His Girl Friday(1940) dir. by Howard Hawkes: Motif: Hildy’s hat and wardrobe change (shows how Hildy goes from feminine to a less feminine appearance when returning to her “ reporter self”. Vertigo(1958) dir. by Alfred Hitchcock – the objectification motifs (the colors, the profile shot, etc.)– (this concept relates not only to Vertigo but also Breathless, Double Indemnity, and Cleo from 5 to 7:“ What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance.” Singin’ in the Rain(1952) dir. by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donan – motifs surrounding synchronization and whether or not a person’s word actually belong to that person, whether or not they’re telling the truth, a kind of mismatch between someone’s voice and where it’s coming fromCitizen Kane(1941) dir. by Orson Welles:-Citizen Kane employs creative storytelling techniques as well. Acting almost as a biopic (biographical film), Citizen Kane portrays a long period of time realistically, allowing the characters to age as the story goes on. Instead of being told in a linear, completely chronological manner, Kane’s story unfolds in overlapping segments that add more information as each narrator adds his or her story.-Citizen Kane made cinematic advances on many fronts, and its most significant contribution to cinematography came from the use of a technique known as deep focus. Deep focus refers to having everything in the frame, even the background, in focus at the same time, as opposed to having only the people and things in the foreground in focus. The deep focus technique requires the cinematographer to combine lighting, composition, and type of camera lens to produce the desired effect.– The combination of innovative techniques, not one individual technique, is what makes Citizen Kane such a cinematically important film.-The storytelling techniques succeed in painting Charles Foster Kane as an enigma, tortured, and complicated man who, in the end, leaves viewers with more questions than answers and inevitably invokes sympathy rather than contempt. Double Indemnity(1944) dir. by Billy Wilder – as an example of film noir; the “ unpleasant” sort of aggressive tone, the fatalism, the femme fataleMildred Pierce(1945) dir. by Michael Curtiz – anti- and pro-feminist movie, Fast Food Nation(2006) dir. by Richard Linklater – mokumentary, a documentary style film that uses documentary style realism to tell dramaFood Inc.(2008) dir. by Robert Kenner – documentary elements, hyper-realism and animation used to tell statistics, etc. Breathless(1960) dir. by Jean-Luc Godard – French New Wave – the femme fatale, the “ image” of a woman as well (think the opening), the repeated gesture of the hand touching the lips as a reference to the noir mobster type image, the ambiguous ending lines, the jump cuts conveying the movie as sped up and “ breathless” or without pause or breathCleo from 5 to 7(1962) Agnes Varda – motif of mirrors, of objectification and the concept of the audience framing what Cleo’s personality is, she is an “ empty house” without the audience projecting whatever they want on her, her change in character throughout the movie and upon meeting AntoineJaws(1975) dir. by Steven Spielberg – often thought of as the first high-concept film in that it is a simple concept/premise, a one-line pitch if you will, but also contains scenes of character development and study, which are elements typically found in low-concept filmsJurassic Park(1993) dir. by Steven Spielberg – themes and motifs of technology and its evolution; also the concepts surrounding story-telling and traditionalism vs. the rise of technologyWall-e(2008) dir. by Andrew Stanton – motifs of creativity being a sort of intrusive discourse, a disruption of the un-thinking flow of the human future human population constantly consuming and becoming more and more complacent; also the concepts of the film being an evolutionary symbol, with the ending signifying the humans starting over and rebuilding the whole history of the worldFilm form– Film has an intentional design and purpose and is not a random bunch ofelements strung together-The way parts work together to create an overall effect. A pattern which includes: meaning, feeling, expectations, function, and similarity and repetition-The overall set of relationships among a film’s parts5 Principles of Film Form1) Function:-What are certain elements doing in the film?-Why are things the way they are?-Every element has a specific purpose and has thoughtfully and purposefully been placed there2) Similarity and repetition:-Motif: any significant recurring theme in a film. See: Hildy’s hat-Parallelism: When a theme is echoed.-Compare 2 or more distinct elements by highlighting some similarity3) Difference and variation:-Changing elements around to make things more interestingex. Contrast characters and their environments4) Development:-Progression from beginning to middle to end-Progression of film’s patterns5) Unity: When all of the relationships in a film are clear and interwoven; elements worktogether-No gaps in the overall form-Form develops logically
4 forms of meaning1) Referential:-Concrete, close to bare bones summary (setting, time period)– A viewer unacquainted with information would miss some of the meanings cued by the film. We can call such tangible meanings referential, since the film refers to things or places already invested with significance in the real world. 2) Explicit:-The specific message the film is trying to get across-This is the blunt meaning of a film. For example, “ There is no place like home” is the explicit meaning of Wizard of Oz. This meaning in controlled by the films context; such as, being stuck in Oz and therefore, Dorothy wants to go home.
3) Implicit:-The meaning is not stated directly, but it is to be interpreted; multiple possible meanings-This is the secondary meaning of a film after explicit. The example from Wizard of Oz would be “ the passage from childhood to adulthood” which we gather because Dorothy wants to be like a kid before she enters Oz. When perceivers ascribe implicit meanings to an artwork, they’re usually said to be interpreting it. Some filmmakers claim to avoid implicit meanings altogether. They leave them to viewers and critics.
4) Symptomatic:-The film’s meaning is based around a particular set of social values-It treats an explicit meaning in The Wizard of Oz (There is no place like home) as displaying a set of values characteristic of a whole society. So, it’s possible to understand a film’s explicit or implicit meanings as bearing traces of a particular set of social values. We can call this symptomatic meaning, and the set of values that get revealed can be considered a social ideology.
Classical Hollywood cinema-cause and effect-motivation-goal-oriented protagonist,-objective and unrestricted narration-delay, closure (equilibrium, conflict, change, resolution)Diegesis1) Diagetic: the aspects of a movie that are seen by the characters and exist in their realmvs. 2) Non-diagetic: the added material they can’t see (like the titles, the score, etc.)Time1) Temporal Order: How events are sequencedFlashforward/fashback – pretty straight forward2) Temporal Duration: How long the events takeNarrativeA chain of events linked by cause and effect occurring in time andspaceStorypresumed and inferred events and explicitly present eventsPlotexplicitly present events and added non-diagetic elementsTemporal FrequencyHow often we see or hear an eventDepth of narration1) objective: Observing the external behaviors of charactersvs. 2) subjective depth: Seeing from a character’s standpointperceptual vs. mental subjectivity – (basically the same concept)Range of narration1) Restricted: The audience is limited to the knowledge of the charactervs. 2) Unrestricted – We know more, see more, and hear more than any of thecharacters can; we are omniscientEllipsisa transition that suggests some amount of time has passed. the elimination of parts of the storyline in order to shorten plot time. YOU’RE GONNA NEED A MONTAGE!! Continuity/discontinuity editinga system of cutting to maintain a clear narrative action through match on action, crosscutting, eyeline match, screen direction, shot-reverse-shot, etc… discontinuity editing is this but out of order, not in a clear narrative formatKuleshov effectwhen an expressionless face cut to a certain object, the audience would associate the emotion inspired by the object with the character that was just seen, and said then that the character actually had a matching expression, repeating the same idea multiple times with the same face but different objects to cause people to interpret a different emotion each timeCut; jump cut; dissolve wipe; fade in/fade outall types of transitions, they’re pretty self-explanatory (specifically jump cuts are within the same scene and the same basic frame and mise-en-scene but with cuts, so there is a noticeable difference between each one, think Breathless)Graphic conflict / graphic matchmatching shots in terms of the objects on screen, creating some illusion of similarity (ie, the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, when a bone is thrown up in the air, the next shot is of a space satellite that looks strikingly similar)180-degree rule / axis of action180 rule suggests there is an invisible 180 degree line between two characters at the center of the action in a scene that must not be crossed unless to signify something else; axis of action is the same type of thing, it’s the axis that the subjects fall onShot/reverse shotthe most basic way to shoot dialogue, obeys the axis of action and 180-degree ruleEstablishing shot / reestablishing shotestablishing shot is a shot which gives the audience a view of the location of a scene before getting up close and personal within the scene. Reestablishing shot re-introduces the overall space that was analyzed into previous shots. The pattern is then establishment/breakdown/reestablishmentCheat cuta cut in the same scene using a different frame but filmed at a different time, suggesting that the scene is continuous, but there are, as expected, mismatched positions and objects, also characters can get closer to each others and when they are talking. Scene: His Girl Friday restaurant scene5 components of mis-en-scene1) Setting2)Costume and makeup3)Staging4)Depth cues5)LightingCostume and makeup-Can play causal roles in the film plot-Purely graphic qualities (costume can be coordinated with setting)-Make certain characters appear more good/evilStaging-Controlling placement of actors and objects in the sceneDepth cues-Space has both volume and distinct planesLightingHard/Soft Lighting: refers to the level of intensity a light gives off in a scene-hard lighting creating sharp-edged shadows-soft lighting creating a gradual transition from highlights to shadows avoidingharsh areasBacklighting – is illumination cast onto the figures in the scene from the sideopposite the camera, creating a thin highlighting outline of the figuresUnder-lighting – is illumination from a point below the figure in the scene : used in horror films to create mysterious effectTop lighting – lighting coming from above a person or object, usually to separate itmore clearly from the background or outline the upper areas of that figureThree-point lighting (key, fill, back light)1) key is the brightest illumination coming into a scene2) fill is illumination from a source less bright than the key light and it’s used to soften deep shadows in a scene3) backlighting (above)High-key lighting / low key lightinghigh-key means very low contrast- even illuminationlow-key refers to high contrastProcess shots (rear projection, front projection)any shot involving rephotography to combine two or more images into one to create a special effect; also called a composite shotAspect ratiothe height in relation to the width of a frameCamera Position-angle-level-height-distance (ECU, CU, MCU, MS, plan americaine, LS, ELS) – plan americaine is when all the characters are placed in on medium shot and are all visible; ECU is extreme close up, MCU is medium close up, MS is medium shot, etc. Mobile Framing-pan-camera body turning right or left-tilt-camera on a stationary plane and leaning upward or downward-tracking- camera physically moves with the subject-crane-a shot using a crane, which follows a character from a high angle etc. Reframingshort panning or tilting movements to adjust for the figures’ movements, keeping them on-screen centeredFollowing shotshot with framing that shifts to keep a moving figure onscreenWide-angle vs. telephoto-telephoto is a lense of long focal length, usually 75mm or more-wide angle is short focal length that distorts straight lines at the edges of the frame, focal length of about 35mm or lessZoomDone with the lens- magnificationDepth of Fieldmeasurement of the closest and farthest planes in front of the camera lens between which everything will be in sharp focus (anything closer than or farther away from two certain points will be out of focus)Deep focus vs. deep space-deep focus involves everything in the shot being in equal amount of focus-deep space suggests different levels of focus among different layers of things in the background and foregroundRack Focusa shifted area of sharp focus from one play to another during a shotSteadicamthe camera on a small mount attached to the DOP’s body, easier and more versatile than a crane or dolly but not for large shots, mostly for following characters aroundLong take / sequence shota shot that continues for an unusually lengthy time before the transition to the next shot; sequence means a moderately large segment of the film involving one complete stretch of actionAndre Bazin’s valorization of deep focus in Citizen Kane– two tendencies in film: filmmaker’s who put their faith in the image (“ plastics,” montage, “ adding” something to reality, Griffin, Soviet, Abel Gance, Impressionism) and filmmakers who put their faith in reality (reality “ reveals” itself through the a , “ specific effects that can be derived from unity of space and time,” Flaherty, Murnau)– “ Hence it is no exaggeration to say that Kane is unthinkably shot in any other way other than in depth.”– ambiguity, uncertainty of who Kane isex. Susan’s suicide attempt scene– this way of filming has a different effects, different layers of depthex. when Kane is taken away from his home as a child– how the characters are arranged in the frame– you never lose sight of Kane, who’s playing in the window– you can notice it or not– when Kane screams, “ Union forever!” it’s a reference to the Civil War but also to the fact that his family “ union” is falling apart– his mother’s cold, but her voice cracks (ambiguity on her part), she’s so determined to do something good for him that she willingly sacrifices her own happiness and has to let go over her emotional turbulence for what’s best for Kane– it’s a mast, she seems harsh but she’s breaking up inside– did she really do the right thing? if this is the last moment Kane was happy, was it a mistake to send him to New York? this is deliberately left open for debateSound1) Dialogue overlap – the technique involving bits of dialogue transcending the shot thatshows where it’s coming from and carrying over into the next shot2) Sound bridge – overlapping sound from previous scenes into the next scenes3) Sound perspective – the sense of a sound’s position in space, yielding by volume, timbre, pitch, etc. 4) Diagetic sound: The sound has a source in the story world5) Non-diagetic sound: The sound is represented from a source from the outside worldEx: soundtrackFilm noirterm applied by French critics to a type of American film usually in the detective or thriller genres with low key lighting and a somber moodConcept of femme fatale-Dangerous/Deadly woman– a sexualized being of manipulation and power, usually the reason for our hero’s psychological distressDouble Indemnity as an example of film noir· On location, LA, early morning, danger/intrigue· Hard boiled tradition in dialogue – terse, slangy, verbal wit· Flashback· Underlying current of tension – voice over· Oblique lines, emphasis of atmosphere· Dialogue – more than one thing going on· Sexual and criminal subcurrent· Femme fatale· Fatalism· 1st person psychological interiority· Low key lighting· Inverts certain Hollywood conventions – happy ending, pro-protagonist· Tough melodrama· Juxtaposes sweet and fowl, filmmaking about ugliness· Male POV – women is object of masculine gaze, patriarchal order· Walter wants to beat the system (authority), Phyllis is a way to achieve that desire· Tries to contain desire, return order
Richard Dyer on Stars “ structured polysemy” Richard Dyer (it’s basically the a structure involving having different meanings for different people, like how polysemy refers to something that has multiple related meanings)– manifest via various methods – films, publicity, promotion, commentary (public/private)RealismTrying to reveal the “ truth” of life – showing– in the Bazin image analysis“ cinema appears to be the completion in time of photography’s objectivity. A film is no longer limited to preserving the object sheathed in its moment, like the intact bodies of insects from a bygone era preserved in amber. It frees Baroque art from its convulsive catalepsy. For the first time, the image of things is also the image of their duration, like a mummification of change” (pg. 9)– in the Barkhage Metaphors on Vision“ transparent hallucination, superimposition of image on image, mirage of movement, heroine of a thousand and one nights” (2)“ to see is to retain – to behold” (1)“ the ‘ absolute realism’ of the motion picture image is a human invention … What reflects from the screen is shadow play” (6)Joan Crawford’s star image, esp. as shown/played upon in Mildred Pierce-Joan Crawford is a made up name, rebranded by the studio system– all-American athletic quality– flapper, the embodiment of the modern woman– also embodiment of female independence, but in the end, she needs to be married; a core contradiction in her star personaVida and Mildred scene– how do you be independent and needy? Vida is a form of that issue– the film is anti-feminist and pro-feminist film, but neither is sufficient to sum it up; the film came out in 1945, when WWII was overWWII – split into a homefront– women were in the work force and had a massive amount of freedom and powerthe movie is inadvertently topical, think the Dark Knight example he showed us in class; tapping phones– evoking historical context, but also containing it, leaving it unansweredDocumentaryDifference between Realism & Documentary:-Realism is still constructed film, as is documentary to a degree-Documentary uses real people as actors, settings that are real, events that occurred in history. Fidelity to filming. Non-diegetic narration. (Orphan films at times too). Reproduction vs. representation1) Reproduction = documentary as truth2) Nanook of the North.– poetic mode– reflexive and performative modesThe French New Wave Cinema-Breathless and Cleo from 5 to 7 as examples of films that both engage but also distinguish themselves from typical Hollywood filmmaking practicesFrancois Truffat – the “ new wave,” French films in the late 1950s, thru 60s– (some well known names are Eric Rohmer and Jacques Rivette)– this idea of the director as the author of the film, like an author, in control, new ideas– the “ father’s” cinema, rebellion, looking for a new kind of realism– no technical hierarchies in the crew, smaller budgets, abolished the “ factor” method– improvisation, location shooting, actors as friends, like an extended family– they make films about things they know, small subjects– lighter cameras, more “ realistic” lighting, blurring lines between documentary and fiction– emulating American cinema, cultural shift, late-modernism, re-evaluation of aesthetic hierarchiesJean-Luc Godard– embraces disunity and digressions in filmBreathless opening– intriguing opening image, opening like Citizen Kane in its distinction– non-cinematic flat image, sexualized woman, picture transforms to reveal the lead man– gesture repetition as a reference, film noir, inhabited by the image of screen gangsters– hand-held camera, different filmmaking culture, open set, chance digression– extremely fast stock footage; cinema references in the film– evoking and using conventions but also self consciously manipulating themVirtues and limitations of documentary realism (Food Inc. vs. Fast Food Nation)seedy underbelly of operations, organizations, situations. If it’s too pretty – it’s not real. Examples: Double Indemnity, Fast Food Nation, etc. Food Inc. – opening titles, the microcosm of the formal strategies of the doc.– voice of God, variety of voices explaining what’s going on– making things that are invisible visible– also animation, we’re seeing statistics through the cows; it’s trying to paint a systematic picture, how to paint something super human– individual testimony; organic farmer, he kind of provides the thesis of the film and possibly of documentaries in general“ to be able to see would change things”– the idea of veiling (“ evil” – veil)– rhetorical visualizationOpening of Fast Food Nation – the film is aware of and playing with the conventions of advertisement, like Food Inc.– close up of the beef, which is the same revelatory moment in Food Inc., it’s a similar story– your burger is related to a global economy, looking deeper into the meat, the precise meaning is more ambiguous though– revelation of unseen forces being related more to individual humans– concluding glimpses, similarity between documentary and fiction because they stage drama, sacrifice, and character story– treating the humans the same way they treat the animalsOrphan Filmneglected, financial not feasible to salvage, out of date materialAvant-garde filmmakingthe challenge to conventional perceptionBallet Mecanique (1923-24) – interplay between humans and machinesOnce Upon a Time (the Dali film)-surrealism (because Dali); how the film resembles continuity devices and then subverts themAssociational formpoetic series of transitions, suggest ideas/qualities by grouping imagesJustin Wyatt’s definition of “ high concept”-Popular actors-can be easily boiled down into a pitch, one-line simple premise-“ unique idea whose originality can be conveyed briefly”-use of popular logos-simple and marketable-multiple levels of appeal vs. complicated premise, diverse themes that defy translation into simple marketing approach– “ two major components: simplification of character and narrative, and strong match between image and music” Jaws as a high concept film-simple premise and simple narrative, but has moments of character introspection and development that are very low concept oriented (ie. Brody’s scene with his son at the table, Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech on the boat)Jurassic Park as an example of how digital technologies are transforming cinema– computer motif; park premised on complex modern systems, the opening explores two anti-technology characters– susceptibility of entire systems to hackers and the like– technology and number crunching is what allowed the dinosaurs life– the opening digging scene; digital vs. traditional story telling (the main guy telling that traumatizing story to the kid and being generally distrustful of the technology that he is shown)WALL-E as an example of digital cinema – Pixar in general– hyper-reality, stylized realism (the article on ELMS)– realistic and fantastic possibilitiesWALL-E– his (her? the robot concept of gender? is WALL-E a gender at all? I’ll just say he for now) relationship to creativity– surviving vs. living (“ I don’t wanna survive! I wanna live!” as an exclamation outliningthe human’s consumption/surviving off of Buy n Large being disrupted by creativity, by “ life” and by WALL-E himself), WALL-E is a constant disruptor throughout the movie– the painting allusion at the end (evolution of the world and art history – started off Medieval style, then goes through Renaissance, Romantic, Modern, etc.)MotifAn element in a film that is repeated in a significant wayPlot vs. StoryThe story is the “ chronological sequenze of narrated events” with no regard to the logical links between the events. The story is turned into a plot when the causal relations of the events are given. So in a plot, the presentation of the sequenze focuses on why the events follow each other. E. M. Forster gave the famous example :”‘ The king died and the queen died’ is a story. ‘ The king died, and then the queen died of grief’, is a plot.” The plot shows the causality of a series of eventsMatch On Actiona cut that takes place after the start of an action like a character standing up, to a different angle of the person then standing, in order to prevent any discontinuities from being noticed between the sitting and standing scene (like in case they took a break from filming after the sitting scene- see Hildy in His Girl Friday after sitting next to the jail cell)GenreCertain films resemble one another in significant ways: subject, themes, presentation, plot· Convenient term that developed informally, characterizes film simply· People share general notions about types of filmsIndustry Genresfilmmakers set out to make these· Musical, thriller, comedy, drama, sci-fi, westerns à subgenres, mix of genresCritical genrescome about afterwards with critics and academics (who see a pattern)· Noir (France 50s, U. S. 60s), NeorealismCycles (genre)genres rise and fall in popularity – tightly bound to cultural factorsPromise of something new based on familiarPaul Schrader: Notes on Film Noir, 1972In 50s, critics notice cynicism, pessimism, darkness in cinema· Darker lighting, corrupt characters, fatalistic themes, hopeless tone· Historically limited definitionIn 70s, renewed interest in film noir – neo-noir – film school, active method
Hollywood films of the 40s and 50s portrayed the world of dark, slick city streets, crime, and corruption. Shows the underside of American character.
Not defined by conventions of setting and conflict, but qualities of tone and mood. A specific period in film history – Hollywood, 40s-50s
4 conditions in Hollywood in the 1940s that led to film noir1. War & postwar disillusionment: dark crimes scenes, war delays noir2. Postwar realism: on-location shots, honest/harsh view of U. S., everyday people3. German influence: expatriates (20s, 30s) bring different cinema4. Hard-boiled tradition: literary writers, detective genre, everyday speechSchrader on Film noir style· Scenes lit for night, low key lighting· Oblique and vertical lines, light enters in odd shapes· Actors and setting given equal lighting emphasis, shadow characters· Compositional tension, not physical action· Attachment to water· Romantic narration – irretrievable past, predetermined fate, hopelessness· Complex chronological order, flashbacks – reinforce hopelessness, lost timeSchrader on Film noir themes· Frontierism that has turned into paranoia and claustrophobia· Avoid looking into the future, loss, nostalgia, lack of priorities, insecurity· Femme Fatale: dangerous or deadly woman, inversion of expectationsSchrader on Film noir phases1. Wartime period (1941-46): private eye & lone wolf, more talk than action2. Postwar realistic (1945-49): problems of city crime, political corruption3. Psychotic action, suicidal impulse (49-53): hero goes crazy, self awareStardomA star is a semiotic construction-Stars are usually the most prominent ways viewers connect to films-Films are usually star-drivenPerformance Style (stardom)how the action/function is done, how lines are said. Performer has a particular style. Star Imagerecurrent features of performance create star imageStar as “ structured polysemy”· Seem like normal people, but actually conflict products· Polysemy: multiple meanings, starts aren’t unambiguous· Not random – system/logic behind how star persona operates· Duality between actor and character· Unnatural distinction between public and private life, both public· Stars form aesthetic intertext audiences use to derive meaning/pleasure from film
Promotion (stardom)contours of star personal, ads for filmsPublicity (stardom)disseminated materials on stars that’s not promotionalFilms (stardom)character/genre associated with starCriticism (stardom)appreciations/interpretations of star’s performanceBasis for StarsStars are based on ideological contradictions (race, class, gender)Bazin· Photography is realism· Photography seems real but we know It’s not· Photography is objective, but achieved via fabrication – rhetorically motivatedNichols· Institutions that present it· Practitioners – self-selection of documentarians· Common language: look similar, informing logic, investigation and revelation· Draws you in explicitly, calls you to actionDocumentary· Claims to present factual information about the world· May take a stand, opinion, solution – uses rhetoric to persuade audience· About our world and not a world, a fictional world· Does use fabrication to tell story about real worldSeeking and revealing the invisible; generating intellectual and imaginative insight; enrichment of visionCompilation (Documentary)assembling images from archival sourcesInterview (Documentary)records testimony about event/movementDirect Cinema (Documentary)records an ongoing event as it happens – Cinema Verite (50s, 60s)Nature (Documentary)NaturalPortraits (Documentary)scenes from the life of a compelling personCategorical Form (Documentary)organize by categoryRhetorical Form (Documentary)presents a persuasive argumentSynthethic (Documentary)pursues all options at onceDocumentary formatsExpository mode: omniscient narrator, argumentative commentary/structureObservational: fly on the wall, lack of commentary – 50s, 60sPoetic: avant-garde, about reality, attention to qualitiesParticipatoryReflexive: reflected argumentPerformative
