with the little they have.

Gondry’s expertly crafted montage breathes clarity into the quaint film while reminding the audience why he, Jack Black, Mos Def and their crew are worth watching.

scene analysis

2009-11-03T21:45:00.008-05:00

In the Mood for Love

I chose the scene when Li-zhen is going to get noodles. The opening of that scene we hear Yumeji's Theme (written by Umebayashi Shigeru). A low angle shot of a women holding a bucket. We don't see her face but we already know that its Li-zhen, by her graceful walk and one of her many beautiful dresses. Camera follows her up the dark alley down the stairs. I think that Wang used that shot to emphasize our characters emotional state. We don't see where the stairs lead her, the only thing we see is her going down, bellow the ground as representation of her own hell. Next shot we see her waiting for noodles, she is surrunded by people but she doesn't talk or look at anyone. The cinematography in this shot helps us to sense her emotional state. We see a big shadow over her silhouette, to show her isolation and distance from her environment.

Then camera starts to follow her as she walks out of the alley and up the stairs where the camera stops as she walks out of the shot. The next thing we see is Mo-wan walking into the shot and camera starts panning, following him the same way it did with Liz-zhen. Heavy use of slow motion was used to show characters paralyzed state of mind. They are lost in their routine of doing same thing over and over again, going to work, getting noodles and accepting the unfaithfulness of their spouses. In that scene we don't see our protagonists ever stopping and having a conversation with each other, when she is walking up the stairs he is walking down. Yet we get a sense of developing bond between them.

The continue editing was used to show a slow passage of time, to emphasize our characters routine. In mise en scene Wong uses Liz-zhen dresses to show the passing of days in that scene as well as thought the movie. In my opinion that scene plays one of the most important roles in the movie, for it establishes characters emotional bond as well as resemblance in each other lives. The use of cinematography, cuts and mise en scene shows us the psychological state of characters. The scene ends with slow motion shot of rain on the sidewalk as the reflection of Liz-zhen and Mo-wan feelings.

The Conversation - Scene Analysis

2009-11-03T20:43:00.002-05:00

From Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, the scene I'm analyzing is the one in which our protagonist, Caul, invites a fellow surveillance expert from the East coast, Moran, back to his workplace for a post-convention party. Among him are other guests, including Caul's partner Stan and a showgirl floozy who seduces Caul. This scene says so much more than what's on the surface, revealing a lot about Harry Caul, as well as the theme of the film.

For one, the dialogue spoken by Moran is invasive and annoying. Throughout the whole scene, he interrogates Caul about a previous assignment back on the East coast. He keeps asking him, "So how'd you do it? Back in '68, how'd you do it?" He then tells the others that this job Caul was involved in later resulted in the death of two people. Caul never directly answers the question, leaving us wondering why, for someone who invades others' privacy for a living, he's so guarded and protective of himself. Perhaps being in the surveillance industry has left him in a permanent state of paranoia. Or perhaps he simply wishes to not reveal the information of his secret, a humble way of keeping his reputation as "the best in the business."

This section of the scene also differentiates Caul from Moran through choice of lighting, costumes, and set design. At one point in their conversation, Caul unlocks the heavily guarded chain link gate into his personal workspace, adorned with a sign that reads "Keep Out." While this is a practical set design move (i.e. it makes sense for someone in his profession), it also represents his undisclosed nature: he's both literally and figuratively locking others out from his life (and in this case, Moran). Another interesting aspect of this scene is the fact that while Moran is questioning him, he's fully visible and well-lit standing in the main room of the warehouse with the rest of the party guests. He wears a rather tacky and colorful red leisure suit and has slicked-back hair and gold jewelry, boasting about his newest "bugging" invention, a pocket pen that's a mini microphone. He speaks to Caul through a barrier: an odd sandblasted piece of colored glass that only reveal Caul's shadow. When we get a shot of Caul's reaction to Moran's questions, we can see that the glass is in the way and Caul's face is half hidden in the dark. And Caul's clothing choice is much more subdued: plain gray suits, glasses, nothing fancy. This shot composition separates the two as complete opposites. Moran isn't hiding anything. He's boastful and egotistical, and reckless in his profession. On the flip side, Caul is careful and precise in his profession, hiding his personal life from others.

This scene certainly isn't the longest in the film and it doesn't necessarily enhance the "A" story plot of the recorded conversation and the impending murder, but it reveals so much more that's under the surface. Through use of shot composition, dialogue, costume and set design, and mise en scene, this scene in Coppola's The Conversation emphasizes the protagonist's guarded and mysterious life rooted on his profession as a surveillance expert, as well as the theme of the film: invasion of privacy and its consequences.

Burnett's Killer of Sheep

2009-11-03T20:34:00.001-05:00

Charles Burnett’s film Killer of Sheep is rife with metaphor for the hardship of growing up in an urban society below the poverty line. The majority of these metaphors are predominantly expressed visually throughout the film, although none have quite as much impact as the scene in which the protagonist, Stan, is working at his job at the slaughterhouse. Three sheep are pulled from the stifling crowd of livestock to be strung up together from the ceiling to move on to the killing floor. The on-screen visual then cuts immediately to a group of 3 boys from the neighborhood crowded onto one swerving bike as it travels down the street. The positions of the three boys are paralleled directly by the positions of the sheep during the cut, drawing the obvious comparisons between the boys and the sheep.

The implications of such a cut are vast and far reaching, with many layers of depth ranging from the most obvious issues of overcrowding in poor urban neighborhoods being akin to the conditions faced by sheep packed into slaughterhouses, to the much deep-seated commentary about the futures faced by these specific boys due to the nature of their upbringing. The sheep on their way to be slaughtered paralleled with the boys’ doing such a seemingly innocent activity of riding a bike down the street hints at their eventual approach into adulthood that can, because of the opportunities not afforded to them by their environment, end in very few ways.

In the final moments of the scene, we see the boys on the bike swerve to avoid an incoming car, falling from the bike and scrambling into the street to avoid being struck, again paralleling the children’s immediate danger in the scene with the eventual plight of the sheep and, although the children avoid it this time, the implications still remain.

The Conversation Scene Analysis

2009-11-03T19:56:00.003-05:00

In Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation," the scene in which Harry breaks into the hotel room is the climax of the film and also the most memorable scene that conveys that all things are not exactly how they seem. After Harry leaves Robert Duvall's office, his paranoia reaches new heights. Harry is hesitant but eager to find out if he really saw the woman murdered on the hotel balcony or not. After harry breaks into the hotel room, Cinematographer Bill Butler does a slow pan shot around the room as if it were from Harry's point of view.

As we enter the hotel room, we see the bathroom light on and hear the diagetic sound of water running while the camera is panning around the room. The room is dimly lite and it appears as if no one had rented out this room and no murder had taken place previously before. Harry along with the audience are confused and suspicion is at an all time high. After Harry hears the running water, he notices the bathroom light is on and the door is open. This leads us to believe that someone may have been in the room earlier since the light was left on and the running water was either coming from the sink or the shower.

As Harry walks into the bathroom, we are taken into a point of view shot of Harry looking down at the toilet and realizing that the sound of water running he heard was coming from the toilet. The sound of the toilet we hear in this scene is the sound one would hear after flushing a toilet and the toilet in this scene appears to be unused because it still has the wrapping around it. Harry understands this and is suspicious of it.

The only consistent sound in the scene at this point is the sound of the running water. Up until this scene, throughout the film we had heard the non diagetic score mixed in with the diagetic sounds in the film. Using diagetic sound for the majority of the climax builds eerie tension and anticipation for what awaits when Harry flushes the toilet and all of our suspicions and speculations are confirmed. Walter Murch deciding to utilize the sound a toilet makes after being flushed to get Harry's attention and speculation about the toilet connects to the central theme of paranoia because it shows that Harry's paranoia wasnt getting the best of him and he did actually witness a murder being commited. As soon as Harry lifts the toilet seat up, an eerie non diagetic score plays. Throughout the film, we consistently heard the same types of non diagetic songs playing but the song that plays during this climax is very eerie and conveys the feeling of discomfort and disgust.

Cinematographer Bill Butler choosing to position the camera behind Harry's feet in a mid shot gives us an uneasy feeling that makes us cringe and the shot placement makes it feel like Harry is trapped and cannot escape the overflow of blood. The blood overflowing at Harry's feet is symbolic because its almost as if it was Harry's fault this happened and now he has gotten the blood on him.

Meshes of the Afternoon

2009-11-03T19:51:00.000-05:00

Maya Daren’s Meshes of the Afternoon provides a large bevy of scene analysis. A scene that sticks out is a sequence that occurs almost a half a minute into the film. We are introduced to the films intimate world by the sunny, street contrasted with dramatic shadows reflecting in sunlight. A hand appears with a flower, slowly setting it down, the hand abruptly dissipears in a jump cut, instantly transitioning us into the strange dream logic that occurs throughout. A hand is seen through shadows, as it picks up the flower and begins to walk away. A silouette of the woman appears sniffing the rose. Through the constant use of silouette mingling with reality, we are being shown how this dream world operates. It shows her continuing to walk down the street, but the camera quickly reverts back to her going up a staircase and trying to open a door. Several shots like these occur throughout the film, perhaps because Daren wants to make clear that her character has several identities that come and go whenever they please within the dream state, showing us the audience through tricks of continuity and highly clever camerawork. We are shown another shot of her trying to get her key but having it fall down a flight of dramatically lit steps, where she opens the door, perhaps indicating that we are going through another layer of the dream as an audience member.

2009-11-03T17:53:00.005-05:00

Killer Of Sheep

I choose a scene from Charles Burnett's Killer Of Sheep for my Scene Analysis. The scene stands out in my mind because of its use of visuals to set the tone of the characters and surroundings. The scene is when the father and his friend go to a house of people in hopes of buying a car engine from them. The two enter a small, cramped apartment with an injured man lying on the floor next to the engine and three other circled around a table playing cards.
The first thing the viewer becomes aware of is just the confined, cramped space of the apartment and the spacing of the characters from one another. As a member of the audience, I felt very closed in and uncomfortable in the space and also imagined how hard it would have to be for all four members of the household to coexist in such a small area. The man that is obviously holds the power of the household sits at the table, between a woman and another man. He is the farthest in the room from the father and his friend and silence all when he speaks. He is also the only one in the room wearing any kind of "fancy" clothing. I would imagine he must have been some kind of neighborhood hustler that was trying to pawn off a rusty motor. The whole relationship of the interaction of the household and closed in feeling speaks to the ominous, imprisonment feeling the film holds in full.
The injured man lies on the ground parallel to the old engine. The roll of the man and piece of machinery seem almost interchangeable. The man has no job and the engine has no car. The man asks for money and the engine is about to be sold. Both hold extreme doubt because of their dreadful condition and their value is questioned. This seems to relate to the theme that the people in this community have nor more worth than an object or an animal.
Though technically the next scene, when the father and friend carry their newly acquired engine from the hustler's apartment, the audience is given the tone of struggle that appears over and over in the film. Not only do these poor men have spend their little amount of money on a broken down engine, but they have to struggle their way down flights of steps and cover ground to get to the truck. The long shot is painful to watch as the two men grunt and struggle to the old pickup. They finally make it and hoist the engine onto the bed of the truck. But the fools do not secure it and it falls off the truck and is destroyed when they drive off. This is much like other events in the film that show a struggle and almost obtaining something yet falling short and being disappointed.
One could look at almost any one scene from Killer Of Sheep and come up with a list of themes and insights into the film. And by just comparing a handful of them together, the lists of themes and purposes of the film will line up more and more.

The Conversation

2009-11-02T23:38:00.001-05:00

In “The Conversation” by Francis Ford Coppola the scene in which Harry Caul encounters the woman in the elevator is an important scene that conveys many themes of the film. When Harry spots her in the elevator the use of shot reverse shot shows the woman and then Harry who is staring at her from behind. There are also close ups of Harry who seems to cower in the corner instead of warn her of her pending murder. A high angle shot makes Harry seem smaller who is paralyzed with fear in the elevator. Harry is incredibly guilty from his the deaths that have resulted from his previous recordings and is a paranoid character. The use of shots in the scene conveys this well.

Mise en scene also emphasizes the paranoia and guilt that the protagonist experiences during the scene. The lighting is dim and helps to set the suspenseful mood. The use of other characters and having the elevator extremely crowded creates a claustrophobic feel, which helps to create a stronger sense of panic and intensity in the scene.

The use of diagetic and non diagetic work well in this scene to help emphasize the fear and panic experienced by Harry. When Harry steps onto the elevator there is eerie non diagetic music playing that has a suspenseful tone. There is also a diagetic whoosh of air that grows increasingly louder as the scene progresses and plays on Harry’s increasing fear after spotting the woman. At the end of the scene there is a loud screeching sound and it is unclear where the sound is coming from until it cuts to the next scene and it’s established that its diagetic sound from the reels Harry is listening to. Diagetic sound is an important theme of the film since the recorded conversation is an important motif that is constantly revisited.

Meshes of the Afternoon

2009-10-31T23:51:00.001-04:00

Maya Deren's shows a theme well through the method of surprise and repetition. Such distinction is reinforced gradually and has the powerful effect in the sequency of the third self being. (It'd better analyze one sequence, not one scene because this movie has the unique structure and subject according to it of each self being.)
The third self sits down the table which other two beings already sat on. As soon as she puts her knife on the table, it changes into the key with the sound of the drum. Sound in this part stirs up the tension and emphasizes the reversal paralleled with transition of the shots. During the course of two self-beings' taking the key, sound-tempo and timber of the pipe and drum- is almost same and has regular pattern. But the stark sound is heard at the moment the third picks up the key and turns her hand inside with the visual stimulus, colored palm and knife changed from the key. Sound at this point makes suddenly frightening mood.
Editing of this sequence is remarkable. Maya often uses trick though the editing to express the free shift of time and space. The key continues to still be shown in the middle of the table after two self-beings' grabbing it. Furthermore, when third being goes forward the real-being taking a nap, the shots of the walking foot destruct the continuity of the space as jump cuts and are punctuated as the expansion and the transition of the dimension.
The tense as self-being in the dream goes to the real being sleeping in the real world is rising up and the shocking turning point happens through the change of POV. Before she wakes up, POV in the scene is her self-being in the dream. But after she awakens by the knife approaching to her, POV is her real-being in the present. There is the connection between them. The former sees her and the latter does her husband. The interesting is that there is the knife shot between them.
And as soon as she sees her husband, she cover her sight with her hand. It makes us guess the knife has some relationship with her husband.
Even though this movie has the different form and style unlike the conventional movie, it offers hints to figure out the message and effect the director intends.
And we can share it by analyzing sound, editing and transiton of POV in the sequence goes toward the climax.

The Conversation

2009-10-28T18:58:00.001-04:00

The Conversation [Francis Ford Coppola] depicts the downward spiral of Harry Caul [Gene Hackman], who is a covert surveillance expert and private investigator, as his paranoia causes him to get drawn into an elaborate and confusing murder plot. Harry Caul [Gene Hackman] and Stan [Johnny Cazale] are in the workshop editing the surveillance audio from the day prior. Multiple aspects of this scene build up the characteristics that are vital to driving home the overarching significance of what is about to transpire in upcoming scenes to make the movie effective on the whole.
Walter Murch [Sound Editor] and Howard Beals [Sound Effects Editor] managed to edit the audio so that it illustrates exactly what is going on in this scene, and the rest of the movie. Harry begins to his editing session by listening to the raw audio. The audience hears this as a bit of the targeted source audio (the couple) and a lot of background noise. Eventually, as the couple walks in front of a street drummer, you here nothing but the drummer, which prevents Harry from hearing something that may be important. Harry must filter out the garbage audio. He rewinds, you hear the rewinding effects, and plays again while playing with an envelope filter. You hear the audio change as he messes with the faders and knobs of the filter he invented.
This helps communicate to the audience what he is physically doing with the sound without ever taking the time to have the character make an aside and say, “I am doing this right now for this reason.” Harry Caul, as a deeply secretive and introverted person, would never say such a thing to anyone. This character trait is held sturdy throughout the movie and is reinforced again in this scene. There is nothing stopping him from explaining this to Stan, who is curious about what Harry is doing. It is only that Harry Caul is overly protective of his secrets and this builds his character.

Requiem for a Dream

2009-10-18T13:02:00.000-04:00

The film Requiem for a Dream displays a form of intensity that continues to build up though out this entire depressing film about addiction. The editor of this film, Jay Rabinowitz edited this piece to create the films overall terrifying vibe. The power of editing conveyed how fast all of these addict’s lives decayed over a period of time. The film uses many bold editing technique, such as split screen and continuous fast cuts, to switch the focus to each of the main character’s different, yet intertwining reality.
Requiem for a Dream has those recognizable 10-second edits that are a trademark for the film. It is the series of the extremely fast cuts with the close ups shots that show some kind of drug being used. After these transitional drug cuts follows a little spectacle for the viewer to get the feeling of exactly how the characters feel. These transitional drug cuts are just one part of how the editing in this film causes the viewer to follow each of the character’s addiction as if we are in their world.
All of the characters have a dream in this film, whether it is to be starring on a TV show or even just simply having the hopes to live the high life. In the film, the importance of each character’s dreaming state of mind is also seen through editing. The main character Harry, played by Jared Leto, has dream that was showed in the beginning of the film and also at the end of the film. It portrays Harry running to his girlfriend, Jennifer Connolly, on a beautiful sight at the end of a dock. However at the end of the film, his dream turns into a nightmare and everything falls apart, as t does in the reality of the film.

Psycho---Ricky Leighton

2009-10-14T14:29:00.000-04:00

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is renowned by film critics for it's uniquely edited sequences. While the editing techniques build suspense and terrify the audience, the editing also allows the magnitude of the material to come through and scare the audience with unconventional cuts and angles. Through out the entire film, the editing allows the content of the narrative to seep through and scare audiences simply by freaking them out.
For instance, in the often analyzed shower sequence in which not one bare breast or knife plunge is shown, the editing focuses on other elements of the situation to create scare tactics. The sequence shows the blood dripping down the drain and the blurry figure through the shower curtain. All of these shots depict what it would really be like to be attacked in the shower. The shots don't include prosetic skin being torn apart by a prop knife. Instead, the sequence steers away from these fake elements and uses the reality of the situation to horrify onlookers.
When the Private Investigator is interrogating Norman Bates about Marie Crane, the shots remain fairly standard, switching back and forth from shot reverse shot to two shots. Then once the Investigator breaks into the house, the shot becomes a high angle and only depicts the PI walking up the stairs and the light shining through the doorway. The PI creeps up the stairs and the editing allows the drama to become tense and gradually build up. During the attack scene, the stabbing doesn't become too gory and again focuses on the length of the knife and the look of terror across the man's face. The editors choice to remain on the PI's face is an attempt at allowing the audience to understand what it would really feel like to be in that circumstance.
The best part about Psycho is that the context of the story allows all of the murders and the psychological status of Norman Bates to feel realistic. This causes the material to hit home and strike a specific chord in the audience. Everyone knows what it's like to be tempted by money, to drive in a terrible storm and fear the actions of someone criminally insane (even though they appear to be normal). Part of the reason why this film is priceless, is because the clever editing accents the material and provides a unique look and feel to a very distinct genre.

EDITING: LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS

2009-10-14T12:47:00.001-04:00

There are many different approaches and techniques in editing a film and certain choices are made that greatly affect the presentation of the material. Lesbian Vampire Killers is a quirky and comedic play on a classic horror concept. Through the use of stylized cutting, sound effects, and pacing, this film takes on a new form as a slapstick version of a vampire thriller. Even without the comedic dialogue it would be pretty clear to an audience that this movie is not supposed to elicit real fear, anxiety, or suspense based on how it was edited. Cartoon-like sound effects accent the already exaggerated actions of the characters and the use of deadpan reveals is successful in evoking big laughs. Also, another characteristic of this film that sets it apart from the genre it is parodying is its transitions and comic-book location titles. All of these choices make this film create a sense of humor in an otherwise life threatening and terrifying circumstance.

One instance in which sound effects created a comedic play on action was the use of the “punch” noise when Fletch gestures while telling his story in reference to hitting a small child and losing his job as a clown. The sound effect takes an already absurd moment and frames it in a way that we are meant to believe the character is still quite harmless. Fletch’s pantomimed punch removes from his story, the dark truth of the crime, and replaces it with a very cartoon-like recollection of the story. Sound effects find there way into nearly every scene of this movie to exaggerate action and suspend disbelief. There are plenty of wooshing noises that signify Jimmy’s girlfriend, Judy, is in fact a vampire. The woosh we hear every time she moves is quite obviously hinting toward this.

This film does a lot of playing with cinematic time. The edit of many of the scenes affects the way we interpret a character. For instance, the priest is usually shown with a lot of sped up action because this presents him as a pro-active character. One example is when he is in his office and loads up the crossbow, his motion is accelerated to create a heightened sense of determination and immediacy of his action. This scene is presented as a call to arms moment. Another time that cinematic time is altered is for the sake of suspense. When the vampire queen, Carmilla, is being resurrected everything around the ritual is shown in slow motion with operatic gestures from the lesbian vampires and as our protagonist’s blood is being drained and mixed with that of the virgin, Lotte, music and slow-motion takes are effective in creating a boosted tension or suspense. This sequence is also intercut with fast paced shots of Fletch and the priest rushing through thick woods to come to their rescue.

Cutting is an important element in this movie as specific choices are made clear based on the reactions of the characters and hopefully the audience. Deadpan is a popular comedic editing technique. Holding on a character or characters’ reactions as they are faced with some new or strange sight before them makes the audience even more invested in what they are about to see. Prolonging this reveal and finally presenting something unexpected and out of place usually evokes laughter. For instance when Ms. Rossi is sitting on her desk, sternly addressing Fletch and we only hear his rebuttal and only see Ms. Rossi the pay off is that we’re given a hard cut to Fletch sitting, dressed in a clown suit and make up. It spins this employee-employer scene from a serious firing to reveal an absurd pretense to the entire situation. Also another important element in regards to cutting in this film is that during every fight scene we see lots of fast cutting to add more excitement and a frantic feel to these high-tension moments.

All in all, Lesbian Vampire Killers, though a genre-parody and comedic romp, is very successful at employing certain cinematic editing techniques that alter the perception and substance of the material. Everything that is funny about this film is exaggerated and played up to be even funnier because of its editing.

Editing in A Clockwork Orange.

2009-10-14T03:56:00.002-04:00

The film A Clockwork Orange tells the story of the protagonist, Alex, an amoral teenager who takes advantage of the weak, having no concern for the laws upholding civilized society. When he is captured, Alex goes from meddling with the laws of society to being a pawn of them. In order to evade prison he undergoes aversion therapy, which involves taking drugs and watching films that produce a nauseating feeling. Editing plays a major role in his transformation, portraying Alex as villain and then as victim.

As villain, Alex displays a carefree attitude and finds excitement only through violence. The editing indicates this when a scene with Alex in a threesome is viewed in fast forward, and with slow motion glorifying him when he beats up his friends in order to take over as their leader once again.

As a pawn of the government's new technique, Alex is put on display, literally on stage, following his condition of the treatment. The shots alternate between Alex being tempted by sex and violence, the harsh glare of a spotlight, and reaction shots of the audience, making his helplessness appear as a spectacle. Following the performance, the governor and priest argue over the importance of good citizenry regardless of the human element and the importance of moral choice. These shots alternate between the two of them and Alex, who has each of their hands on his shoulders. As they dispute their ideologies, Alex sits smiling dumbly.

Several repeated shots punctuate Alex's transformation. Before Alex breaks into the writer's home and rapes his wife, an establishing shot between the road and driveway is seen with a sign reading "HOME". This shot is seen again after Alex has been left homeless and beaten up by his former friends and he comes back to this place looking for help. Also, following Alex's first night of brutality and rape, the viewer sees him sprawl out on his bed and revel in his deeds while listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Then, after the writer takes him in for a second time and realizes who Alex is, Alex is drugged and the film cuts to him regaining consciousness on a bed with the Ninth Symphony blasting, causing him excruciating pain.

Breathless - Editing

2009-10-14T01:17:00.001-04:00

Jean Luc Godard’s Breathless is often heralded as the most famous or recognizable film from the French New Wave period of film history during the 1960s. Breathless is often used as the best example of French New Wave to represent all of the movement’s characteristics like existential themes or the breaking of many of film’s established rules. However, it is the editing in Breathless that sets this film apart and the clever and unique ways in which the editing conveys themes in the film.

Godard’s Breathless is almost always referenced in discussions about film editing because of the film’s use of jump cuts, or shots in which the same subject in both shots is varied slightly, giving the impression that time has “jumped” or is no longer continuous. Godard uses this technique several times in Breathless, including when main characters Michael and Patricia ride in a convertible together. As Patricia is described, jump cuts insinuate that time has passed as the audience is focused in on Patricia’s appearance. Although, some consider Godard’s jump cuts to be nothing more than simply following the orders of a producer who demanded the film be cut for the sake of running time, I believe that this editing technique is employed to accentuate the underlying themes in the film. The main character in the film, Michael is an apathetic and disconnected youth who has no regard for human compassion or life and his reckless behavior is emphasized by the editing technique in this film. The jump cuts, a discontinuous technique, suggest that the audience only see what is important in this film and at times seems reckless or irresponsible, just as Michael’s character is. For example, after Michael shoots and kills a police officer, for almost no apparent reason, a jump cut is used to show Michael in Paris, making no attempt to hide from authorities.

In summation, Godard’s Breathless will always be a great example of French New Wave, but the editing techniques in this film is what makes it legendary in film history. Jump cuts are employed in this film for an artistic and intellectual response because they represent the emotional qualities of the main character.

Punch Drunk Love

2009-10-13T23:47:00.001-04:00

In the movie "Punch Drunk Love" the opening scene uses wide shot to establish the personality of the main character. The wide shot captures the emptiness and the darkness of the place. The only light we see is focused on the desk of our main character Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) who is sitting at his desk. Paul Thomas Anderson chose not to use the close up shot to emphases the reflection of our main characters personality through the environment he is in, not his face. By doing so he carefully introduces Barry's lonely,closed up personality to the audience. That dark, empty office space serves as representation of Barry's escape and shelter from the outside world. When Barry stands up from his desk the camera starts to pan as he starts walking out of the frame in to the darkness. We see him opening the door and coming outside of his "box" to the reality of the bright day light. Instead of cuts between shots, the use of transition by camera panning from a total darkness to the light was used to show the dramatic shift in Barry's life. The camera starts to follow our character to the outside, moving behind his back with a wide angle shot. Very carefully placed shot behind his back was used to keep viewers away from Barry's appearance but concentrate on the world around him. The shot starts to pan showing the empty street through Barry's perspective, camera is flowing with a long point of view shot out on the street from the alley to the distance. Suddenly the car crushes, a van pulls to the side walk dropping of the piano. Then a close up shot of Barry's face finally introduces his reaction on the world around him.

Examining Editing Style in "Be Kind Rewind"

2009-10-13T22:59:00.004-04:00

"Be Kind Rewind" is a film that cleverly satirizes the rules and conventions of film editing established by the jurisdiction of Hollywood studios. It does this firstly by being and independent film that uses editing both as a tool to present the film stylistically and as a subject addressed through the narrative of the film. The film satirizes the conventions of Hollywood by integrating different styles of editing, manipulating the expectations of the audience, and compressing time and space. There are several different editing styles that are incorporated in the film. For instance, there were scenes and instances that were more reflective of a narrative styled edit, and other moments that were more so a documentary styled edit. This occurs in scenes for instance where Mike and Jerry interact with one another in the video shop, the style of editing is clean cut and seamless, as in classical Hollywood cinema. However, during scenes where Mike and Jerry film their own versions of films, the style of editing changes to that of a documentary appearing more so unplanned and left as a rough edit. Even looking at the film that they create about Fatts Wallace, is stylistically labeled as a documentary because it is in black and white, a film stock that often is used in older documentaries. This is all to say that although Mike and Jerry's film was not produced on a large scale or budget, they were still able to satisfy and intrigue the people of the community.
This film also manipulates the expectations of the audience, and in doing so satirize the conventions of traditional Hollywood editing. It does so by giving the audience the notion that the films that Jerry and Mike produce are cheesy remakes that no one would ever find appealing or would ever consider as a replacement for the "real thing." In the movies they recreate, they freely use junk from their environment in innovative ways in order to create props and sets because they have no money to produce on a "Hollywood" scale of filming. It pokes fun at hollywood in that Mike and Jerry's low budget films hold just as much of an importance to the people who produce and love them as any mainstream, studio, million- dollar budget film. Lastly, the compression of time and space is also used in the editing style for this film. For instance, in one scene a montage is created of all the scenes that are being shot at the same time from different movies that were being shot. This was a clever way of compressing time and space because it would be unnecessary to show every film that they recreated. So instead, during a scene where they were producing several movies at one time, we see all the different sets next to eachother, and characters shoot one scene and run to the next set. Essentially, the editing of the film reveals that the characters are managing to mass produce remakes of films like "Rush Hour", "Rocky" and "Ghostbusters" under atypical circumstances. Ultimtely the film calls attention to the idea that independent made films an be just as strong and impactful to the public without applying traditional Hollywood conventions.

Editing in New York Stories - The Art of Failure

2009-10-13T22:42:00.003-04:00

In Martin Scorsese's The Art of Failure, the director uses a combination of long, slow cutting with fast intense cutting to differentiate the character's moods. Rhythm becomes one of the most useful tools Scorsese has in his bag, and he pulls out all the stops in this film. Lionel, the user artist protagonist, is found initially in emotional turbulence. He chaotically paces back and forth trying to paint something before his ever approaching deadline. Scorsese highlights this by using quick cutting to between Lionel, his brushes, and his blank canvas.
Later in the film the viewer learns that Lionel depends on Paulette to complete his work. He needs the turmoil from their relationship to get anything done and without her he is artistically impotent. Scorsese shows this by cutting together scenes where Lionel is watching the opening to Paulette's window as she has sex with another artist with a jump cut to him violently painting. At one point in the scene Lionel pauses, seeming to have run out of inspiration. Lionel looks up at her window, which is now dark and silent, and seems to get a second wind from his jealousy. Scorsese uses these types of cuts to show how they rely on each other. Lionel for inspiration, and Paulette for Lionel's connection to the art world.

Rocky IV Editing

2009-10-13T21:12:00.001-04:00

Editing is an essential aspect of the Rocky franchise. Rocky IV utilizes quick cut editing especially during the training montage and the final fight montage. The montages in Rocky are utilized to show the passing of time and the progression of the story and character development. At the beginning of the montage, we see Rocky slightly out of shape and without a beard. By the time the montage is over,we see Rocky with a beard and heavily in shape ready for the fight. The montage is also used to compare Rocky and Drago. Rocky is training in a log cabin in the middle of Moscow with no equipment or any training facility to use to his advantage. Drago is training in a facility with about fifty trainers and he is able to utilizie technology and heavy lifting equipment to his advantage. The camera cuts back and forth between the environment Rocky is training in and the environment Drago is training in. During the final fight, a montage is used to show the progression of the rounds and as each round progresses, both fighters become more fatigued and we see more blood on their faces. Having a montage to show the progression of the rounds instead of showing the full twelve rounds of boxing helpes keep the attention of the audience and it makes the scene more dramatic overall. The music in Rocky films has always been significant and inspiring and the montages in these films utilized inspiring music to show that Rocky was not going to give up.

Editing of Rear Window- Alfred Hitchcock

2009-10-13T21:05:00.000-04:00

Structurally Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 classic, Rear Window appears rather simple but when you examine the film’s editing, complexity and intention is revealed. Point-of-view editing allows the audience to sit in the seat of our main character, Jeff Jefferies, and witness his reactions to what is going on in various neighbor’s apartments. Jump cuts and repetition of images emphasize the editorial choices intended to create suspense and interest in the audience. Hitchcock uses point of view editing throughout the film, for example in one scene we see a close up of Jeff’s face, then across to a woman undressing and back to his facial expression in order to get the feel of what is happening and how he is reacting.
The pace and subjective edits in Rear Window allow the film to be paced in real and dramatic time in various scenes, such as when Jeff is watching his girlfriend, Lisa
(played by Grace Kelly) snoop around in the suspected murderer’s apartment, and nearly getting killed. Editing is a major aspect of this movie due to the fact that it is shown entirely from the perspective of one man wheelchair bound in his apartment. More so than dialogue, Hitchcock’s editing choices reveal a great deal about our character and the plot of the movie. Within the first few minutes we are aware of James Stewart’s character, what he does for a living and why he is stuck in a wheelchair without hearing any dialogue. An intricate part of Hitchcock’s editing style is his use of sound. Sound is heavily relied on in this film to convey feelings of fear or terror. For example, when Jeff’s neighbor, Mrs. Thorwald, is killed, a scream is heard off-screen leaving both the main character and the audience to wonder where it came from and why. It gives the audience the ability to use their imagination and subjectively create where the scream may have come from. By using few long shots, each window that Jeff examines represents a different emotion or issue in his life. The editing in the movie also allows us to feel the entrapment and confinement of Jeff; we are stuck in his apartment with him.

Editing- Fast Cheap and Out of Control

2009-10-13T20:41:00.003-04:00

In the film, "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control" editing is used in many creative ways to imply meaning in what these four men are talking about. The editing is used to create bridges between the interviews and relate them in ways that I would have never seen had I watched each interview separately.

Often, the editor places the sound of the interviews over images of a different subject to imply a connection. There is one scene in particular that consists of the robot expert talking about sending 100 robots to explore mars instead of just one, and that that way, if one is lost doing a dangerous mission, then it wouldn't matter as much. The images that are being shown start off showing robots, but then war clips being to play. This leads your mind to thinking about the thousands of people we send to war, and how expendable each individual is. Then this leads you to think about the connection between soldiers and robots. They both do things because they are told, with little or no regard by their commander.

Another editing tactic that this movie uses is when a shot is slowed for a more dramatic effect. Especially since the majority of the documentary is in fast motion to exaggerate the scrambling of the mole rats and robots, the slower moments seem even more like a break from the chaos. These breaks often come when the movie switches back to the topiary gardener. Even the way this man talks is slower, and calmer than any of the other interviews. Despite that fact, we as an audience still see this man as passionate about his work as the other men. Had the editor kept his interview sequences at the same pace as the others, it would have been an uncomfortable fit. The scenery, the way the man cuts his animals with manual clippers, the way he talks about his wife, all call for a slower pace. This even emphasizes the way that the green animals grow, and how long it takes to actually create one of these animals.

editing in werner herzog's nosferatu

2009-10-13T20:26:00.005-04:00

werner herzog's "nosferatu the vampyre" is a homage to f.w. murnau's "nosferatu".

the editing of the film is heavily dependent on the plot (as it should be in any well composed film). this coupled with the amazing cinematography of this film, herzog's nosferatu expresses a large amount of emotion through not only the actors' performances, score and sound design, and mise en scene, but particularly the editing. there are several moments earlier on where jonathan is wandering around dracula's castle after his initial night of arrival. the film employs a few long takes in a sequence that follows jonathan on his exploration of a very visually stunning location. the shots only cut 3 or 4 times during his search. the sparsity of cutting in this sequence builds an eerie sensibility of the scene, as well as genuinely generate tension and suspense. the cuts occur in "real time" ("real" reference the film's reality, not ours) but it's really the lack of cutting that makes this scene so suspenseful.

another example is a scene (also set in dracula's castle) where jonathan wakes up at night to the count creepily entering jonathan's room and slowly moves in on jonathan, giving him the bite. this scene is one of the most suspenseful scenes in the entire film, again because of the lack of cutting. no edits are required mostly because of the way that this scene was shot. the first shot is a wide shot of the count slowly inching towards jonathan's bed while jonathan shoves as back and far from the count as he can/as the frame would allow. the first cut is to a shot of lucy back home, screaming at receiving the psychic information of jonathan's danger. it then cuts back to dracula pulling his teeth away from jonathan's neck. this scene's emotion is heightened in the lack of cutting in the first more prevalent wide shot of the count and jonathan and then the cross-cut to a parallel event where the information in the previous shot is transfered to lucy in the next shot, therefore proposing that the editing here also is giving character information. (implies that there is a psychic connection between jonathan and lucy)

the scenes where dracula is making his way to jonathan and lucy's hometown on a ship act almost as a montage. the shots are singular scenes but are short in length; they happen so quickly and show such a vast array of different times and places (still linearly, however) that the speed of time is implicit while the characters' actions are all conveyed. we hear and see all that we need to that has importance pertaining to the overall plot. these shots not only abbreviate the film's depiction of dracula's ravaging of the ship's crew and journey to the town but also parallel cross-cuts between other abbreviated depictions of the other characters and events happening while dracula is still on the ship.

Ocean's Eleven - Editing

2009-10-13T18:58:00.004-04:00

In Stephen Soderbergh's 2001 heist movie Ocean's Eleven, editing plays an important role in regards to revealing different plot twists in the film. Through use of flashbacks, quick cuts to different locations, and montages, Soderbergh keeps the audience interested in what's going to happen next. And more importantly, this specific editing technique divests the audience of information at precisely the right moments. Simply, the story confuses us in a good way because we get closure later on and it makes the climax much more satisfying.

For one, we aren't introduced to our protagonists in the standard method we're used to. Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) bails Danny Ocean (George Clooney) out of jail, but we don't know how and why they know each other, or for how long. Then we cut to our other characters quickly who live in different locations around the world: Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) as an Atlantic City blackjack dealer, Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) as the nerdy computer techie, Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) as the naive son of an FBI agent, and so on and so forth. We don't know how they're related to Danny, but the quick succession of each character's introduction puts that notion aside, letting us know that they'll soon be important key players in the story, each with specific roles in the heist.

Secondly, the aspect of the montage is frequently used in the film (and even more so in the sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen). Since the heist's plans require lots of time, effort, and painful exactness in detail, the use of montage helps to compress time and show us the overall events that are happening so we don't get weighed down with boring technicalities. For instance, when the team is building an exact replica of the Bellagio bank vault, we're not shown every step, but rather the significant highlights. With the montage, we're able to enjoy the story in fast forward motion, but in a way that stays true to the chronological order of things.

And lastly, one of the key editing techniques relied on in this film is the use of flashback. In fact, the sequence of events that take place in the actual heist of the bank vault is told as if from Terry Benedict's (Andy Garcia) point of view. We see what happens as he's seeing it happen: the SWAT team transports his money safely on to their bus. But then, in the flashback, we see it happen from Ocean's point of view: the SWAT team is really Ocean's men in disguise. This twist in editing keeps us on the edge of our seats because at first, we think they've failed in their plans. But in fact, they've succeeded.

Bronson [Nicolas Winding Refn] Editing

2009-10-13T18:33:00.001-04:00

Editor of Bronson Mat Newman understands protagonist Charlie Bronson. Nicolas Winding Refn’s film is a character piece. The story is present in the script, but without the edits to imply the story that’s told, Refn’s film and larger-than-life vision would not have been brought to life. The cutting is very discerning toward main character Charlie and implies his emotional and psychological states.

In the beginning of the film--and then again all throughout--flat shots on Charlie’s stoic expression linger for a suggestively awkward amount of time. Once Charlie is sentenced to seven years in prison, he has a moment with his newlywed wife where neither say anything nor do anything; but the time spent on their glib expressions suggests their separation.

Because of the fantastic nature of the film, it’s only appropriate that the editing mimic the fantastic tone. When Charlie provokes fights with the guards, the editing matches the rhythm of his sparring to strengthen the viewer’s alignment with Charlie’s point of view. When Charlie is sure of himself, the takes are long and beautiful. When Charlie is an emotional train wreck, the cuts are far more intrusive and dramatic. Pace is understood in the editing; long takes are used following quick cuts to afford the viewer a chance to breathe and come to grips with the subtext of Charlie’s situation and conflict.

The editing also implies the psychology of the film and accentuates moments of reckoning for Charlie. At one point in the film, Charlie steals a diamond ring to give to the girl he loves, and she takes it and tells him that she’s got a boyfriend. The fade-to-black on the listless eye-line Charlie casts informs the viewer; the act break calls attention to the beat where Charlie is at his lowest emotional point. Fade-outs are used to slow down the psychology of the film where non-verbal and off-screen beats are communicated.

The editing in character-piece Bronson informs the viewer about how to feel about the protagonist and conveys the subtext and motivation of his story.

Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie (The Manuscript Found in Saragossa; 1965)

2009-10-13T18:01:00.004-04:00

"How very confusing it all is!" Declares a maiden during a Gypsy's tale in Woljeich Has' The Saragossa Manuscripts. "One can hardly keep up!" Directed by Woljeich Has, the film is based on the famous 19th century novel by Jan Potacki. The film runs like a Chaucer-like romp, going from story to story without blinking an eye. Probably one of the more famous films to appear from the Polish New Wave, the film proves that you hardly need a traditional three act structure or conventional editing to make a wildly entertaining film. Oddly the first scene begins with a handful of people we never see again. During the Napoleonic Wars two men from two enemy lines stumble on a curious book in the village of Saragossa, they immediatley lose interest in the looming war surrounding them and begin to read. This immediatley shuttles into the first of several jarring jump cuts, where we are lead into a strange story in the 1700's, where we meet Alfonso, who travels with his servants through the Sierra Morena mountains, they quickly abandon him once they become afraid of the apparent ghosts that haunt the inn they chance upon. This scene begins with a thrilling establishing shot of the three roaming a surreal, haunting landscape of strange rock formations and trees reminescent of German Expressionism, where we understand that we are fully engrossed in this surreal, dream like world. Alfonso is then seduced by two mysterious African Princesses who live in an elaborate lair underneath the inn. We are immediatley shown a jump cut of Alfonso waking up outside near the mountains, underneath two rotting corpses on nooses and his servant covered in boils. The film is sprinkled throughout with several jump cuts that shuttle from someone telling another story to another person, and eventually coming back to them, and then back to another story making the experience a mad, challenging puzzle of a film. Has shows these various jump cuts to show that dream and reality are not quite what they seem, and that jumping from one story to another may not nessicarily mean coming back to any solid ground at all, making us feel just as confused and mistified as the characters who are being duped by mysterious demons and ghosts. Throughout the film, Alfonso is trying to decipher whether he is in the dreaming world or the waking world and this is merely a part of Has using editing to fully evoke this important aspect of the story.

Editing in "Greed"

2009-10-13T02:40:00.002-04:00

The editing in Greed was very smoothly done. As most people know, the film by Erich Von Stroheim was more than 9 hours long originally. It was cut down to five hours, then three, then finally 2 1/2. To the people that never knew that the film was chopped up, the film would most likely flow smoothly in their minds while they're viewing it. If you watch, the storyline seems to make sense, and everything happens in a decent order, right? Wrong. if you look closely enough at the film, you can tell that parts have been removed, or scenes have been cut in half. The editors wanted the film to still make sense to it's audience while remaining in a sensible time frame. A part I particularly remember is when the character McTeague was about to leave town to become a dentist. There was suppoed to be a time lapse of his travels to go and pursue his career, but instead we see a huge jump cut. In a way, the jump cut works, because time still passes and there he is at his own dentstry practice, but it's still a bit awkward. The editors could have done a better job with this crucial part of the story if you ask me. Had it been me, I would have cut down his travels in half, not cut them out completely, so the audience can see. The editors did a good job on cutting down those rediculous 9 hours, and the story flowed pretty decently, but I wish they would have done a bit more with it.

Requiem for a Dream-Editing

2009-10-11T22:51:00.002-04:00

In Darren Aronofsky’s 2000 film Requiem for a Dream, editing is used to bring the viewer closer into the reality of an addict. The film features over 2,000 cuts and has several quick moving montages of short shots and also uses split screens. The frequent cuts and fast paced montages help to create a sense of being sped up especially after a character takes a drug or is high. The editing helps to show the world through the eyes’ of the four protagonists who are all dealing with drug addiction.

In a scene where Marion, Harry and Tyrone pop pills to “pass the time” there is a fast paced montage showing what they do over the course of a few hours with hip-hop music. This montage helps to show the frantic feelings and urgency these characters feel being addicted to drugs and always needing their next hit.

In another scene where Sara Goldfarb who is addicted to weight loss amphetamines is eating breakfast, it is edited so the egg, grapefruit and coffee disappear before the viewer’s eye without the character actually touching the food. This shows how the character is sped up by the pills and how her mind has been playing tricks on her because of her severe addiction.

There are also cuts in the film that show blood cells rushing through the body with a close up of the dilated pupil. This gives the sense of how frequently the characters are using drugs and how it is instant ecstasy for them. The editing in the film helps to convey the highs and lows experienced by the characters as well as the hope, fear, panic and chaos that their world becomes when they spiral deeper into their addictions.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

2009-10-11T17:43:00.002-04:00

This classic western film uses two different editing styles to explain to the audience as to whom really did shoot Liberty Valance.

Throughout the film the audience is led to believe that it can only be Jimmy who can and will kill Liberty since he is the stranger who comes into town and his moral ethics refuse him from picking up a gun. As the story progresses, it finally comes to the cinematic climax. When Jimmy Stewart finally puts down the pen and picks up a gun, the shootout scene accomplishes quick edits back and forth from Jimmy to Stewart: ie, Liberty shoots his gun and then it cuts to a pot exploding over Jimmy's head. This editing continues until Liberty is dead in the dirt and Jimmy is left with only his smoking pistol.

The story continues and then John Wayne retells the big climatic scene. This time around, the editing is less dramatic and more narrative: the camera is away from the action and we see the events unfold in a long shot. Jimmy Stewart is wounded, but he pulls his gun up to fire and John Wayne fires a rifled gun at Liberty at the same time that Jimmy does.

By having a contrasting editing strategy for these two characters, the editing style keeps people in the suspenseful action and then takes a long pause so that the audience may absorb the reality of who actually killed Liberty Valance.

Editing in Fight Club

2009-10-11T13:20:00.002-04:00

When it comes to the movie Fight Club [David Fincher], editing plays a key role in embodying The Narrator’s [Edward Norton] state of mind. The serious case of Insomnia that The Narrator is fighting through causes his mind to decay. He begins a decline into a complex tangle of hallucinations that border the characteristics of Paranoid Schizophrenia. David Fincher chooses to represent this transition with simple editing techniques and one simple in movie reference.
The point is made early on in the movie that Tyler Durden [Brad Pitt], The Narrator’s mind-governing hallucination, is a projectionist. Naturally, Tyler Durden cuts filmstrips, editing in single frames of pornography. So, the importance of the editing style is communicated with the audience upfront. The point of this is that it parallels the effects of The Narrator’s Insomnia to that of editing film. It as though the Insomnia is cutting the “filmstrip of The Narrator’s mind” and inserting foreign footage into it, which changes the identity of The Narrator and the world around him. This is similar to how editing choices can effect what a movie accomplishes with the same footage.
To push this tactic another step, single frames of Tyler Durden, before The Narrator knows him, are spliced into the movie at times where The Narrator is discussing his Insomnia and the problems that come with it. Also, when you look at the movie as a whole rather than through a microscope, the movie begins with the ending, and The Narrator rewinds in order to talk about Marla Singer [Helena Bonham Carter] destroying him. However, he pauses, rewinds again and starts with how his Insomnia caused him to run into Marla Singer. Then, he is on the subject of Marla for a while then sort of skips over her importance in order to discuss Tyler Durden. By the last 30 or so minutes of the movie, The Narrator rewinds yet again to expose what actually went on as he sorts through his psychosis. And to shove the idea of the editing reflecting The Narrator’s mind, and vice-versa, down our throats, a single frame of pornography is added to the end of the movie. This breaks Tyler Durden’s effect on the audiences watching movies within the movie and his effect on The Narrator and switches it to him directly affecting the movie himself. A bit of a parting shot at typical editing.
Essentially, the editing reflects the state of mind of The Narrator and tries to place the audience in a similar state in order to communicate the high-degree of mental psychosis he is going through. Changing this to typical editing would make Fight Club a much less interesting and active film. Simple choices in editing having a massive effect on outcome.

Natural Born Killers

2009-10-09T18:46:00.000-04:00

Oliver Stone intentions in directing the visual masterpiece of Natural Born Killers was to make a unique way of telling this violent story through cinematography. Throughout the entire film the hectic style of cinematography produces a feeling as if the viewer is watching the media cover this murderous case.
In Natural Born Killers, we the viewer are watching and interpreting this film from many different standpoints. The cinematography is very unusual; it is extremely different from the conventional style of shooting films. As soon as this film starts, we get introduced to this insane couple in the opening scene and the viewer gets a little taste of several types of cinematography choices. These choices are made throughout the entire film. The opening sequence begins with all these fast paced camera movements and black and white close ups as it switches from character to character. It is as if we a watching them from an additional point of view. The couple begins to kill every person in that diner from and each person killed the cinematography gets more quick. Other types of camera techniques used to switch up the viewers point of view are when we get to follow directly behind a weapon as it kills someone, like a bullet to the head. The scene leads us quickly into some kind of alternate environment, like a psychedelic dream world that I noticed happen in many other transitional cuts. Throughout Natural Born Killers, the continuous fast pace cinematography is a little overwhelming, yet visually pleasing.

Cinematography in Brutality in Stone

2009-10-09T14:06:00.001-04:00

Alexander Kluge's film Brutality in Stone addresses the amnesia that seemed to exist in the new Germany following World War II. The film uses images of both the Nuremberg Rally Grounds, and a model of how the fuhrer envisioned his new Nazi capital of “Germania” to give the viewer a brief history of the Nazi party. Kluge uses these images of lifeless buildings to give the viewer the impression that while this is in the past there are still unresolved feelings. For instance when the film gets to a horrifying description of how killing the Jews became like clockwork. The voice over describes how they would burn the bodies of the dead at night so that the next train could arrive in the morning. While this is happening Kluge is showing the viewer these frames filled with tiny innumerable blocks on hundreds of different surfaces all over the Nuremberg Rally Grounds. This gives the viewer this understanding about how many people were killed and how faceless and uncountable they all became, and yet they are forgotten as nothing more than one of a hundred thousand blocks on an abandoned building.

"North by Northwest"- Suspense depends on editing.

2009-10-08T21:12:00.001-04:00

As we know, it is famous for Hitchcock’s interview about Bomb which suspense creates when audience see a bomb under the table in the condition that a protagonist doesn’t know the fact and the time of the explosion comes. Based on this perspective, his “North by Northwest” has the outstanding suspense. The notable thing is that he controls the level of suspense by using editing relevant to each situation. In other word, I think suspense of this movie is very correlated to editing.
First, the short duration of editing in the beginning multiplies suspense. A bomb which some people kidnap and kill the protagonist explodes in the opening of the movie. And then audience questions himself like this ‘Why do they consider him as Kaplan and What happens next?’. Hitchcock shows the introduction from the start to the his escape being wrongly accused of the murder with very rapid transition of shots. Therefore, it is never boring for audience to follow the story until the bomb explodes.
Second, the editing between the protagonist and Kendall makes the tense tempo relieve even though he is in danger. Uniquely, whenever the director shows two people, fall in love each other soon, he always designs the relationship and mood by repeated 45º angled shot/ reverse shot.
Because shot/ reverse shot has identical size, eyelevel and symmetrical direction, we feel easily affection to become deeper between them and can deviate from suspense for a while.
Third, the scene chased by plane enhances thrill by doing eyeline match through POV.
The protagonist stands on the wide road. He looks around to find someone to be scheduled to meet. The shots in this scene consist of him and surroundings which he sees. This tells audience where he is and makes running him follow easily after the advent of plane.
In the end of this scene, fast transition between POV of protagonist and plane flying toward him reinforces the suspense.
At last, the movie keeps thrill until ending by suggesting the parallel editing between two people (protagonist and his lover) and the villains chasing them.
The continuous shots chasing and chased of two groups at the same time and space, at the sharp top of Mt. Rushmore, make us feel suspense by instinct even if we guess the happy ending.
As mentioned above, suspense depends on how the editing arranges and composes the shots.
Although we get ourselves absorbed in the narrative and acting of the cinema and cannot help grasping the compositions of shots easily, editing takes a essential role to show many feeling including suspense.

Changeling Essay by Ashley Akunna

2009-10-07T12:35:00.000-04:00

Clint Eastwood’s Changeling starring Angelina Jolie, is a tale of a mother’s struggle to find her missing son. The film’s cinematography helps to illustrate much of the California setting and time period in which the film takes places. In the first few opening scenes, the bond between mother and son is established by the camera. We see mother and son leaving a trolley, while the camera closes in on their hands as they clasp. There is a lot of framing of people by windows and doorways. For instance, when Jolie drops her son off at school, the camera stays in the trolley, the two figures are framed by the trolley window. Also, after her son is missing, there is a scene where Jolie sits in his bedroom. The camera is outside the doorway, as the doorway becomes a frame. I feel that this is done to create a feeling of loneliness and separation. Because we are not allowed into these personal moments, we feel left out of the feelings she is going through. The scene in which Jolie goes to work, the last time she sees her son, this moment is intensified by the camera moment. The audience is given a clear indication that something is going to go wrong. Jolie stands outside, as her son watches from the living room window. As she walks away, the camera pulls away from the house. This shot decision was done to suggest the separation that the two characters will face, from that moment onward. It strengthens the feeling of separation and loss. When Jolie enters the house from work, her son is now missing, the camera takes on an omniscient view. We watch from above as she searches her house for her son. The camera does this, to suggest the emptiness of the house now that her son is gone.
The film uses establishing shots to give the viewer a sense of time and place. The camera usually starts in the horizon/sky and moves down towards traffic, and people, etc. In these opening scenes we are able to see the old fashioned cars, the palm trees, the distinctive California look, milk trucks driving by. We know that we are in California during the 1920s.
There is a sense of voyeurism in the film. The camera takes on an omniscient view several times. When Jolie calls to report her son missing, the camera is right above her right ear, as she holds the receiver. This is done purposely to magnify the sense of someone watching. In the film we find out that her son was abducted by a pedophile. These camera angles coincide with themes of perversity and peeping, which are evident in the film.
Towards the end of the film Jolie has a private meeting with her son’s suspected abductor in which she interrogates him mercilessly about her son’s fate. As the abductor refuses to tell her, he is dragged out of the cell. Jolie is left hanging onto the cell’s bars, as the camera moves away from her. This is done to suggest that Jolie is trapped in her own “prison”, because she doesn’t know what happened to her son. The camera becomes the abductor, and as he is dragged away, so is her hope for closure.

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid--Ricky Leighton

2009-10-07T12:19:00.000-04:00

The cinematography in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid solidifies the fact that despite their attempts at integrating back into society, Butch and Sundance are still held back by their social disorder.
The film starts off with Butch entering a bank and Sundance playing a game of blackjack. During the card game, the only person that is revealed is Redford. All others are out of focus or their faces are not shown. A confrontation occurs between Sundance and the other card player and the camera only shows him and the gun. Finally Butch shows up and kneels down next to Sundance. He is the only other character that is shown directly next to Sundance, suggesting that the two of them are on the same level of social class. Right away, the film tells us that their friendship is only something they understand and they coexist together on this same level.
Once they return to the Hole in the Wall farm, the next series of shots consist of extreme wide landscape shots with Butch and Sundance riding together. When they arrive to see the rest of the gang, there is still a major distance between all of the characters. This shows the type of world that they all live in. Every man is for himself and close, personal friendships are rare to come by. Everyone is appears to be alienated by society and must exist on their own accord.
This effect continues throughout the film. When Sundance and Butch have escaped the posse, they retreat back to the saloon in order to hide out. Suddenly the posse makes it way back and discover their location. The scene is extremely dark and little light is used to orient the audience as to what is happening. However, Butch and Sundance are shown in the same light and are often the only objects that can be seen.
The film concludes with their attempt at trying to settle down in Bolivia and get jobs like an average person. Yet, their social disorder inevitably rejects them from this as they continue to rob banks and actually kill people for the first time in the film. This is demonstrated by a much more conservative shooting style then the prior scenes. Butch and Sundance are shown in more public locations, with other people and with tighter shots. But regardless of what they do, the outlaw profile still succeeds within themselves, demonstrating that despite ones attempt at being average, someone's true nature will always show.

Død Snø [Tommy Wirkola] Cinematography

2009-10-07T11:50:00.001-04:00

Tommy Wirkola’s Nazi zombie movie Dead Snow uses a plethora of deviceful shooting strategies to distinguish itself from other zombie horror genre movies and other comedies and other action-adventure films while simultaneously comprising all of those. Wirkola aggressively pursues strong visual situational and dramatic irony by playing with mise-en-scène. The setting for the film is a beautiful, snow-blanketed Norwegian mountain chain that Wirkola frames up in such a way in relation to the characters that it can convey treachery or solace or the insignificance of the characters in the vast stark landscape. Wirkola’s use of camera movement and sudden revealing cinematography lends heavily to the film’s frightening, exciting mood. Tension-building point of view shots and interchanges are the strongest moments in this film as Wirkola allows his viewers to empathize with the characters, especially in terrifying situations that can’t end happily. While the long shots of the mountains use the open air to establish utter isolation and helplessness, Wirkola also uses mise-en-scène once the characters are in close quarters to establish that same cut-off tone.

An example of Wirkola’s purely visual situational irony comes after the ex-military character Vegard dangles tantalizingly off the edge of a cliff from another zombie’s intestine while a second zombie hangs onto him and tears a chunk out of his neck. Vegard kills the Nazi, stitches his neck back up, wraps it in masking tape, mounts a machine gun on the front of his snowmobile, and takes off, prepared for anything--except for the zombie clinging to the back of his snowmobile. The zombie stands up, but before he even notices it’s there, is knocked off by a tree branch. Another example comes after a character amputates his arm to avoid becoming a zombie after he is bitten, only for a zombie head to pop out of the snow and bite his leg. An example of dramatic irony comes when a character is mauled in the outhouse and screams for help as she stumbles back to the cabin. She’s in the foreground screaming, the distance to the cabin exaggerated by a defined telephoto lens, a zombie darts across the screen and whisks her away, and another character finally opens the door in the background scanning the trees for her.

The long take where a weathered old Holocaust survivor reveals the historical significance of the mountain that explains the premise of the movie isn’t hokey whatsoever. Wirkola slowly pushes in on the man’s face which establishes him as earnest and sincere, and thereby his story is earnest and sincere. In the next scene, his tent is just a small, insignificant glowing red form in the middle of the overwhelming mountainous terrain. The shooting strategy is a big changeup from the confidential close-up of the last scene, but it makes perfect sense because his character is violently murdered and therefore the tone is established as far more unforgiving. Vegard on his snowmobile often takes up an insignificant amount of space on the screen, but Wirkola does this to depict the futility of Vegard’s search for their friend who went missing. Throughout the film, Wirkola also uses repetition of imagery of his characters lying in the snow looking up at the sky. The first time this happens, the girl gazes up at the night sky as she is ripped apart and devoured. There is the symmetry of the trees framing the sky and the clouds, and the shot, while grim, is also very aesthetically appealing, very much in the spirit of the shot in Rashômon where the woman is raped and stares at the sky. Later an iteration of this shot is used in a different context to express the relief of a character after she fends of an undead Nazi attacker.

Wirkola effectively decides when to shoot from a more literal, straight-on perspective and when to use camera movement to add to the meaning of a scene, and when to shoot handheld guerilla filmmaking style. A perfect example of this comes when a girl frantically flees from a zombie and runs up against the edge of a steep crevasse that is revealed only when the camera quickly zooms out. Another creative example comes after that same character regains consciousness at the bottom of the crevasse buried under snow. She’s disoriented and doesn’t know which way is up to dig herself out, and neither does the viewer as the camera rotates around, holding on her face. The chaotic handheld perspective is used only in the woods. The shaky handheld cue furthers the meaning that the viewer attaches to the woods as a visual metaphor. Whether they are having a snowball fight or being eaten alive, the woods are shot in a distinct, chaotic way because they function as a set-piece.

There are three occasions when Wirkola really wants his viewers to enter the psychology of his characters. The first time is the first time a zombie is on screen, and he does this to build tension and set the tone for the film. The second time is when a character is dying and being eviscerated. The lens has trouble focusing, and finally the scene builds to the moment where the character summons the courage to blow herself up to kill the zombies with a grenade she’s holding. This intimate cinematography confronts the viewer with the same dilemma. Wirkola uses a low-key, high-contrast style of shooting to express the points of view shots of the zombies. Mise-en-scène and points of view through windows are also visually thematic. There is a moment when two men peer out their cabin window as the camera backs out to reveal Nazi zombies everywhere, and their faces are trapped within the windowpanes. It is these provocative storytelling cues in the cinematography that create the meaning and evoke strong reactions in Dead Snow.

Kellie Lynn Bruce: “Killer of Sheep”

2009-10-07T09:25:00.001-04:00

The film “Killer of Sheep” is a grim, yet beautiful look into the lives of a black low-income family and the daily decisions they make. The most striking element that stood out in the film to me was the director’s, Charles Burnett, uses of space between both the characters and the viewing audience. We the audience find ourselves playing multiply roles. We play an active participant in the kitchen as Stan goes into his monologue of how his life has changed, to playing a skeptic observer waiting for the mayhem of the long awaited car engine. This close relationship between the characters and audience is deliberate in bringing the audience into Stan’s reality. We are brought into his world by camera editing choices, framing choices, angles choices, and the decision when to uses a close up or wide shot. However, much of this close or personal relationship between us the audience and the actors would not have been so effective if Charles had not decided to film the personal, awkward, or intimate moments. We the audience find ourselves jumping around in different characters perspective. We are in Stan’s wife’s POV, when he and his friend are at the table playing dominoes, before being introduced to her as a character, and only through Stan’s reaction of seeing his wife there are we able to see whose POV we are in. Moreover after understanding and viewing Charles set up of the relationship between the audience and characters we can see his point that we are either active participants in this grim reality or just observers? After knowing or seeing the role we play what will our decision be? Will we continue like most characters just living and tolerating, will we just watch from afar, or will we make a change? Even if the change we make is small, it is still yet a change. “Killer of Sheep,” does an incredible job capturing and creating a meaningful story about ordinary people in a common yet, not so ordinary situation.

UNBREAKABLE

2009-10-07T00:35:00.001-04:00

Everyone knows Unbreakable is a bad movie. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some dynamite mise-en-scene. Specifically, the films use of color. Basically, the movie assigns three different colors to three different teams/kinds of characters.
The protagonist and his family are usually seen in green. While on patrol as a security guard, he wears a green poncho. His family, whenever shown, is in green always. The characters seem completely unaware that they only wear green and it is never actually addressed in the film. The protagonist’s truck is green etc. In the movie green usually is associated with life and living, and good in a general sense.
The film’s antagonist dons purple. Every time we see him he’s wearing it. His mother also wears purple. The color seems to represent knowledge and power. It’s often attributed to comic book super-villains like the Joker and Lex Luthor. Quite appropriate since essentially this is a superhero movie.
Lastly, there’s Orange/Yellow. The protagonist sees a man wearing yellow who he assumes to be a criminal packing heat. Later the man is shown to have had a gun on him. Yellow basically represents everything evil. The best example of this is when the protagonist fights a criminal in an orange jump suit. Several times, the hero in green is either tempted or swayed by yellow. It might also tie to corruption.
And those are the many colors of unbreakable. I guess I could go into why the protagonist is white and the antagonist and other foes in the film (including one played by the director) are black or some other minority, but hopefully there’s really no symbolism behind it. Maybe M Night Shyamalan just loves white people!

BY SAM FRIEDMAN

The Third Man

2009-10-06T23:21:00.002-04:00

Carol Reed's The Third Man is a film with an excellent example of how cinematography can affect its audience. I don't think I have ever as uncomfortable and uneasy watching a movie, yet still very intrigued and involved. The first thing one notices when watching the film is how hash the black and white contrast really is. At points, characters faces are so vivid by bright white light that a small mouth movement replaces a line of dialague. At the same time, the background and all of the character's surrounding are extremely dark and distorted. In other instances, the darkness of night hides the identity of characters, but the bight street lights reveal important shadows that can't remain hidden in the night. This makes the film extremely dramatic for the viewer because the bright white light focuses the audiences attention while the darkness confuses and pushes them away. Camera angles also give the audience a sense of disconnection and almost foreign from the city of Vienna. Sideways allies, angled shots of complexed, geometric buildings, and huge, ominous urban portraits makes one feel almost cautious to watch. The location of Vienna is that of a grim, desolate city that has lost any flair or culture. Definetly not a welcoming city, the viewer definetly feels like a fish out of water. Each shot and scene from the film is very picture-like in the sense that when the frame is freezed the image looks something like a still-life painting of some kind. Finaly, closeups definetly play a large role in the film revealing character emotions and thoughts as well as objects and different identities.

Manos: The Hands of Fate

2009-10-06T22:43:00.001-04:00

The cinematography in Manos: Hands of Fate is one of the most prime examples of how poor cinematography, among other things, can ruin a movie with an otherwise interesting plot. Manos, owing most of its infamy to Mystery Science Theater 3000, is often hailed as one of the worst movies of all time and indeed it is almost completely unwatchable without the MST3k commentary, owed, in large part, to the films poor cinematography.

The movie presents its first challenge almost immediately. The film opens with a heavily extended sequence involving a car driving through unremarkable rural countryside. The film continues this way for almost a full five minutes, while the camera work here could have helped to establish something important plot-wise, even so simple as to establish the film’s actual location, the time is instead utterly wasted on superfluous of landscapes, even at one point dissolving from the end of one shot to the beginning of the very same shot.

If the audience can manage to sit through this they are treated to a movie comprised mostly of blurry or underexposed shots. The director, Hal Warren, chose to shoot most outdoor scenes as night scenes, during the actual night time rather than using Day-For-Night, making shots either much to dark or very clearly lit by film lights. In once scene, two police officers are investigating the strange events occurring in the movies main plot, but because there is not enough light to light more than a few feet of space in the shot, the characters can only “investigate” about 10 feet from their car before seeming to give up.

Unfortunately, the film’s raw concept and story actually had the potential to be rather interesting if the movie had been shot more professionally but, as it stands, the poor cinematography and the onscreen results are so distracting that the film becomes a chore to sit through and/or ripe for mockery.

Eyes wide shut- Kyle Rollins

2009-10-06T21:37:00.002-04:00

Stanley Kubricks last film "Eyes Wide Shut," is a film that deals with jealousy and sexual temptation. Cinematographer Larry Smith overlights the initial party scene and uses natural lighting for many of the scenes on the street and specifically the orgy scene in the mansion. The pacing of this film is very slow and this film has many long shots in it. These decisions are made so the audience can better understand and feel what Tom Cruises character Bill is feeling. Throughout this whole film, Bill feels as if he is in a dream like state. Each scene in this film is very dark and in some scenes we see the camera positioned in front of doors and mirrors when characters are talking or making love. The camera placement off mirror reflections reperesent the darkside of these characters and it also goes back to Kubrick and the cinematographer making this film appear as a dream. The camera is positioned from the point of view of Bills character and we are taken throughout the house and the audience is able to see what Bill sees. Even though Kubrick uses cross dissolves to show the passing of the time, the orgy scene is the longest scene in the film and has the longest shot. This film was criticized for being very unrealistic and that was the angle Kubrick was aiming for. Kubrick wanted this film to seem dreamlike and each decision cinematographer Larry Smitch made with the camera made the audience feel like they were in a never ending dream.

Seven - Cinematography

2009-10-06T21:36:00.002-04:00

Thrillers and horror films constantly use cinematography to make the audience feel more in the film and more scared. The film Seven uses it for just that purpose. The camera is constantly strengthening your feelings throughout the story. In chase scenes the camera movement and cutting is swift, the image is often blocked by walls and doors and people just as the view of Brad Pitt is.

When the detectives enter the home of Kevin Spacey, the camera shots are close in to give the audience a stronger sense of the tight quarters all the detectives are in. The lighting is very dim with a lot of red lighting. It gives the audience an idea of just how erie the apartment is, and how unpleasant it is to be in there. The shots don't show the audience what is around the corner, just as the detectives don't know what's around it. It creates an element of suspense, and makes their discoveries even more important.

In the scene when Brad Pitt is chasing Kevin Spacey throughout the apartment building, the shots are quick, and are all from Brad Pitt's point of view. You still cannot see around corners and you only get quick glimpses of where Kevin Spacey is headed. Citizens get in the way of your view and it frustrates you just as it must Brad Pitt's character.

In the scene of the first murder, the lighting is extremely dim, and the shots are close, just like the shots in Kevin Spacey's home. However, you get a different feeling because the color of the lighting is more green instead of the intense red of Spacey's home. You get more of a sick and depressed feeling when watching this scene instead of a suspenseful one like in Spacey's home. Which is parallel with what the actual content of the scenes is.

Cinematography is used in every scene to intensify what the audience is seeing and hearing. In this movie in particular, it often sets a mood of depression and uneasiness. It is used to give the audience a better understanding of what these characters are feeling. It is meant to bring the audience as much into the scene as possible.

American Beauty Cinematography

2009-10-06T21:11:00.004-04:00

The Cinematography in the film, American Beauty, plays a pivotal role in establishing character, both in their relationships to one another as well as the role each one plays in the movie. Much of the movie's perspective is derived from the main character, Lester Burnham. Consequently the cinematography reflects Lester's nature, which is at times apathetic, cynical, fatalistic, fantastical, and, ultimately, nostalgic.

The film begins with an aerial shot, displaying a typical tree-lined suburban neighborhood. Lester's voice over can be heard, but his house's location within the neighborhood is left unspecified and the viewer instead is left to absorb the endless slew of seemingly identical rooftops. As the film centers heavily on Lester's family life, perhaps one of the most indicative illustrations of this is the long shot of the Burnham's dining room that is used multiple times throughout the film. The decoration of the room is elegant but stark, exemplifying the Burnham's sterile home life. The composition of the shot itself is taken from the side of the excessively long dining room table, with Lester at one end, his wife at the other, and their daughter caught in the middle, indicating where she finds herself during Lester and Carolyn's bickering. When Lester goes to work at a job where he feels confined and unappreciated, the shot is constructed so that the ceiling, cubicles, and the harsh overhead lights are all exaggerated for the viewer.

Lester's fantasies center on Jane's best friend, Angela. The shots of these daydreams are executed with soft lighting, to reflect the serene nature of these dreams, and the color is minimal aside from the deep red of the roses that become synonymous with Lester's ideal of Angela throughout the film.

At the film's conclusion, Lester gives a posthumous account of his fondest memories. As he recounts these nostalgic moments, they are recounted visually with a left to write tracking shot in soft black and white, allowing for seamless transitions to give the feel that these memories flow together for Lester.

Irreversible - Cinematography Katie McMeans

2009-10-06T21:00:00.002-04:00

Gaspar Noe's 2002 film "Irreversible" has a strong theme of the irreversible nature of time and actions. Shown in reverse, the film unfolds over the course of one night to reveal horrible events. The cinematography lends itself to the idea that "time destroys everything" in its hand held nature, the pace and length of shots, and in it's reverse chronological order.

The hand held aesthetic serves to give the entire film a shaky or uneasy feel, as if it was the shaky or unclear memories of someone recalling them. The length of the shots supports this idea of memory. The film opens (though this is the end effect) with a brutal fight scene. The scene is fast paced and unclear as if the whole thing happened so fast and in such a fit of rage that it can't even be remembered properly. This is also supported by the fact that this whole scene is shot as a POV. In contrast the brutal rape scene is one 7 min long shot and very clear as if this whole scenario or memory has been etched into the mind of the person recalling it.

The unease and pacing of the handheld shots supports the reverse cause and effect revealed by the cinematography. The purpose of the reverse is to take the viewer eventually back to the start, leaving them no room to wonder what will happen next, driving home the inevitability of the terrible events that have already took place.

Double Indemnity - Cinematography

2009-10-06T18:56:00.021-04:00

Perhaps one of the most quintessential examples of classic film noir is Billy Wilder's 1944 movie Double Indemnity. The story itself epitomizes the genre alone, following the dangerous affair between the desperately and lonely femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson, and a naive insurance agent, Walter Neff, who falls into her deadly plot to kill her husband. But story aside, every moment on the screen captures the audience with its brilliant use of black and white cinematography. Not only do these cinematic choices set the standard for the tone of the film, but they also reveal deeper meaning for the characters and situations.

The mere placement of characters in the frame is a consistent and non-accidental choice Wilder makes throughout the film. Every shot has meaning and purpose. For one, when Walter first laid eyes on Phyllis and immediately fell head over heels for her, he was standing at the foot of the steps looking up at her, while she was standing behind the railing on the balcony overlooking the foyer. Not only does the railing separate them physically, but the shot sets her up as being the dominant one in the relationship (almost as if set on a figurative pedestal) that continues to play out in the film. The shot also separates them by status: he works hard to get his money and lives in a one bedroom apartment, whereas she lives off her husband's wealth, lounging around her mansion all day. Another shot that's consistent throughout the film is the way in which they must meet. Since their affair must be kept secret to save their reputations, they meet in the grocery store and are at most times, separated by shelves of food. This could represent the fact that while they are in this plan together, they are not on the same page. We later find out the Phyllis was just using him to get to the money, and Wilder's choice to conceal the bottom half of her face in shots behind the shelves makes this more evident. And perhaps one of the most powerful shots of the film occurs near the end when Walter's boss, Barton Keyes, finally realizes what Walter has been up to and he goes to his apartment to confront him. The shot happens when Walter and Phyllis are leaving, but Barton appears. Phyllis hides behind the open door and Barton stands on the other side, with Walter in the middle. Not only does the shot create tension for the audience (i.e. will Barton find her hiding?), but it parallels what's going on inside Walter's character. Here, he's literally and figuratively torn between two opposites: living a life of crime with the woman he's fallen for, or returning back to the normal life and job he has with his boss.

Finally, Wilder makes a great deal of aesthetic choices that help correlate the characters with the actual lighting in the film. For instance, the use of shadows is extremely prominent in the film noir genre. This could be because it sets the tone for mystery and suspenseful drama. While that tone is apparent in this film, the use of shadows is also a way to convey character motivation, especially on the part of Phyllis. In the scene in which she is driving her husband around, the audience knows that Walter is hiding in the backseat, waiting to strangle him from behind. When he finally does the deed, the camera cuts away from the initial murderous action to show Phyllis' face, half hidden in the shadows and half illuminated from the streetlights. This shot is so powerful because it is so dark and jarring and we can sense that she's an evil person on the inside, but she smirks while it happens, which makes it even more impacting. And lastly, many of the shots in the film that make it so unique is the way Venetian blinds and moonlight/sunlight play off a character, particularly in the final scene in which Walter and Phyllis confront one another. The moonlight seeping through the Venetian blinds in the dark room not only shows us that something bad is about to happen, but that people never are who they say they are, especially Phyllis. The crisscrossing pattern formed on her character from the blinds exhibits her deeply rooted and disturbed psyche that one needs to unravel to discover and even understand.

The Graduate

2009-10-06T18:17:00.000-04:00

Mike Nichols’ 1967 film, The Graduate, is one of the most influential films of the last fifty years. Its influence on pop culture as well as its significance in film history makes The Graduate a very special film. However, the cinematography and symbolism in this film and how it relates to the underlying themes in the story is what makes Mike Nichols’ The Graduate such a meaningful and significant piece in film history.

The Graduate could be about several things and there are many underlying themes that make up the story, like the journey from child to adult, or most notably the theme of sex and relationships and the “art” of seduction. The cinematography in The Graduate helps accentuate these themes for the audience. In the beginning of the film, there is a scene where Benjamin drives Mrs. Robinson home after his graduation party. She invites him onto her porch for a drink and asks him to sit down. The porch is made of all glass, so the outside environment is completely visible. Large trees, plants, bushes and other foliage surround the porch, making it appear as if this porch is in the jungle. I believe this is a metaphor for Mrs. Robinson’s pursuit of Benjamin. Also, the blocking and positioning of actors in the frame emphasize the themes of the film. When Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson begin their affair, Mrs. Robinson places her leg in the foreground of the shot to remove her stocking. Ben is in the background and positioned perfectly “under” Mrs. Robinson’s bare leg. Nichols’ suggests with this shot that Mrs. Robinson is more powerful than Benjamin and that she is the predator and he is her prey.

The Graduate is certainly one of the most influential and significant films ever made, and for several reasons. But one of the reasons this films’ themes are so well expressed is because of the cinematography and Nichols’ ability to communicate theme and story through shot and composition.

Kwaidan; Masaki Kobayashi 1964

2009-10-06T17:16:00.001-04:00

Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan is a series of four tightly strung short films based on ancient Japanese Ghost Stories as collected by Lafaciado Hearn. Though many period pieces try there hardest to withtain a sense of accuracy to the time period, evoking as realistic and believable a setting as cinematically possible, Kobayashi delivers the exact opposite. Reality is rarely glimpsed throughout the film, almost all of it is unabashedly filmed on large, sprawling soundstages with large, obviously theatrical sets filled with wild, painted back drops. While many would try to evoke a realistic setting in a horror film, it is highly effective, taking us to a world that we understand is far away and maybe even almost forgotten, giving the atmopshere a surreal, dream like effect, reflecting the other worldy encounters mortals have with various ghosts and demons, showing us a world where the supernatural is very much alive and well. One short film, “The Snow Maiden” is prehaps the strangest looking in the film. Time passes quickly throughout, going from dawn into night in much of its length. While many would struggle to obtain subtle, nature like colors to evoke the passage of time, we are shown wild primary colors transitioning from vibrant oranges to dramatic blues to signify night time, constrasting madly with the white snows that surround the man-made landscape. Back drops also change in a fully theatrical manner, the moon is an obviously painted eye resembling that of an owls, symbolising the reign of the supernatural and the discovery that the dutiful wife is truly the Snow Maiden, a ghoul that devours the souls of those who have frozen to death. Throughout watching the movie, one understands that the theatricality of the film is not only an artisitic statement, but a very practical solution to several scenes that would be nearly impossible and tedious to film on location. In the next film “Hoichi the Earless”, we begin with an epic naval battle set in Ancient Japan between two rival clans. We are shown a dramatic soundstage with brilliantly colored water, where the battle is presented with the poise and pantomime of a kabuki play, a wild yellow sky blurred with impressionistic magenta.
Kwaidan’s theatricality not only shows within its lighting and sets, put throughout the camera work as well. Filmed in a 2:35.1 aspect radio, the large sprawling cinema-scope framing allows the camera work a strange distance from the audience, where we are shown long and beautiful wide shots, and only a few zoom in’s of characters reactions here and there to show us the scope of the characters conflicts. In “The Black Hair” we are presented with a man who has betrayed his true love to marry another and take a position as Samurai, choosing riches over the poverty he once faced. In one scene, as he observes his noble estate he now requires, we are shown an elegant and slow zoom in of his face, where we instantly understand his inner conflicts. This if followed by another scene, in which he hallucinates, imagining he sees his lost love across a lake, washing her laundry. We are shown a graceful close up shot of the woman, revealing her face filled with a false hope that he will return. Kobayashi gives us this distance between the film and the audience prehaps to remind us that these are folk tales, settings and situations wildly diffirent from encounters much of us have in everyday life, watching simple stories as one would watch on a stage. Even shots that aren’t sprawling and wide are sprinkled with a sense of obvious, but effective theatricality. In a archery contest, we are shown several quick shots of a man waving a fan to start the contest, a shot of hooves violently running, a long shot of the man on horseback, we eventually come closer and closer to him, where we are shown what is obviously the actor sitting on something other than a horse, a fan blowing in his face, the camera rocking back and fourth to give us the illusion of movement, followed by shots of his lover. Through this, we understand his guilt and how his thoughts of her have led him to ultimate distraction.

Cinematography in "Do the Right Thing"

2009-10-06T16:42:00.007-04:00

In Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing", the style of cinematography is manipulated specifically to emphasize the racial tensions between the characters. This is implemented through camera angles, camera movements and distance. Throughout the film camera angles become a direct medium for expressing the relationships between characters. For instance, the use of canted angles during a scene with Radio Raheem and Tony in the pizza parlor. As they are arguing the camera appears to be flip flopping between the two but at slanted angles, emphasizing the anger and animosity amongst them. Canted angles are especially critical in that they visually express that there is something demented or dysfunctional about the relationship between these characters. There are also low angles used in the same scene which highlight dramatic differences in stature between Radio Raheem and Tony and how they see one another.
The movements of the camera also plays a part in conveying the racial tensions amongst the characters. Much of the camera's movements are rapid shot-reverse-shots, because characters are often yelling at one another throughout most of the film. These fast paced camera movements create a heightened sense of tension and confusion. The speed of the camera adds an edginess to the dialogue through which the audience learns that the characters allow their personal struggles to interfere with their judgement about other races. Lastly, the camera's distance from the characters allows the audience to be more emotionally involved with the characters point of view. For example, the camera is normally close up on characters, placing the audience in the middle of the immediate action line. It increases the sense of mental and emotional stress that characters endure from dealing with one another in the heat of the moment.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

2009-10-06T09:11:00.005-04:00

Raiders of the Lost Ark uses many shadows in its shot composition to give the film a comic book like feel. The use of shadows in the cinematography helps give a hint towards the story. The bar scene where Indiana has to get the headpiece to the staff of Ra, we first see Indy in a large shadow taking up the entire wall beside Marion. This shadow represents the fact that Indy was a large part in her life. As soon as she saw the shadow she instantly knew who it was. Then she goes on to tell Indy how he ruined her life because she was in love with him. Her explanation proves that Indy was huge part of her life and the shadow represents that. In the middle of the scene, Indy is leaving the bar, his face is completely in shadow but a small bit of light is shown on his eye. Indy needs the piece that Marion has. He leaves the bar empty handed and that little bit of light represents that Marion is the only way he can get that piece and she has rejected him. The light on his eye is the little glimmer of hope he needs to get that piece. When the Nazis come into the bar to try to obtain the piece, there is harsh shadow across the head Nazi’s face to represent that he is evil. This contrasts when Indy came in because Indy’s face was brightly lit.

Children of Men

2009-10-05T23:56:00.001-04:00

In the 2006 dystopian science fiction film, Children of Men, single shot sequences were used to elaborate pivotal moments in the film in which sometimes complicated actions were occurring. After Theo agrees to transport Kee, he is riding in a car with his estranged wife Julian, Kee, the midwife, and Luke. Their vehicle is ambushed on a country road during a brutal attack. The scene opens with the passengers in the vehicle joking around and Theo and Julian passing back a ping-pong ball with their mouths. A burning car blocks their car’s way and they are attacked as they try to reverse. Julian is shot and fatally wounded and the car is still moving and they are shot at some more. The scene is done in a single shot that lasts approximately four minutes and is an important scene in the movie that foreshadows the danger Theo will face after he agrees to transport Kee.

When Kee, the girl who is being transported, gives birth to a baby girl the shot lasts for over three minutes. The birth of the baby is important because it is what is causing all the conflict in the story. The current dystopian world suffers from infertility and Kee giving birth marks the first time a new human has been born in over eighteen years.

The siege at the end of the movie lasts a little over six minutes. Theo escapes from being captured and runs through a building in the middle of raging battles. This scene provides hope that he will be able to finish his mission of transporting Kee. The director Alfonso Curaron’s decision to use single shot sequences help to emphasize important moments in the film.

Cinematography in Jaws

2009-10-04T02:59:00.001-04:00

I have seen the film Jaws more times than I count. This viewing, however, was my first viewing of the movie under academic circumstances, with some beginner’s knowledge of the filmmaking craft under my belt. As such, this time around many realizations about the film’s cinematography and the underlying, almost subversive tactics used in camera positioning became blatantly apparent. I counted and tracked no less than 7 distinct strategies in the cinematography of this film, most of which had been completely unknown to me, despite my repeated viewings of the film, and most of which all culminated in the ending sequence. However, I have chosen to relate the specific strategy detailed below because of how blatantly it smacked me in the face the first time I realized its presence in the work.

Anyone who has seen Jaws once can tell you that the character of the Mayor of Amityville, the movie’s prime location, is an idiot. Having seen the movie over and over, upon the first appearance of the Mayor, I knew the oblivious ignorance that was about to come. Each time, the Mayor converses with a protagonist, save the final scene he appears in, the protagonists get nowhere with him. Brody wants to close the beaches, the Mayor refuses. Hooper wants to perform a necropsy on the shark, the Mayor refuses. Figuratively, the Mayor cannot be swayed from his position, literally, when the Mayor is onscreen, we get nowhere with him.

What I mean by this is that anytime the Mayor is onscreen, and especially when he is arguing with the protagonists, all of the characters are moving, quite animatedly in fact. Yet, the camera is positioned in front of the Mayor, zoomed in tightly on all the characters integral to the scene, and shot at just about chest-up. This completely flattens the image, taking all sense of depth out of the shot and completely negating any physical movements toward or away from the camera. In this way, every conversation with the Mayor gets no where, literally. There is no depth in the shot, just as there is no depth to the Mayor’s perspective, and there is no discernible range of movement, just as there is no change in the Mayor’s staunch position. In fact, the only bits of discernible movement and depth in scenes with the Mayor occur precisely when he or a protagonist make a point, or when the conversation is ending. The camera becomes the Mayor. It is the Mayor’s shot. There is no depth and no give, just like the obliviously ignorant character himself.

This technique can be seen most well in one specific scene: this scene being the very first appearance of the Mayor, in which he declines Chief Brody’s wise decision to close down the beaches of the island. Throughout this conversation, the characters are actually moving on a ferry across an expanse of water, with ships and other things moving in the background. And yet, the camera positioning keeps the characters staunchly in place throughout the entire talk, utilizing a long take to never let the characters move from their position or get any depth out of the Mayor’s perspective. The only time in the scene that depth can be discerned, and it is only a small amount of depth, is just as the conversation ends, the Mayor makes a point, and Brody has lost this first of many verbal spars.

This hilariously played technique, which directly describes the Mayor’s character, is used over many scenes of similar content, culminating in the final scene involving the Mayor. This scene, occurring right after an undeniable shark attack, gives us the most depth available in any scene with the Mayor and features Brody literally leaving his biggest, and least bright, roadblock far behind. The Mayor gets ever smaller, as Brody gets ever bigger, indicating that all power to halt Brody’s progress has been lost by the Mayor. Indeed, the Mayor is never mentioned or seen in the rest of the film after this this breaking of depth and movement, and except briefly in a conflict between two diametrically opposed protagonists, this technique of flattening the image to an extreme degree never occurs again. The Mayor, and his ignorance, have been broken forever by our main protagonist.

“Conformist” (focus on cinematography)

2009-10-03T09:46:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, we blame the traitor easily. But just think about it. Is it right to dare to say “You are wrong” to the man naturally without experiencing or understanding such a situation?
”Conformist” by Bernardo Bertolucci defenses a man whose desire is to live a just normal life in the era of Fascism and the ruin of it
The important thing is that the movie appeals to audience emotionally about his situation by the camera working and shot size.

First, tracking shots are often used to follow his emotional feeling.
The first scene which he picks the phone up and wears the clothes and puts the gun in his pocket is shown as long take by tracking shot. And then, he goes the step down and opens the door of the hotel. By that time, camera dolly(track)s in toward him quickly.
Surely, he is in emergency and has to move fast. From the beginning, we cannot help starting with the concentration on his harsh movement. If first track shot is just for expressing his own emotion, the successive track shots evoke sentiment by representing the relationships between him and his family. See his mother. She lives without a certain purpose, sometimes depending on morphine. Tracking shot compares two persons by moving from the bathroom she is to the room he stands. And then see his father. The camera follows protagonist walking fast toward his father sitting in the mental hospital through the track. He has to solve the problem about his abnormal parents to marry his fiancee. These two tracking shots show his tension and audience understand his poor background. Maybe, some people may feel sympathy to it.

Second, bird’s eye view with camera fixed shows his resistance is no use. See him surrounded by many dancers including his wife and wife of the professor. He didn’t want to join them. He just
stands up there. He is just a weak man, therefore cannot but being confined by the mass.
After collapse of the Fascism, look at him surrounded by the mass marching for the rally. Only thing he can do is to avoid them carefully. In both of two shots, no moving, fixed camera of bird’s eye view functions as bystander never helping him. And that symbolizes it is meaningless for him to protest against the main current of the era.

Third, two close-up shots of protagonist reveal his agony.
See him talking to the professor, revered one in the past but must be killed by him now, During the conversation about Plato, his face is shown as close-up. He is in the middle of the fierce conflict. We also contemplate his pains, even though it is indirect, through the close-up together.
And the other close-up shot, the last shot in the movie, is so impressive. After the collapse of the Fascism, he, was a fascist, struggles to survive. At last, he accuse even his friend to the people,
Now, there is no one beside him. He sits down alone in front of the steel-barred in the street. And then he turns his head forward. He seems to be in the jail. In the long run, his hope just to live a normal life ends in tragedy. The last close-up is enough to unfold his feeling and the message of this movie.

In the conclusion, this movie takes a role of the lawyer for a man in the law court. It persuades audience by using the various effects, camera moving, angle and shot size. Those overwhelm our sensibility. And his tragic ending makes audience silent or feel pity rather than reproach his fault

Tropic Thunder

2009-10-02T23:26:00.002-04:00

This film clashes cliches and classic photographic forms to provide it the parody of the war/Vietnam film genres to draw out the snickers while also providing the hard light upon a shadowed face to give it's comical main characters a sense of suspense.

After the faux credits, this film begins in a battle zone. Fast edits and up close shots provide the sense that you are in the action. The group starts to escape and then we see Ben Stiller re-enact the classic scene from 'Platoon'. There is also the sweeping helicopter over a jungle/Viet Cong village and the helicopter machine gunner shooting everything in sight. The close battles and, much like 'Hamburger Hill', provide extreme gore. Much like the 'Platoon' moment, these scenes are crafted to show the incredibility of an enlarged ego recreating such a real moment.

To offset these recreative scenes, non-parodied scenes used creative use of light to create the mood that was best fitting for these scenes. The vast majority of the indoor shots in Laos (actually New Zealand) use lighting shades of yellow/gold colors in darkly lit rooms to provide the sense that they are in the Golden Triangle and it's not a good place to be. What enhances this effect is that when one sees the indoor shots of the office of Les Grossman (Tom Cruise), is that these are lit with a balance of white light. These deeply contrasting shots, in their use of light toned color enhancement, helps provide the film a sense of realism once it sheds away from it's comedic beginning.

This movie recreates several classic scenes from great war movies not to make fun of those film stories (as most parodies do), but instead to show how unheroic the actor is who portrays a films hero by casting the right light upon them in the right local.

Metropolis-Cinematography

2009-10-01T20:08:00.002-04:00

In the film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, I noticed that there were a lot of close ups. These close ups occurred when you saw the main character, Freder, and his love interest Maria together. The most frequent types I saw in the film were two shots. The two shots were appropriate for the two lovers, because it established an intimacy between them. It allowed you to see fully the love they had for one another in a shot just between the two of them.

Another type of shot I noticed was the telephoto. In the shots with Joh Fredersen in his office with his assistant, you see him looming in the foreground while His assistant is in the background. His assistant looks a bit blurred and small in the background, while Joh's image looks powerful and crisp. It establishes his position of power, besides just him having a stern, authoritative look on his face.

Lastly, the last type of frequent shot I noticed was just regular close ups. There were a lot of these with all the characters, and it helped you to read their emotions more clearly. There is a particular scene where Maria is being chased. We get a close up on Maria's face during the chase and we can clearly see that she is terrified which helps us better than a medium shot, per se. We get a close up of her when she is first introduced as well, and the close up shows her as this pure, innocent person. This helps us to see that rather than just the title cards for her words. Also, Freder looks panicked a lot in the film, and we can see this beautifully in his eyes and expression from the close up shot.

Though Lang was a bit ahead of his time with these things, they worked together nicely with the mise en scene and the title cards. His cinematographers camera work was splendid to help us better understand th position and emotions of the characters.

No Country for Old Men

2009-10-01T14:58:00.001-04:00

The Coen brother’s award winning film No Country for Old Men is one of the eeriest movies I have ever watched. This time I looked at the brother’s film in a different way then their standard style for films, rather then the crazy characters, the twisted plot, or the beautiful cinematography, but the sound design. In No Country for Old Men, the element of sound or should I say lack of sound is used to create a feeling for what the film exactly is, a suspenseful thriller.
Through out the entire film the silence constructed by the sound design makes the film’s environment seem so strong and natural. Rarely if not at all is there a soundtrack played, all the audience hears is the diegetic sound. I often found myself listening to every little detail in the sound sometimes. The quietness led me to anticipate what was going to happen next, whether it would be a gunfight or the next important event in the film.
A perfect example is when the hitman is trailing the stolen briefcase of money he is after in his car. He has a little tracking device to help him locate the money and it beeps, as he gets closer. On screen it switches back and forth from the hitman, to the character that has the money. As he gets closer the beeping sound increases creating anxiety on what is going to happen. The entire time there is no dialogue, just what exactly is happening on screen.
No Country for Old Men is as raw as it gets.

The science of sleep

2009-10-01T11:54:00.002-04:00

The exposition of the movie "Science of Sleep" Michael Gondry introduces us to the Fabula of the story. In the opening scene we see Stephan (Gael Garcia Bernal) The protagonist who is confused and lost between reality and his dreams. Michael Gondry shows us how sometimes we can get lost in the thin line between our reality and the nightmares. Stephan is like a 10 year old boy who is trapped in a body of a young man. The cradle-bed he sleeps in, car prints bed sheets and his inventions, all serve as motifs that keep repeating as a reminder of Stephan's childlike character. Stephan develops a friendship with his neighbor Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and she becomes the only person who can see his dream world. Yet in the act two of the movie, Stephan finds himself in love with Stephanie who wouldn't open her feeling toward him. So he starts to feel rejected by his shy neighbor and starts to lose control over his dreams mixing it with reality.His love for Stephanie makes him more confused and lost in his dreams.

Syuzhet of the movie is to show that we often try to escape reality in our dreams yet here our main character is trying to escape dreams by reality. I think Gondry was trying to say that dreams would be so perfect if only we could have a full control over them. The Mise-en-scene is structured around Stephan's imagination made of cardboard mockups of the set of Metropolis, hand made stuffed animals and lego toys. The movie uses stop motion in the style of Russian animation to give a certain feeling of surrealism. Movie is followed with a first person narration of Stephan's voice which switches from French to English and sometimes to Spanish. The movie is a strange way of storytelling that is unpredictable,exciting and in some arguable way open-ended.

Ricky Leighton -- Blade Runner

2009-09-30T11:35:00.000-04:00

In the film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, the Mise en Scene works as a metaphor for a post-apocalyptic world and the sense of dehumanization of the future on several different levels.
The first aspect of Mise en Scene that stands out significantly is the interesting lighting scheme. When Rick Deckard is walking through the abandoned parking complex, a constant beam of light is searching through out the set. This occurs several times like in Deckard's apartment when Air Blimps pass by shining in light. This gives the audience the feeling that everyone is being watched and nothing is sacred. In the future humans have lost all privacy.
Towards the end during the gymnast robot battle, Deckard arrives at the robot makers house. Here he finds abandoned, half built robots as well as personified objects resembling toys. The set design creates the concept that in the future there is a fine line between what makes a human being and what makes a robot and somehow that line has become blurred. It also develops the sense that people who normally wouldn't attract friends (the robot maker) can a find a personal connection in robots themselves.
Another element that solidifies these themes is the acting through out the film. There is an endless debate about whether or not Deckard's character is a robot as well. Harrison Ford brings ambiguity to his character by way of back story. Either Deckard is trained as a warrior or he is a robot, which explains his lack of emotional response.
Though the Mise en Scene in Blade Runner is widely praised for these vary films, it is because it is a classic example of how effective these elements can be. Every thought of this "Future World" is well planned and well designed and when it all comes together it creates not only a believable story but a film touching on many themes and issues in our own society.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

2009-09-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

The film, The Cabinet of Dr, Caligari, immerses itself in rich, dark mise-en-scene. Aside from its black-and-white appearance, the movie uses heavy shadows and sparse lights to create a dreamlike environment that constantly makes the audience wonder whether the events that are occurring on screen are one of the character’s dreams. Since half the movie takes place in a bizarre mental hospital, the overall environment of the film showcases dead, stark trees, howling wind, harsh rain and colossal gothic structures.

The set design in the film fully completes the film’s mise-en-scene. Every single set is built by hand and each set is carefully thought out and crafted like a piece of art. This film so very heavy handed with its German Expressionist influence in its set design it almost a tribute every time a character plods across the warped floorboards. The costumes in the film add the eerie mise-en-scene that the environment builds. Many of the characters wear dark colors in flowing costumes and saturated make-up to accentuate the mood and feel of the piece.

Since the film is silent, the music played during the movie adds to its stark, creepy environment. The title cards, which are written in scratched cursive, complete the experience because any information that is thrown directly at the audience in text form is crafted to fit the mood.

Mike Curcio

MEMENTO

2009-09-30T01:01:00.003-04:00

Memento had terrific mise-en-scene, particularly in the color department. Throughout the film, events in the past going forward are treated to glorious black and white, while events in the present going backward are in color. However, as a step even further, the film sticks to a particular palate. The main character wears a tan suit with a blue shirt, thus his surroundings reflect this. His tan apartment building has blue doors etc.

There’s definite significance in the fact that half of this film is in black and white. The black and white segments are scenes shown in order. The color scenes are in reverse. I imagine this is because the color scenes are technically in the past, further into the past than the color scenes are anyway. The color scenes have more onscreen action and plot progression and are really the meat of the movie. More colorful and lively than the black and white scenes, these parts are more action based or soothing moments. The black and white scenes are tension driven and explanatory. The mood is much more intense, brooding and noir.

Eventually both sets of scenes collide into the climax, and chronological center of the film. At this moment we are slid from the past into the quasi-present only to receive a set of shocking twists. That aside, it’s quite a bookend. The film opens with the truck in color and arrives to the climax in black and white. Then the film winds down and the truck backs out in color.

BY SAM FRIEDMAN

Mise-En-Cine - The Puffy Chair

2009-09-29T23:47:00.001-04:00

The visual style of The Puffy Chair could easily be perceived as amateurish, but I think it goes deeper. The film employs almost entirely handheld shots, with few exceptions. Often times the frames in the movie look thrown together, and sloppy. The camera movements are awkward and jerky, and the camera is always resetting focus mid shot. A good example of it is the scene where Emily and Josh, the protagonist and his love interest, decide they should break up. The frame jumps back and forth between the two characters, lagging awkwardly at the end of each piece of dialogue. The reason the shooting style works is because of the nature of the characters, and where they are in their lives. The film is about a trio of lost and confused twenty something year olds. Their entire world is changing. They have these new scary obligations that come with growing up, yet they have not really matured to that level; their obligations are so big and they can barely take care of themselves. As you watch you understand that they really have no idea how to deal with any of this. They are awkward and scared, giving them an almost pubescent quality. This is clearly evident in the way the film is shot. As you get to know these characters, the camera constantly racks in and out of focus while staying on the subject. It’s like these changes in focus tell us that we are getting some veiled insight into who the characters are, and where they are going to end up.

Mise En Scene Legends of The Fall

2009-09-29T21:27:00.003-04:00

Legends of the Fall directed by Edward Zwick is a drama about betrayal, family and corruption. This film is a modern tale of the misery of life and the absense of any truth to which the Ludlows can cling to. Legends of The Fall has a great cast that really engages you in the film. This film stars Brad Pitt, Aiden Quinn, Anthony Hopkins and Julia Ormond. Legends won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and rightfully so because the cinematography in this film is one of the reasons this film is so great and a work of art. John Toll, Cinematographer of Braveheart, was the cinematographer on this film. John Toll was able to truly portray life on a Montana ranch in this film. There is alot of symbolism used in this film that John Toll is able to showcase. When Samuel Ludlow dies on the Barbwire and Tristan trying to save him, it represents him not being able to escape his fate. Also when Tristan tries unsuccessfully to save the calf that is tangled up in the barb wire, it represents him not being able to save his baby brother samuel. The scene in which Susannah goes to visit Tristan during his thirty day incarnation, Toll shot the scene to imply that both Tristan and Susannah are imprisoned people. The cinematography in this film is what truly makes this film a work of art.

American Beauty - Mise En Scene

2009-09-29T21:18:00.014-04:00

Sam Mendes 1999 classic American Beauty is the perfect example of a film that utilizes mise en scene to convey a point. Despite its clever dialogue, Mendes also displays the narrative through different means: symbolic images, colors, lighting, sound, and characters' appearances. Every detail in the film shouldn't go unnoticed, for it most likely represents something larger than the story itself, such as its theme and the director's true message to the audience.

For one, the image that most people remember after viewing the film is the infamous red rose. This simple, physical object becomes the most important and recurring motif throughout the film. To Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), the red rose stands for a youthful lust and passion he desires but can't have, living in a prim and proper suburb with an insufferable wife. He daydreams about his daughter's beautiful friend Angela (Mena Suvari) surrounded by red roses. He dreams of her at night, lying in a bathtub full of roses. Roses fall on him from the ceiling when he wakes up next to the wife he was once in love with. While it might seem that Mendes is hitting us over the head with this imagery, it conveys a strong point and brings us into the protagonist's head. He longs for a life of spontaneity and passion and Angela seems to possess this need.

The roses parallel with one of the themes of the film which is "beauty is skin deep." To Lester's daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), she views her neighbor's footage of a plastic bag floating in the wind as true beauty, rather than her so-called "beautiful" best friend, Angela. Her neighbor, Ricky (Wes Bentley), even finds beauty in the stark red pool of blood at the conclusion of the film. The reappearance of the color red in the film becomes ironic, then. It begins as looking beautiful and youthful, and ends quite tragically.

Another aspect of mise en scene used in the film is the lighting and sound. When Lester breaks free from his monotonous lifestyle and diverts back to his youth (i.e. the scene in which he is jogging down the street), the lighting is optimistic. The sun is shining and the music is upbeat. However, when Lester's wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), fails in selling a house to prospective buyers, she closes the blinds and cries to herself in the dark kitchen. Not only does the darkness show us the tone of the scene, but it gives us insight into the deep, dark layers of her troubled psyche.

Mise en scene of Gummo: A Film by Harmony Korine

2009-09-29T20:46:00.002-04:00

Gummo is the tale of the aftermath of a tornado that has affected the residents of Xenia, Ohio. With no real narrative plot, Korine communicates his story through a bizarre array of characters. From a pair of cat killers to wannabe strippers, the mise en scene in Gummo helps to create a mood of increasing boredom and obscurity.
Most of the action in this film takes place in a rural/suburban setting. The viewer gets a sense of impoverishment and backwardness. The scenes that are shot outside are that of junkyards and freeway crosswalks. This communicates a dirty and gritty feeling. There are also many interior scenes that take place in the character’s houses. All of the houses showed in the film are cluttered, unkempt, and extremely dirty. This was done to show the laziness and overall carelessness of the characters, who seem to have literally nothing to do throughout the film.
The actors in the film are not glamorized. However, they are portrayed as people who are bored. The director accomplishes this not only through dialogue, but through the movement of the actors as well as their performances. There is a scene where Chloe Sevigny’s character has a moment with the camera, where she is looking into the barrel of the camera as if it is a mirror. The scene is supposed to resemble that of a glamour shot. However, there is nothing attractive about this character, the actions seem out of place and seem to be done out of monotony. We learn later that her character spends her time trying to make herself seem more attractive.
The composition of many of the shots seem to mirror the different characters monotonous life. There is a scene where an extremely thin young boy goes to his basement to “workout”. He plays a music on a radio and lift weights in front of a mirror. This shot suggests repetitiveness by the way the character is positioned in the frame. He is in the center, and as he works out he stares into the mirror. Surrounding him is trash, clothes, and clutter, and we know as an audience that this is an everyday routine for him.
There are many monologues throughout the film. The director chose to have some of the actors deliver their monologues while looking directly into the camera. One character, a mentally disabled woman, delivers most of her monologues while looking into the camera. The director does this to emphasize the boredom and restlessness of the characters in this small town. Also, there is a character in the film who wears a bunny hat wherever he goes. There is a scene where two young boys beat him up in a junkyard, and leave him there. The bunny boy is left in the middle of the junkyard to “die”. However, he is only pretending to be dead. There is an aeriel shot of the bunny boy laying sprawled in the middle of junk cars. This scene implies to the viewer that like this boy, many of the characters in the film are surrounded by rubble, filth, and destruction, they are literally trapped in it.

Mise en scene of Gummo: A Film by Harmony Korine

2009-09-29T20:44:00.001-04:00

Mise en scene District 9- Kathryn Warburton

2009-09-29T20:10:00.002-04:00

Mise en scene is really everything that is physically seen in the film. Everything including actors, props, setting, lighting, and various other things. All of these things help to give the audience a feeling that the creators of the the film intended to give. In the film District 9, the mise en scene contributes to the depressing, dirty, uncomfortable feeling that you are supposed to get from the movie. The fact that the aliens live in a slum and that this is where the majority of the movie is filmed, creates an atmosphere that is extremely gloomy. The lighting in the slum is either dreary or it is blinding. This is used to give the audience the feeling that these aliens may be feeling. It is to get you on the side of the aliens as opposed to the humans. When on the inside of the alien's huts, the lighting is extremely dim, and the line of sight does not go very far. This gives us the feeling of being trapped and uncomfortable.

Once the main character is infected by the alien substance, the protagonist beings to appear distraught, sweaty, pale, and dirty. These things all contribute to how the director wanted the audience to feel in the terms of this character. They wanted the audience to understand how uncomfortable and sick he was. They made him vomit black to get across the fact that what he was feeling was unnatural, and that is was the alien substance that made him feel sick.

Dr. Strangelove or How I Stopped Worrying and Love the Blog

2009-09-29T19:45:00.001-04:00

Mise en scène in Kubrick’s black comedy classic Dr. Strangelove permeates every aspect of the movie and becomes a vehicle for many of the main ideas and themes of the film to be portrayed through in such a way that is very rarely seen from most film’s use of costumes and sets. Indeed, the film’s conscious use of set design proves to be where much of the film draws its comedy from. One of the film’s main sets, The War Room, is a masterful work of design that perhaps best showcases and sets up the subtle nuances of the film’s satire better than any other aspect within the film.

The majority of the scenes involving the American government take place in this war room, a huge bomb shelter-esque structure housing little more than a large table with chairs, several ominous lights and “the big board” which tracks and displays the location of all the US bombers across the world. The design of the room highlights one of the main themes of the film, bureaucracy and it’s ineffectual nature as, despite its bomb shelter appearance the war room is implied to be destroyed, along with the rest of earth, at the end of the film.

It also provides one of the great moments of dichotomy in the film, another of the film’s main themes when a brawl breaks out between a general and the Russian Ambassador and the president points out “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the war room!” This line is one of the most prominent examples of the dichotomy and hypocrisy of the Cold War that the film satirizes.

Daughters of the Dust

2009-09-29T19:06:00.000-04:00

Mise En Scene plays a crucial part in Julie Dash’s film, “Daughters of the Dust.” The actors clothing throughout the film depict more than just costumes of the time period, they are representative of each characters’ personality and struggle as generations of the Peazant family make the epic crossover to the mainland from the Ibo Landing. There is a sense of tension between Nana, the traditional and deep-rooted matriarch of the family and the majority of her family. This is exhibited in Nana’s clothing choice: she wears dark dresses as a means of declaring her strong beliefs in her ancestry and roots. The rest of the women in the movie wear white, clearly differentiating their pureness and openness. Their identity is as unknown and vast as the color white, as opposed to Nana’s dark clothing, which demonstrates her deep-rooted self and pride. Viola is another character that does not wear white due to her conversion to Christianity. Her unique outfits represent her concrete self-identity that she has discovered, and therefore chooses not to dress in all white. By choosing to dress Viola in darker tones, Dash is exhibiting Viola’s disassociation from her roots and “barbaric” culture.
Color is also symbolically displayed on Nana’s stained hands. Having been a slave and hard worker her entire life, Nana’s hands are stained a deep blue (like her dress) serving as a constant reminder of her past, where she has come from, what she has gone through and what she will never forget. Her blue palms are a cause of Nana’s hesitance when her family is traveling to the mainland. “Yellow Mary” is a perfect example of Dash’s symbolic use of color. Mary is called yellow due to her light skin tone, which is a great contrast to the rest of the islanders whom have much darker skin. It is also symbolic that she is referred to as yellow due to the fact that she spent time as a prostitute and therefore is seen as “wasting her yellow.”
Dash also uses setting and props to create a vision for the viewer. For example, when Eula is in bed dealing with the burden and debate of her unborn child she is wrapped in a quilt with a unique and busy pattern, symbolizing Eula’s own puzzling and complex turmoil. Nana’s use of the bible also represents some willingness to evolve with the times and holds no animosity towards Christianity. The imagery of Ibo’s Landing also serves to give the audience the importance of this family’s heritage and life styles.
The lighting throughout several scenes in the movie is delicate and subdued. The majority of the scenes are emotional and heavy and therefore the lighting is bright in an effort to not have every scene come off as deep, dark and overly dramatic. Dash’s portrayal of different character points of view sets up the notion that women are very strong and powerful. Each character, especially the unborn child narrator, creates a circulatory story line that represents the family’s past, present and future.

Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash; 1991)

2009-09-29T19:03:00.003-04:00

Its really no surprise that mise-en-scene plays such a huge role in Julie Dash's "Daughters of the Dust." While watching the film, one realizes that mise-en-scene is just as much a character and is just as important, if not more important than the jumbled story that it presents. Setting is key throughout the film. Set and shot on the Gullah Islands in South Carolina where the story literally takes place, the setting is essential. The settings are wild and exotic, making one almost surprised that it takes place in America. Spanish moss dangles from trees, various sounds are heard, and the forests are jumbled with trees tied with bottles and various faded gravestones. This setting itself shows us that the wild atmosphere represents a culture living outside of the normal realm, with a culture and existence wildly different from many in America's at the time, the chaos of the atmosphere represents the strife and decisions this family must make and the prices they must pay to make it in a normal America that they yearn for. It’s no surprise that a confrontational scene between a younger person of the family, with the oldest patriarch they have takes place in a wild and untamed graveyard, where the names and dates are barely visible, faded to time. Loose framing helps us understand how important setting is, for the screen is wide and spacious, showing us that these people are a part of this land, where they both equally take part throughout the film. The colors and lighting throughout the film are bright yet saturated, perhaps to show that these memories are faded and vaguely recalled, but still vibrant and immaculate, not dull and dryly lit like many period pieces that choose to use color. With this saturation, we also feel the heat lingering throughout, making weather an important part of the setting, and giving us an atmosphere that would be hard, if not impossible to replicate on sets in soundstages. Figure placement is a fascinating aspect throughout the film. Close ups are something of a rare thing within this film. Barely ever showing shots involving someone's inner conflict mind the Grandmother and perhaps the mother of the unborn child, it seems almost every shot is filled with people, showing the unity of this family and the importance of sticking together. Everyone's story and very existence is impossible without everyone else. One story is many other's story, since everything within involves the conflict of leaving home for another. As discussed several times in class, costumes are essential to how we relate to the story. Its rare for anyone to change into another costume than the one they're assigned. Instead of thinking of this as cheap, it oddly works for the film since the various colors they wear symbolize who these people are and what they represent. Various children and main characters wear mostly white dresses, perhaps symbolizing their optimism and innocence on leaving the island. Yellow Jane wears yellow since she represents someone both white and black, something that many on the island even scorn, the very color of her dress represents who she is through out.

2009-09-29T18:47:00.004-04:00

District 9- Neill BlomKamp- By Dominic Lee

District 9 is not only one of the best movies made this year, but it's production and cinematography qualities are outstanding too. It takes place on earth where we have our first wide-scale Alien sighting, and documents the reaction of humans and the government, along with the journey of one man as he interacts with the aliens, and, due to unforseen circumstances eventually becomes one himself. That being said, in a movie about alien/human interaction, director Neill BlomKamp's vision of an almost Auschwitz type setting is nothing that hasn't been seen before, but the CGI integration of the aliens, the"Prawn", is what really draws my interest. It is indeed a very technical film, one that was effectively shot in a reporter type viewpoint, as they needed not only the impoverished, way-ward third world view of the district 9, but also had to show modern and then futeristic aspects in the film in a jetsons meet the flinstones kind of way. The distinctive mis-en-scene of the movie in my opinion would have to be the shot in which the alien spaceship is seen, vast, hovering over the city, representing the mysterious and unknown, and a sense of imminent peril can be felt by the monotone voice of one narrator as he comments on the sighting.

Daughters of the Dust

2009-09-29T18:16:00.001-04:00

Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust is a film riddled with symbolism about the Gullah culture on the sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia in the United States. The film is about the Peazant family and their journey from the island of Ibo Landing to the mainland, just as their African ancestors had done centuries before. However, Dash’s ability to tell a symbolic story through visuals and mise en scene, most predominantly through color, is what makes this film so important and significant.

The premise of the film is about the Peazant family leaving the island of Ibo Landing for the first time since their African ancestors walked back to the mainland generations before. However, it is Dash’s use of color and mise en scene that really drives home the dramatic problem and struggle of the film. In film, or art for that matter, the color white is often used to represent purity or innocence in characters. Most of the younger women in this family on Ibo Landing wear white. These are the same women that have never left the island, but are distanced from their ancestors and are planning the trip to the mainland. I believe Dash was using white to represent these women as pure and untouched, as they have never ventured off of their island. Also, other women on the island wear different colors, and these women are mostly different from those who wear white on the island. For example, Nana, who is much more in tune with her ancestry and teaches the children on the island about where their family originated from, wears an indigo dress. Also, Mary wears a yellow dress throughout the film. In the film, it is hinted at that Mary may have been a prostitute and it is clear that she has left Ibo Landing and is more connected with the outside world.

Daughters of the Dust is a complex film and at times, hard to follow or get totally interested in. However, Dash’s use of color and mise en scene really draws the audience’s eye and helps them understand and explore the main theme in this film: the struggle and uncertainty of leaving your homeland and ancestry in search of a new home.

"bug"

2009-09-29T10:51:00.004-04:00

In William Friedkin's film called "Bug" has various ways of lighting through out the film. Lighting is a huge part of mise en scene. The lighting will help set the mood and location of the film. Not only will it reflect the mood of the film but also how the characters are feeling. In the very beginning of the film we see Ashley Judd's character living in a sleazy motel. There is a bright blue neon light that goes around the motel. The blue is similar to what is seen coming from a bug zapper. I think that gives the audience a clue as to what could happen considering the film is called "Bug" and this blue bug zapping light surrounding the main character's home. The blue light also hints to the viewer that she is very blue and sad. Inside the motel room that she lives in, is very dark with lots of shadows. She is living in the hotel room to escape her abusive ex-husband. The lighting gives us a hint that she is really emotionally hurt by her past. That is why her room is so dark and depressing. He keeps calling her and doesn't say anything. One time when the phone rings she decides not to answer but has a stare down with the phone. She is lit from only one side of her face. The phone is lit just like how she was. Only one side was lit, the other in shadow as if phone was like a real person. "Bug" uses lighting to set the mood of the film and to inform the viewer of how the character is feeling.

The Sixth Sense

2009-09-29T00:32:00.001-04:00

In M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 thriller The Sixth Sense, the color red has an important impact and meaning within the film. The director was careful with the way red was used in the film and it was mostly left out of the movie except for certain important objects in important scenes. The use of red in the film was to provide clues to the audience about the fate of Dr. Malcom Crowe (Bruce Willis) after he is shot in the opening scenes.

The vivid red objects symbolized things that had been touched by the dead in the other world. The tent in Cole’s room is red and this is where he encounters several dead people who need his help. Anna, Crowe’s wife has bright red anti depressant pills and is wearing a red gown at an anniversary dinner. Cole wears a bright red sweater when he attends Tommy’s birthday party and he encounters a spirit banging in the closet. The doorknob to Malcom’s basement is also red since he tried to open it and Malcom is dead.

The use of red in the film works very well in the mise en scene as a powerful visual and a subtle clue to the audience. Since red represents things that have been touched by a ghostly spirit it hints that Dr. Malcom Crowe was fatally wounded when he was shot, which is revealed in the twist of the film.

<2001 A Space Odyssey>, the beginning of the cosmos mise-en-scene

2009-09-29T00:16:00.002-04:00

I was so shocked very seriously when I see "Star Wars 4, New Hope", the beginning of series of Star wars, at the first time. The description of the imaginary cosmos world was not only so great and gigantic but was full of creative spaces. After a few years, a film was more shocking to me than ever. That is "2001 A Space Odyssey". First of all, the fact it is made approx 10 years earlier than "Star Wars" is marvelous. It is no doubt that "Star Wars" has reference for "2001 A Space Odyssey" during its pre-production.
Then, what on earth makes "2001 A Space Odyssey" impressive and attractive?
First, there was strong effect of monochrome overall. The satellite and spaceship is covered with white color. Not only it has symbol of purity, hollowness and transparency, but it intensifies other colors. See red sofa and space suit, green bed on the white background in the movie. The contrast between the single colors is very sensitive and makes me feel everything arranged in that cosmos is in order, not confused.
Second, the most spaces are composed of high-key light. So, there is seldom shadow of the subjects. “No shadow” in the subject symbolizes many things. For one thing, it seems no volume or weight. It is suitable for imagining the infinite cosmos because there is no boundary in it. For the other thing, it represents various lights originated from sun and many stars shine overall. Therefore it seems natural that the interior rooms surrounded by the lights should have flat feeling through the high-key light.
At last, CG created the unknown space, cosmos perfectly and surprisingly. That would be
gloomy, if movie gets restriction for showing up extravagant space by shooting in only studio set. With CG, all we expect about the cosmos is accomplished for example, we
see the space station and the planet in the movie like they really exist.
In conclusion, Social Scientist and Philosopher, White Head says “Since Plato, all philosophies are his annotations.” As the admiration for Plato is so great, I would like to say this. “Since Stanley Kubrick, all movies about cosmos are his annotations.” That is because all SF movies about the cosmos have still followed conventions of mise-en-scene created by Stanley Kubrick in that effect of monochrome (especially, white color), high-key light and the cosmos represented by CG

Antichrist [Lars von Trier] Mise-En-Scène

2009-09-28T20:51:00.002-04:00

Lars von Trier’s film Antichrist is a haunting experience that probes at the nature of human primarily through mise-en-scène. The story is a simple one that uses a lot of visual components to parallel the story of Adam and Eve, otherwise the two are nothing alike: a woman goes into a deep and frightening depression following the negligent death of her son. Antichrist is a very personal story to von Trier because it came out of his own incapacitating depression and anxiety. Von Trier explores the nature of human in three chapters: grief, pain, and anxiety, and comes down neither on the side of salvation nor damnation, but ultimately of chaos reining. The prologue and epilogue of the film are the most visually compelling and are the only two chapters of the film that aren’t bleak and miserable; non-diegetic opera orchestrates a beautiful sequence of slowed down black and white shots where Willem Defoe’s unnamed character has sex with Charlotte Gainsbourg’s character while their son climbs out of his crib and falls out the window. Von Trier’s beautiful depiction of lovemaking is match-cut with the child’s innocence and curiosity as he climbs up onto the windowsill. The most powerful shot of the sequence puts the child in the foreground peering at the open window while his parents have sex in the background. Even when the child falls to his death, the snow register’s so peacefully on film and the mood remains very serene. Immediately following is when the film spirals into a hellish landscape of the human psyche, reverting to a crude Dogme 95/French New Wave style of shooting for the chaotic feel, which becomes thematic.
Defoe’s character is a psychologist, and through him von Trier channels Freudian solutions to the imagery of the film. Defoe even sketches a pyramid symbolic of the psyche to get to the root of his wife’s depression, concluding that it’s nature (the woods). At this point, von Trier photographs nature in the woods in a terrifying way. When his wife first comes off the anti-depressants, von Trier zooms into the stems of flowers in a vase of water so far that the image becomes a frightening and contemptible omen of bad things to come. Later, von Trier uses a dizzying shot of the woods intercut periodically with a few frames of a demonic face superimposed into the woods to depict the further descent into this inward Freudian landscape. Gainsbourg’s character even witnesses a baby bird falling out of a nest and getting eaten by a hawk, an obvious visual parallel hearkening back to the beginning of the story. Just when it seems to Defoe (and the viewer) that nature is indifferent and can’t hurt us, acorns violently hail down on the roof--and in Defoe’s dream, he stands helplessly as they plunk him in the head. Animals are used symbolically as harbingers of the different stages of depression. Von Trier photographs a deer halfway through giving birth, a fox eating itself as another tells Defoe “Chaos reins,” and a dead crow that caws and caws no matter how hard Defoe beats it in the head. These are all terrifying images that lend to the theme of chaos in nature.
There’s a trick in the writing where nature (the woods) becomes synonymous with human nature, and that’s when the film gives way to graphic sexual violence as neither character is in control of their actions anymore. The woman confronts the solitude of human nature, screaming for her husband in a dense fog while he hides, terrified of her. When all three symptoms of her depression coalesce (the deer symbolizing grief, the fox symbolizing pain, and the crow symbolizing anxiety--converge), she loses all control and buries her husband alive. The very way von Trier photographs the cabin in the woods is symbolic of the lonely summer that she spent with her son while she worked on her thesis (where she came to the conclusion that men have a history of misogyny because women are inherently evil). Here we see the parallels between von Trier’s imagery and depictions in textbooks of medieval torture. The movie concludes with a provoking shot of Dafoe strangling his wife because she is imploding and believes in her core that she deserves pain and death for allowing her son to die, or perhaps for the more base reason of existing in the first place. Von Trier is a striking visual storyteller, and he accomplishes a masterpiece on the bleak chaos of human nature through mise-en-scène.