What a difficult and daunting task it must be to come up with a movie playlist for an introductory art class in film concepts and techniques.The movies chosen for this semesters viewing attempted to cover several genres while introducing students to terminology and the language of movie making . The textbook "Looking At The Movies" and the tutorial dvd did a very good job of giving the students a basic understanding to the difficult and complex job of making movies.One thing I will take from this class is the concept of reading a movie as opposed to just watching a movie for entertainment purposes.
The three movies from this semesters list that stood out for me or were my favorites were Out of The Past ,North by Northwest, and The Godfather.Memento should be on this list as well but since I devoted a great deal of time to this wonderful neo-noir movie in my term paper I have chosen to omit it from my top three list.
Out of the Past was a very good choice to introduce the film noir genre to the class and to give us a bit of history of the evolution of movies .In order to understand where we are now in the evolutionary process of making movies and where we are headed we must understand where we came from.
No film class introductory or otherwise should be taught without including one of the top directors in the history of movie making namely Sir Alfred Hitchcock.You could probably spend an entire semester just studying this master of his craft and his large body of work.The inclusion of North by Northwest was a wonderful way to introduce the concept of setting,framing,and camera angles such as the high angle from overhead along with the editing and lets not forget about the concept of sound when talking about this wonderful movie.Thinking back to when I was reading the textbook this movie was referenced multiple times when concepts and techniques were being discussed.
The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola is simply one of the top 10 or 15 movies ever made in my humble opinion and can be studied for its wonderful acting ,lighting, and editing .The book by the way was even better than the movie.
If i were to make a change or an addition to the list of movies viewed in this class I would include Citizen Kane as I believe all students of film should know who Oscar Wilde is and should be familiar with someone who I consider to be one of the most important individuals in movie making.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
BLOG POST #5 CHAPTER 6 CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 6: CINEMATOGRAPHY OF THE MOVIE THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Screening Checklists
1.Determine whether or not the cinematographic aspects of the film -the qualities of the film stock,lighting,lenses,framing,angles,camera movement,and use of long takes-add up to an overall look.If so try to describe its qualities.
The blinking or flickering light and the in and out of focus of the camera during the early ten to twenty minutes give this movie a visual texture or tone that is extremely different from the other movies we have viewed in this class up to this point.The visual images are presented through the eye of the camera in an attempt to have the viewer understand the perspective of someone trapped in his own body due to a stroke.The photography and the images are extremely artful.In fact in some ways the images are ones that might be seen in a gallery.The camera angles and the framing are quite good in establishing what the protagonist is seeing from his perspective.
2.Take note of moments in the film in which the images are conveying information that is not reflected in the characters' action and dialogue.These moments are often crucial to the development of a movie's themes, narrative,and meaning.
The viewer is being shown what it is like to be a stroke victim trapped in your own body without being able to speak.The visual images help us feel this without necessarily relying on the the characters' actions or excessive dialogue at least early on in the movie.
3.Pay close attention to the length of shots in the film.Is there a recognizable pattern? Are long takes used?To what extent? For what purpose?
I do not see a lot of long takes used in the filming of this movie.In fact the first one-third is done with a lot of closeups and experimentation on the behalf of the director and d.p.as they have a lot of freedom as they movie objects in and out of frame as they present things through the eye of the camera or through the perspective of the protagonist.
4.Also keep track of camera angles other than eye -level shots.If there are high-or low angle shots determine whether they are a POV shots That is ,is the high or low angle meant to represent another characters' point of view.If so ,what does that say about that characters,state of mind? what does it say about the person or thing in the frame?
I see several instances of low angle camera use from the point of view of Jean -Dominique as he lay in his hospital bed and the people who come in and out of his hospital room and he sees parts of these people in the frame but not all them .this is again an attempt to show the viewer what it must be like to see the world from this perspective and point of view.
5.As you evaluate crucial scenes, pay attention to the composition of shots within the scene.Are the compositions in a way that conforms to the rule of thirds or are the elements within the frame arranged in a less "painterly" composition? In either case ,try to describe how the composition contributes to the scene overall.
The most crucial scenes at least early on do not adhere to the rule of thirds that we have spent a great deal of time studying.There are some scenes later on that do seem to follow the compositional rule such as during some of the flashback scenes but early on and for most of the first one-third of the movie a less "painterly" approach is taken with the artistic license and freedom to experiment with composition on the part of the director and the D.P.as they show us the point of view of the main character.
6.Pay attention to camera movement in the film.Sometimes camera movement is used solely to produce visual excitement or to demonstrate technological virtuosity on the part of the filmmaker.Other times it is playing an important role in the film's narrative.Be alert to these differences ,and take note of meaningful uses of camera movement.
The camera movement is not employed to produce visual excitement it is used as an important tool to lay out the narrative of this movie and again to show us the point of view of the main character.
7.Note when the cinematography calls attention to itself.Is this a mistake or misjudgment on the filmmakers' part,or is it it intentional? If intentional,what purpose is served by making the cinematography so noticeable?
I do not think the filmmaker does anything by mistake in this movie.The attention called to the cinematography is intentional and done with the purpose to help the audience understand what it might be like to see the world through one left eye or through the eye of the camera in this case.
Final Thought
I probably spent too much time writing about point of view in this blog but I just thought it was an extremely innovative way to bring this wonderful piece of artwork to an audience.
Screening Checklists
1.Determine whether or not the cinematographic aspects of the film -the qualities of the film stock,lighting,lenses,framing,angles,camera movement,and use of long takes-add up to an overall look.If so try to describe its qualities.
The blinking or flickering light and the in and out of focus of the camera during the early ten to twenty minutes give this movie a visual texture or tone that is extremely different from the other movies we have viewed in this class up to this point.The visual images are presented through the eye of the camera in an attempt to have the viewer understand the perspective of someone trapped in his own body due to a stroke.The photography and the images are extremely artful.In fact in some ways the images are ones that might be seen in a gallery.The camera angles and the framing are quite good in establishing what the protagonist is seeing from his perspective.
2.Take note of moments in the film in which the images are conveying information that is not reflected in the characters' action and dialogue.These moments are often crucial to the development of a movie's themes, narrative,and meaning.
The viewer is being shown what it is like to be a stroke victim trapped in your own body without being able to speak.The visual images help us feel this without necessarily relying on the the characters' actions or excessive dialogue at least early on in the movie.
3.Pay close attention to the length of shots in the film.Is there a recognizable pattern? Are long takes used?To what extent? For what purpose?
I do not see a lot of long takes used in the filming of this movie.In fact the first one-third is done with a lot of closeups and experimentation on the behalf of the director and d.p.as they have a lot of freedom as they movie objects in and out of frame as they present things through the eye of the camera or through the perspective of the protagonist.
4.Also keep track of camera angles other than eye -level shots.If there are high-or low angle shots determine whether they are a POV shots That is ,is the high or low angle meant to represent another characters' point of view.If so ,what does that say about that characters,state of mind? what does it say about the person or thing in the frame?
I see several instances of low angle camera use from the point of view of Jean -Dominique as he lay in his hospital bed and the people who come in and out of his hospital room and he sees parts of these people in the frame but not all them .this is again an attempt to show the viewer what it must be like to see the world from this perspective and point of view.
5.As you evaluate crucial scenes, pay attention to the composition of shots within the scene.Are the compositions in a way that conforms to the rule of thirds or are the elements within the frame arranged in a less "painterly" composition? In either case ,try to describe how the composition contributes to the scene overall.
The most crucial scenes at least early on do not adhere to the rule of thirds that we have spent a great deal of time studying.There are some scenes later on that do seem to follow the compositional rule such as during some of the flashback scenes but early on and for most of the first one-third of the movie a less "painterly" approach is taken with the artistic license and freedom to experiment with composition on the part of the director and the D.P.as they show us the point of view of the main character.
6.Pay attention to camera movement in the film.Sometimes camera movement is used solely to produce visual excitement or to demonstrate technological virtuosity on the part of the filmmaker.Other times it is playing an important role in the film's narrative.Be alert to these differences ,and take note of meaningful uses of camera movement.
The camera movement is not employed to produce visual excitement it is used as an important tool to lay out the narrative of this movie and again to show us the point of view of the main character.
7.Note when the cinematography calls attention to itself.Is this a mistake or misjudgment on the filmmakers' part,or is it it intentional? If intentional,what purpose is served by making the cinematography so noticeable?
I do not think the filmmaker does anything by mistake in this movie.The attention called to the cinematography is intentional and done with the purpose to help the audience understand what it might be like to see the world through one left eye or through the eye of the camera in this case.
Final Thought
I probably spent too much time writing about point of view in this blog but I just thought it was an extremely innovative way to bring this wonderful piece of artwork to an audience.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Blog Post #4 Jim Jarmusch and Composition
Anybody who has snapped a photograph or painted a picture has used composition in that picture even if they didn't realize it at the time.A major part of artistic composition is how the viewers see the the art and how they interpret the images they are seeing.
Director Jim Jarmusch is very accomplished in his ability to to frame a shot and in the composition of the images he presents to his audience.The picture directly below is from the movie Down By Law and is an example of the framing device known as deep space composition.The viewer can look down the street and it seems as if the road or main street stretches a long way.
The picture below is from the Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train and is an example of symmetrical balance.The actress on the left and the actor on the right are symmetrically placed in the photo and in relation to the landscape in the background.We can see and feel what the the actors are feeling as they pull in to Memphis on the train.
The picture to the left is from the Jarmusch film Stranger in Paradise.It exemplifies the rule of thirds: left, center,right concept of the framing device.
The picture to the left is from the movie Limits of Control and it is an example of lead room in a framing device.The camera pans away from the actor as he walks down the road leading him to where he is headed.
The picture to the left is another example of deep space in a framing device.I have included this because it is a key element of the movie Mystery Train.This corner is the center where the Arcade Hotel is located as well as the Arcade Restaurant and is central to what takes place in the movie and I just really like this shot.The street looks like it goes on a long distance.
The photo to the left is from Stranger than paradise and is an example of the rule of thirds:foreground ,middle ground,background .The landscape in the background and the actors placement in the middle and in the foreground is a terrific shot .
The photograph below is from the movie Dead Man and exemplifies the framing device known as compositional stress.You can look right into his eyes and imagine what he is feeling.
The photograph to the left is from the movie Stranger in Paradise and is an example of the rule of thirds : top ,center .bottom.
Although the story and plot in a lot of Jim Jarmusch movies leaves something to be desired in my opinion ,this independent filmmaker is quite accomplished in his framing and composition that he presents to viewers.
Director Jim Jarmusch is very accomplished in his ability to to frame a shot and in the composition of the images he presents to his audience.The picture directly below is from the movie Down By Law and is an example of the framing device known as deep space composition.The viewer can look down the street and it seems as if the road or main street stretches a long way.
The photograph below is from the movie Dead Man and exemplifies the framing device known as compositional stress.You can look right into his eyes and imagine what he is feeling.
Although the story and plot in a lot of Jim Jarmusch movies leaves something to be desired in my opinion ,this independent filmmaker is quite accomplished in his framing and composition that he presents to viewers.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
BLOG POST #3 FILM NOIR - THE BLACK FILM
In viewing the documentary on Film Noir from the Annenberg Media website you can see that the
directors have a great appreciation of this genre of movie.I must agree that it is a very important part of the evolution of movie making.The quote by director Earl Morris is one that stands out for me and perhaps explains my longtime fascination with this genre of movies.Mr.Morris says,"We don't know what's on but we know something bad is going to happen." For me this is what typifies film noir and keeps we watching and engaged.Something bad almost always happens in the end to the characters we are following yet we watch with great anticipation.In Out of the Past the main character played by Robert Mitchum knows that he is being framed and that something bad is likely to happen and continues onward anyway.He even tells his cab driving friend that he is in the middle of a frame and continues on even though the end result is not going to be good.He says " All I can see is the frame I can't see the picture." This is the allure of the Black Film -Film Noir it seduces us to the dark sides of human emotions and behaviors.To truly understand the art of film or movies and where it is today and how it has developed we must understand the genre of the Black Film known as Film Noir.
Janey Place describes the femme fatale of film noir as a woman who is very strong ,smart, and very selfish.She is out for herself and uses the man as a tool to get what she wants.She is extremely sensual and sexual and uses her sexuality to reach her goals.Kathy Moffitt the femme fatale in Out Of The Past is a good example of this type of female character.Kathy shoots Whit and steals his money and when she is finally tracked down by the protagonist Jeff she uses her sensuality and sexuality to seduce Jeff.
I do not see Lynn in L.A. Confidential as the same type of femme fatale as Kathy in Out of the Past or the character played by Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. I could be wrong but I think that was what Janey Place had in mind in her definition and description of the femme fatale in Film Noir.That is not to say that some of the elements of the characteristics of the femme fatale are not present in Lynn just not to the extent that typifies the femme fatale of the true film noir.
The movie L.A. Confidential directed by Curtis Hanson is in a way a great tribute to the film noir genre.It is shot in color so the black and white element is not there to tip you off that this is a movie made in the film noir style.However ,the settings and locations of Los Angeles in the 50's are typical of what we see in traditional fim noir.At the begining of the movie you have voice over narrative by Danny Devito and this is another element that typifies film noir.The flawed characters are another element i see in this movie that reminds me of film noir.The corrupt police officers in the story line are another element of film noir that i see in this movie.I believe this is an attempt by the director to honor the film noir genre.The color photography masks the elements at first glance but they are there if you look for them.This was an excellent movie.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Blog Post #2 The Narrative
Stories are told to us in movies through the narrative .Basically the telling of the story is a movie's narrative.The entire wold of the story -all the characters ,settings ,sounds,objects ,and events that mesh together and form the story that we are being presented is called the diegesis . All of the singular elements together form the diegetic elements of a movie.On the other side of the coin the elements that come from the outside of the world of the story are nondiegetic elements.Examples of nondiegetic elements are things we see and hear like background music , titles and credits,and voice-over dialogue from a third person narrator or someone who is not a character in the story being told to us.
The opening credits in the movie Out of the Past where you have music from the score of the movie playing and the text RKO RADIO PICTURES,INC. presents ROBERT MITCHUM and JANE GREER is one example of nondiegetic elements of a movie.In contrast an example of a diagetic element might be at the 00:17:10 mark of the film as Robert Mitchum aka Jeff Bailey is headed into the cafe but is speaking to us as a narrator.Because he is a character speaking in the first person and not a third person narrator this is an example of diegetic elements as opposed to nondiegetic.A second example of a nondiegetic moment in the movie would be at the01:25:00 mark of the film wher Jeff and Ann are looking for each other in the woods and the only sound you hear is that of the score and background music.A second example of a diegetic element would be at the 00:16:36 mark of the movie where Jeff having talked to the housekeeper in the bar
realizes you do not get vaccinated for a trip to Florida but you do for Mexico.This is presented to us again in first person narrative voice-over with an aerial view of the town square in Acapulcoand the background music playing.It ties the story together for us and places Jeff in the village where he eventually meets the beautiful Kathy Moffit.
Film theorist Stefan Sharff defines familiar image as an attempt by the director of a movie to stabilize its narrative by repeating a particular image.Sometimes this repetition is done with a slight variation other times it is not.An example of familiar image occurs in Out of the Past at the 00:11:17 mark and 00:33:57 mark .Both these scenes take place in the car on the road to Lake Tahoe and involve Jeff telling Ann about his past and involve Jeff having to deal with his past in order for he and Ann to have a future.I think this is what the director was possibly going for here.
The genre of film noir developed in the early 1940s,many of these movies were low budget and did not feature name actors.I believe the movie Out of the Past shot in 1947 contains many of the characteristics that typify the noir film.The narrative style with the voice- over from the main character is very typical in this genre and is present in this movie as well. The frequent flashbacks are also another example of the genre of film noir.The dark lighting and photography and somewhat fatalistic viewpoint are also typical in film noir and i see these in the movie as well.The character played by a young Robert Mitchum was a cynical private detective who was the protagonist and sort of an antihero.This type of main character was very common in film noir.
I believe that Out of the Past is a terrific example of the genre of film noir.
The opening credits in the movie Out of the Past where you have music from the score of the movie playing and the text RKO RADIO PICTURES,INC. presents ROBERT MITCHUM and JANE GREER is one example of nondiegetic elements of a movie.In contrast an example of a diagetic element might be at the 00:17:10 mark of the film as Robert Mitchum aka Jeff Bailey is headed into the cafe but is speaking to us as a narrator.Because he is a character speaking in the first person and not a third person narrator this is an example of diegetic elements as opposed to nondiegetic.A second example of a nondiegetic moment in the movie would be at the01:25:00 mark of the film wher Jeff and Ann are looking for each other in the woods and the only sound you hear is that of the score and background music.A second example of a diegetic element would be at the 00:16:36 mark of the movie where Jeff having talked to the housekeeper in the bar
realizes you do not get vaccinated for a trip to Florida but you do for Mexico.This is presented to us again in first person narrative voice-over with an aerial view of the town square in Acapulcoand the background music playing.It ties the story together for us and places Jeff in the village where he eventually meets the beautiful Kathy Moffit.
Film theorist Stefan Sharff defines familiar image as an attempt by the director of a movie to stabilize its narrative by repeating a particular image.Sometimes this repetition is done with a slight variation other times it is not.An example of familiar image occurs in Out of the Past at the 00:11:17 mark and 00:33:57 mark .Both these scenes take place in the car on the road to Lake Tahoe and involve Jeff telling Ann about his past and involve Jeff having to deal with his past in order for he and Ann to have a future.I think this is what the director was possibly going for here.
The genre of film noir developed in the early 1940s,many of these movies were low budget and did not feature name actors.I believe the movie Out of the Past shot in 1947 contains many of the characteristics that typify the noir film.The narrative style with the voice- over from the main character is very typical in this genre and is present in this movie as well. The frequent flashbacks are also another example of the genre of film noir.The dark lighting and photography and somewhat fatalistic viewpoint are also typical in film noir and i see these in the movie as well.The character played by a young Robert Mitchum was a cynical private detective who was the protagonist and sort of an antihero.This type of main character was very common in film noir.
I believe that Out of the Past is a terrific example of the genre of film noir.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Award Worthiness
As the calendar turns to February movie fans find themselves in the middle of awards season.The Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild have recently given out their respective awards for movies from 2010.The Academy Awards are not far off so perhaps it is a good time to ask ourselves what makes a movie worthy of an award? I believe the cohesive and seamless meshing of excellent writing,cinematography,acting ,directing ,and editing are necessary to make a movie worthy of being nominated and subsequently winning an award.Usually one of the above mentioned parts of a movie shine above the others but it is when they blend together perfectly that a movie becomes really noteworthy and deserving of an award.
When I view a movie and try to decide if I believe it is noteworthy i ask myself if the characters are believable and can i relate to them .Does the storyline or concept move me or give reason to pause and really think?.Another thing I look for is entertainment.Was I entertained by the movie?Does the movie cause me to feel something emotionally? When I feel something and can relate to the characters and am forced to think about what i have just seen and have been entertained I have seen a noteworthy movie that i believe is deserving of an award . Two movies that are on my list of favorites that I believe meet my criteria for award worthiness are Casablanca and the Matrix.
Casablanca was filmed in 1942 in black and white and is a classic that is on the list of many top 100 lists of all time great movies.When lines like "Play it again Sam'' and "Here's looking at you kid " become entrenched in our minds and memories and are referenced almost seventy years after being made then you know you are talking about one terrific movie.Even movies made in this generation often reference lines or scenes from Casablanca.This classic still holds up well when judged against movies today.This movie really contains all the aspects that I look for in a noteworthy and award winning movie .
The Matrix makes my top 100 list of best movies even though it may not make a lot other peoples lists.It received awards for editing and sound and was nominated for cinematography.The Matrix may not contain all of the elements that I look for when determining the award worthiness of a movie but it is very special nevertheless because of the special effects and action sequences and because of the implicit meanings that lie beneath the surface of the film.I believe it to be one of the best Science-Fiction movies pf the last 25 or 30 years.The philosophical themes that permeate this movie continue to be written about by philosophy students in their thesis work and professors of philosophy use the Matrix to teach philosophical concepts and in fact entire philosophy courses are centered on the philosophy of the Matrix.A movie that can have that type of effect on society makes my top 100 list even if the writing and acting are not award material.I am glad to find out that the American Film Institute also has The Matrix on its list of top movies so I am not alone in this analysis.
When I view a movie and try to decide if I believe it is noteworthy i ask myself if the characters are believable and can i relate to them .Does the storyline or concept move me or give reason to pause and really think?.Another thing I look for is entertainment.Was I entertained by the movie?Does the movie cause me to feel something emotionally? When I feel something and can relate to the characters and am forced to think about what i have just seen and have been entertained I have seen a noteworthy movie that i believe is deserving of an award . Two movies that are on my list of favorites that I believe meet my criteria for award worthiness are Casablanca and the Matrix.
Casablanca was filmed in 1942 in black and white and is a classic that is on the list of many top 100 lists of all time great movies.When lines like "Play it again Sam'' and "Here's looking at you kid " become entrenched in our minds and memories and are referenced almost seventy years after being made then you know you are talking about one terrific movie.Even movies made in this generation often reference lines or scenes from Casablanca.This classic still holds up well when judged against movies today.This movie really contains all the aspects that I look for in a noteworthy and award winning movie .
The Matrix makes my top 100 list of best movies even though it may not make a lot other peoples lists.It received awards for editing and sound and was nominated for cinematography.The Matrix may not contain all of the elements that I look for when determining the award worthiness of a movie but it is very special nevertheless because of the special effects and action sequences and because of the implicit meanings that lie beneath the surface of the film.I believe it to be one of the best Science-Fiction movies pf the last 25 or 30 years.The philosophical themes that permeate this movie continue to be written about by philosophy students in their thesis work and professors of philosophy use the Matrix to teach philosophical concepts and in fact entire philosophy courses are centered on the philosophy of the Matrix.A movie that can have that type of effect on society makes my top 100 list even if the writing and acting are not award material.I am glad to find out that the American Film Institute also has The Matrix on its list of top movies so I am not alone in this analysis.
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