film final

auteur theory

In film criticism, auteur theory holds that a film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur" (the French word for "author"). In spite of—and sometimes even because of—the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through studio interference and the collective process. François Truffaut Andrew Sarris - originated the term a director must accomplish technical competence in his technique, personal style in terms of how the movie looks and feels, and interior meaning A. Sarris' definition: 1. technical competence 2. distinctive style 3. interior meaning (world view)

essay prompt three/goodbye lenin

Opening/Arg. 1. a. The film consistently conflates personal narratives with political ones b. This fusing of the person with the nation works to convey the underlying theme of nostalgia. Surprisingly, this nostalgia unearths itself as something politically neutral. It revolves not around total bliss or happiness, but rather around the way the past, for characters, preserves a personal history whose stability matches the stability of the nation. c. The malleability of the nation's identity as it changes matches the change of character's identities in a way that exemplifies to viewers the inextricable link between how nation and individual inform the identity of each other. Similarly, it becomes easier to understand an unfamiliar culture through sympathetic characters and a protagonist who greatly embodies the nation: Alex who, like others, struggles to find a place in a nation whose parameters as he's known them, have been completely destabilized and redefined. Arg - the goal of nat cinema to prov. a window and cultural understanding of a nation perhaps unfamiliar to viewers, is achieved in the way the film repeatedly finds ways to embody the nation in characters at diff moments. similarly, est a parralel between the nation and its embodiment in characters correlated w anderson's ideas of the imagined community and essentially, how the formation of nation can be random enough, sudden enough, tenuous enough that it is proven as a construction. 2. The blending of political and personal tone with the opening of the film being a home video clip from a happy yet simple time. Also - this time is isolated from politics, the family is isolated to a cabin in the woods. The hand held camera gives the opening a personal feel, while at the same time it conveys it as somewhat unstable and victim to the passing of time. The sepia color, high key lighting also offers a personal feel and the feeling that this is a brighter, happier time. In this way, we can understand a lifestyle under an oppressive government and what might be miss-able about it - a nationalist aspect we might not otherwise understand could be mourned for. 3. This continues as our likeable protag. Alex goes on to embody the national gov we might not be able to understand but is easier to conceptualize through him. He censors media for his mother, filters her food, etc. all in a way that becomes somewhat oppressive and difficult to maintain. He illustrates Anderson's ideas of imagined communities in the sense that the community he constructs is not grounded in reality but realized based on he imagination of Alex. he and his family are able to live in the present nation but are also able to live w/i alex's reimagining of the old one. We can at once be sympathetic to Alex for this and frustrated by his lies - again a way to help viewers understand that we can sympathize with the jarring change that led to such difficulty for Germans during this time, even if we are confused as to why they would reach for a past gov. that is cast as oppressive, restrictive. 4. A goal of nat. cinema is to provide a window into the culture of a specific country. Here, Alex is our window and helps us understand the reality of the suddenly destabilizing unification of Germany - even if this was right or nec. we can see that the nostalgia in the film is not nec. for oppressive gov, but for something familiar, stable. Again, the conflation of personal narrative and political is significant to achieving this. similarly, the branding of the repeated pickles, coffee ref, the exchanging money scene etc. all what make this a truly "german" film ----- 5. The scene where Alex assembles the final video footage for his mother shows her happy but instead of watching the footage she watches Alex. It is as if she is not happy with the political scenario but instead at Alex's willingness to participate in the political sphere, and to do something so elaborate for his mother. Given our unrestricted range as audience members, however, we know that Alex's mother is somewhat clued in to the charade - we saw Lara reveal to her some of this. Because of this, we know the scenario unfolding is somewhat tenuous and delicate -will she tell Alex that she knows? Will Alex fess up? Will something go wrong with the "broadcast"? All of this instability mirrors for viewers the instability that made reality for Germans at this time so difficult. The parameters of the nation they knew had been totally redefined, so we can understand the cultural aspect of nostalgia being the reach for something known, familiar. 6. Similarly, the scene that features Christiane finally walking and leaving her house further parralells the shakiness of the "new nation". The shots of her inside the house getting ready to leave are long and drawn out, familiar images. Yet, once she leaves, we get quicker, more varied shots conveying a momentum we feel that intensifies suspense and the inability for us as viewers to forsee what is coming. We get a low camera angle shot of just her feet walking stiffly outside, again mirroring a shakiness, and uncertainty about the present political state. The more we move with C, the more we take in of the environment of Germany - as if in getting to know her we are getting to know the nation and all its new changes. Finally, when Alex and his sister catch up to their mother and hold her up in the elevator, we can see the way these citizens are attempting to hold up the familiar German they have known - how they try to preserve something, keep it safe. In this way we achieve further cultural understanding. even clearer, however, we can see the way reimagining a nation becomes an essential way to safeguard the family unit.

fidelity

how sound actually is vs what we think it should be whether the sound comes from w/i the diegetic space....ex. sound designer Ben Burtt on The Adventures of Robin Hood - finding the soound of the arrow.... .

Television aesthetics and narratives

intimacy - small screen suited to close ups greater emphasis on reaction by characters rather than action settings often interiors continuity: episodic pattern: characters have no hist or mem each episode starts afresh serial pattern: contin. unfolding narrative interruptions re commercials

Italian neo-realism

is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class, filmed on location, frequently using non-professional actors. Italian neorealism films mostly contend with the difficult economic and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation. major proponents: fellinni; rome open city, the bicycle thieves

the participatory mode

is sometimes called "cinema verite"; "emphasizes the interaction between filmmaker and subject. Filming takes place by means of interviews or other forms of even more direct involvement from conversations to provocations. Often combined with archival footage to examine historical issues." "The filmmaker . . becomes a social actor" Chronicle of a Summer, 1961) Shoah (1985) Sherman's March, 1986) Bowling for Columbine (2002)

elements of documentary modes

knowledge about the world authority to speak about the world style (cine tech) ethics (treatment of subjects)

what are the three major perceptual properties of film sound?

loudness, pitch, timbre

film noir characteristics

low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. Film noir is also known for its use of low-angle, wide-angle, and skewed, or Dutch angle shots. setting is often at night; urban landscape; features settings in transition ie office space; Films noir tend to revolve around heroes who are more flawed and morally questionable than the norm freq use of flashbacks that helps portray the ethos that protags are often overwhelmed by fate and circumstance

Documentary authenticity vs. film form and style

mise en scene and staging B. camerawork and framing C. editing, elision and inclusion, sound (Nanook of the North, 1922) D. The Imitation Game or The Theory of Everything (both 2014) as biopics; The Walk (2015) as docudrama vs. documentaries (Man on Wire, 2008); vs. fiction films

film cycle

movies of a similar/same genre that are produced in quick succession i.e. ya dystopian, vampire, marvel movies, live action fairytale adaptations

art cinema: (precusors in 1920s & 1930s Europe, but most prominent after World War II)

narration and style subordinate to narrative, but also to "realism" and "authorial expressivity" Background: stylistic movements A.Italian Neo-Realism (1943-1951): Rome: Open City, Roberto Rossellini, 1945), Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio DeSica, 1948) B. French New Wave (1959-1964)—films by Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and others

neo noir

prominently use elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in film noir of the 1940s and 1950s. set in the past or present, and in color (e.g. Chinatown, Polanski, 1974; Body Heat, Kasdan, 1981; L.A. Confidential, Hanson, 1997; Memento, Nolan, 2000, Sin City, Miller, Rodriguez and Tarantino, 2005; and Brick, Johnson, 2005)

mode

relationship of narrative, narration and style

observational mode

relies on "uncontrolled reality" captured by technological innovations after world war II; "direct engagement with the everyday life of subjects as observed by an unobtrusive camera." E.G.: direct cinema (Primary; High School (1968)

Un Chien Andalou

salvador dali; eyeball cutting film; art film ; European surrealism

essay prompt two/ rear window/silence of the lambs

Arg: - tie in common theme that a person needs another person to solve an ongoing crime/mystery They are different in the way they play into different categories of genre transform. re Joun Cawelti. However, they find similarity in the way each narrative establishes a correlation between being an outlier/ "other" and achieving the most insight, enlightenment, power to affect change. 1. Clarice as a protag. is clearly established as an outlier throughout the film. We see this esp well during her time at the FBI academy. There is a scene where she is walking up to meet her supervisor to discuss meeting w Hannibal. When she enters the elevator to go to his office, the blocking/staging of the scene is symbolic and significant. Her presence is small, dwarfed and swallowed in an elevator filled with towering men. When she gets off the elevator, however, it is completely empty. Significantly, this symbolizes Clarice's departure as a character. Despite vocalizing her gender a number of times a s w way that others look down on her, she is always seemingly one step ahead or closest to wearing Hannibal down and finding Catherine. It is true that she doesn't know why she is really talking to lecter originally. however, this also positions her to est the most helpful relationship w him - he will talk to her and help her only because she is a woman. This scene signifies how she, on her own is both an outlier in the sense that she is a woman surrounded by men, but also that she is constantly moving closest to the case (i.e. here she gets off the elevator, closest to meeting w her supervisor to disc the case). Her "otherness" becomes a sort of virtue, a special skill that positions her closer to much needed insights regarding the case. 3. This is exemplified in her interactions w Lecter. He too is an outlier in society, albeit for much different reasons. Sociopath, psychopath "evil genius," whatever you consider him, he is in a league of his own. He is like Clarice in this way. Yet he constantly has the upper hand in terms of knowledge. He can offer insights on Bill's profile, he can send Clarice to the storage unit etc. His otherness stems from his depraved mind and what it's caused him to do, and yet his mind is also what makes him brilliant. Filmmakers dev. a parralelt between lecter and starling via their "otherness". This is esp. well demonstrated in the scene where Lecter and Clarice converse about the lambs screaming and why Clarice does what she does. The consistent closeup-medium closeup camera distance in this scene skews the bars and makes it so that both characters seem entrapped. Similarly, two diff circ we find ourselves slow zooming into extreme closeups of each characters face in a way that puts them on the same level, participating in a conversation with powerful implications and the ability to redefine the relationship between the two, a rel. Carice has been previously warned to keep Lecter from getting inside her mind. This intimate closeup is disturbed when Chilton and other's walk into the room, again asserting a diff in how clarice/lecter exist and how others do - how we view them diff - chilt. and officers in full form, clarice and lecter more often here in closeup. Throughout the scene however, we are reminded that Clarice's differences, the history and characterization that sets her apart from others, is what draws lecter to her and what eventually compels him to help give her information that will aid her in solving the case. in this way, again, "otherness" becomes a virtue, a form of power and means of accessing key insights. 4. In Rear Window, Jeff, is similarly empowered and positioned closer to knowledge by his otherness which takes the form of his disability. This entrapment to his physical body parallels the sort of limitations Lecter finds behind bars, and Clarice finds in a social environment that is predisposed to view men as authority figures. This limitation however, is also what draws him to the boredom that inspires him to snoop on his neighbors and in turn uncover the secrets/crimes of their lives. The frequent usage of the camera prop transforms the camera so that is becomes a sort of extension of Jeff and Jeff becomes a type of documentary object. Similarly, the scene where Jeff gets a closer look at Thorwald, is riddled with shadows via low-key lighting. This is juxtaposed against Jeff's bright bluish/white pajamas. Aesthetically, he stands out as a sort of beacon, mirroring perhaps his "enlightened" insights into what's going on with his neighbors and who's committing murders. 5. In contrast to Silence...however, Jeff and Thorwald do not share as "close" or "collaborative" a rel. as Clarice and Lecter. Their status as "others" do not bring them together but instead portray them in constant stark opposition. Thorwald is not empowered like Lecter, but rather desp. killing the neighbors dog, attempting to throw jeff from a window etc. in an effort to keep his secret hidden. This powerlessness is manifest in the scene where he confronts jeff and attempts to murder him. he stands in the doorway completely darkened and in shadow. This is symbolic of his inability to tell what is going to happen - in contrast to lecter who seems constantly one step ahead of everybody. When he does come into the flashing light of JEff's camera, he is hindered, uncertain. The low cam angle as he approaches jeff and throttles him, displays him as looming and foreboding yes, but also frantic and unaware or uncaring of the witnesses around him thereby deeming him "caught" anyway. 5. It is useful to look at John Cawelti's theories on genre transformation to understand these differences. Both films play into the typical detective genre. However, we can see the diff. portrayal of the antagonists as a sort of reaffirmation of the myth. The myth stands as the need to have justice prevail, good over evil, in order to bring satisfaction. Silence both disturbs and reaffirms this myth in the sense that buff bill is caught but hannibal gets away and is often shown as smarter, more powerful, and more equipped than the law enforcement around him. RW is perhaps less willing to demyth. this way. Thorwald as the primary antagonist cannot get away, cannot be seen as the smarter character or the more powerful because that would not be in keeping w the needed myth of the detec. story where the villain must always be brought to justice. so RW is diff in the way it actually reaffirms the myth.

essay four/Mars and TBL

Argument: Through the similar ways they play into hybrid forms, and film-noir fiction narrative style, both Mars and The Thin Blue Line exemplify that it is not truth that holds power, but rather narrativity: the ability to access, characterize and piece together a narrative on your own terms is what really matters and encapsulates power/agency. a. Significance of repetition in Thin Blue Line: the repeated re-enactment scene; the red siren as a refrain. significantly this is what makes the film a hybrid - the way it combines a version of "true" events w a creative, dramatic treatment of it. similarly, Each of these operate to demonstrate how the original framed narrative of Adams' guilt. a. define film noir!! identify similarities - differences -- a. Veronica Mars - modeled after film noir. We can delineate film noir by the style of showing "night scenes" spaces in transition i.e. office spaces, the marginalized detective who functions as a sort of outsider, and accepting the job. b. Mars plays into all of these tropes. Her status as a sort of marginalized outsider detective is reaffirmed in scenes such as that in the classroom: the somewhat canted/high camera angle distorts the scene makes it seem unrealistic as if she is not well-fit in the environment that should be her natural environment re: as a high school student. this is also what makes the show a hybrid - the fact that we can have a film noir focused in an tv format and focused on a teen protagonist. Adversely, when Mars "screens" the hotel, or does her detective work, the camera angle is head on, the focus is clear, as well as the lighting despite being set at night. This conveys Mars as being better suited for the night, as an outsider. c. This is reinforced by the constantly unfolding narrative that Mars pieces together for us via voiceover. In this space, she is able to come to terms with and re-define the way her peers have disassembled her identity and cast her as a social pariah. similarly VO - a film noir trope - highlights the way she is somewhat overwhelmed and powerless in the face of fate - a fate that leaves her family fractured, her friend murdered, her raped...She is able to classify herself as a someone riddled with the struggle to come to terms with the holes in her own life story, and to offer up her detective work as a way to compensate for this by confronting a world she believes is dark, but ultimately always holds the potential for truth. d. Incidentally, this "night sphere" where Mars is portrayed most naturally is where she has the power to assemble her own narratives in regards to her cases. Yes, she is somewhat powerless to assemble a narrative about her own life, but she is able to solve cases, to piece together the narratives of head-scratching mysteries, and this is what makes these scenes clearer, more focused. e. Adversely, the scenes that depict her life, her past, are often cloudy, out of focus, tinged in a bluish light. Scenes of Mars walking down the hall with her ex-boyfriend, or discovering the dead body of her best friend, have a much more constructed and "seedy" feel. The lighting is bluish, high contrast and often with shadows. The scene with Mars at the car was with her best friend is also riddled with echoes, a reverberating sound quality, making its tether to reality seem tenuous. This matches up with the fact that the past is riddled with a narrative Mars is powerless to control. She cannot remember her rape, her mother has disappeared, she cannot figure out why her boyfriend dumped her, and primarily, she cannot come to terms with or solve the narrative of her best friend's murder. The "cloudiness" of truth in these moments matches the "cloudiness" of the mise-en-scene, the uncertain and jarring shot compositions. In this way, we can see a clear relationship between power and the ability to access and influence an emerging narrative. Mars cannot tell the story of her past, and so it remains aesthetically opposed to shots depicting a life where she can poke around the narratives of those around her, and bring these to light. f. The Thin Blue Line, though entirely different as a piece of documentary, similarly makes use of mise-en-scene and characterization to establish a relationship between narrativity and power. The documentary explores modes at once poetic, reflexive, and expository. it plays into the film-noir trope where the murder takes place at night, in a city scape. g. The film is expository in the sense that it logically lays out the facts of Adam's case and circumstances and how he unjustly landed in prison. Morris explores the flaws of the justice system by exploring the reflexive mode via the repeated showing of an absurd "re-enactment" of the crime. Here, the ability for Morris to simultaneously confront Adam's characterization/narrative of crime, and to reconstruct his own gets at the power of film to eventually find Adam's released from prison. The absurdity of the narrative that helped prosecute Morris is found in the re-enactment's deliberately unrealistic imagery of the low-camera angle flying milkshake, the high angle birds eye view of the officer walking to the car feels so forced and reflexive that we begin to doubt its feasibility. h. Similarly, the loud reverberating gun shots in these scenes - repeated throughout the film - function as a sort of alarm, a jarring and cautionary warning that pulls us out of the narrative and tells us, something is wrong with this, feel scared and uncomfortable. i. In a similar way, Morris explores the poetic mode via rhythm in the repeated, isolated imagery of the red siren blaring in the night. Again, this functions as a sort of alarm, literally and symbolically. It is both lulling to viewers and extremely glaring and harsh on the eyes. In this way, it conflates what should be a comforting image of safety and justice, with what is uncomfortable and difficult to look at. j. All of this works to show the way Adam's inability to control his own narrative, and the ability of prosecutors to frame it how they want, is what lands him in prison. His ability to regain some control over his story via voiceover and contrast with Harris, is what eventually helps set him free. also - he encapsulates a helplessness in the face of fate as he says via vo he doesn't know why he ran out of gas that night, why he met that kid etc.

Fellini:

Background in neorealism Began as a cartoonist and caricaturist; social satirist Thematic interests: spirituality and the Catholic church; a sense of the absurd, the surreal in society and in life Visual style: spectacle—the circus, magicians, pageants and Cinema itself Late films (8 ½ onwards): memory, fantasy, desire, hallucinations: "Fellini-esque

Structuralism, Claude Levi-Strauss and the binary structure

Binary Opposites CLAUDE LEVI- STRAUSS Structuralism Strauss theory clearly suggested that, whats not present is as important as what is. As you cannot understand one idea without knowing its opposites.

classical hollywood cinema

Bringing up Baby, Rear Window, etc. 1. character centered causality-clearly defined traits 2. linear cause and effect logic 3. strong closure

expository mode re doc

"emphasizes verbal commentary and an argumentative logic. (London Can Take It (1940); An Inconvenient Truth (2006); Planet Earth. This mode is what most people think of as documentary.

poetic mode re doc

"emphasizes visual associations, tonal or rhythmic qualities, descriptive passages, and formal organization." E.G. Listen to Britain, Humphrey Jennings, 1941).

dry sound vs. processed sound

(Citizen Kane, 1941, The Graduate, 1967—filter "futzing" on the phone makes it tinny)

dialogue overlap

(The Hunt for Red October, 1990) - shows the captain's dialogue continuing over shots, reverse shots , cuts etc.

sound mixing

(combining sounds, done by a sound editor, re-recording mixer) to create a stream of sound and a sound hierarchy to guide the audience's attention. Particularly rich sound mixes: e.g. Nashville (1975); Seven Samurai (1954); Miller's Crossing (1990)

spotting

(placement of) music and effects

direct sound vs. postsynchronization

(recording and using sound recorded on the set vs. adding sound to images after they have been shot and assembled):

C. Rhythm

1. Properties of tempo, accents, beats in music; human speech 2. Rhythm in sound and images: coordination "Mickey Mousing" (strong coordination), e.g. The Philadelphia Story (1940) - the sound takes on the personality of the scene i.e. in Phil story, the music matches the playfulness of Hepburn's character kicking her husband, Grant, out of the house and throwing his golf clubs at him. 3. Rhythm in sound and image: disparities Music vs. image: Play Time

classical hollywood narration

1. Range—often unrestricted, but generically varied (e.g., mystery films have restricted range) 2. Depth—objective depth as a baseline 3. Communicative 4. Unobtrusive

John Cawelti four kinds of genre transformation

1. burlesque/parody: ex: Blazing Saddles (Brooks, 1972)—romance vs. reality; Young Frankenstein (Brooks, 1974)—inverted expectations; A Million Ways to Die in the West (McFarland, 2014) well establishe set of conventions or a style is subjected to some form of ironic or humorous exploration; elements of conventional formula or stule are situated in contexts so incongruous or exaggerated that the result is laughter 2. Nostalgia: 2. Nostalgia—create the aura of a past time, recognizing it as past: Ride the High Country (Peckinpah, 1962); Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981) def: traditional generic features of plot, character, setting and style are deployed to create the era of past time 3. Demythologization—nostalgia evoked, but undercut; the traditional genre film "as the embodiment of an inadequate and destructive myth": Little Big Man (Penn, 1974); a film that invokes basic characteristics of a traditional genre in order to bring its audience to see that genre as the embodiment of an inadequate and destructive myth 4. reaffirmation of the myth—even if it is explored and found inadequate: The Searchers (Ford, 1956), The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969) a traditional genre and its myth are probed and shown to be unreal but then the myth itself is at least partially afrfirmed as a reflectioon of authentic human aspirations and needs

Temporal Dimensions: the relationship between sound and image....

1. can be synchronous (most common) or asynchronous sound (difference in screen time: Singin' in the Rain, 1952 1. can be simultaneous or non-simultaneous sound a. sound simultaneous in story with image (most common) b. non-simultaneous: (plot time/tense different from story time/tense) 1.sound earlier in story than image (Accident, 1967, in textbook) 2. sound occurs later in story than image (character narrator) Badlands (1973) 3.sonic or sound flashback (The Conversation, 1974) or fantasy (Psycho, 1960)—here sound contributes to mental subjectivity 4.sonic or sound flashforward (almost never used) 5. sound bridge -a kind of sound transition 1. sound from scene A lingers over scene B (Silence of the Lambs: your self-storage); 2. sound from scene B begins over scene A (The Graduate, Ben in the pool, call to Mrs. Robinson)

art cinema narrative structure

1. character centered causality but --traits are not clearly defined, contradictory (Blow Up, Michaelangelo Antonioni, 1966) --characters lack goals, they are aimless or confused (La Strada, Federico Fellini, 1954) 2. loose causal logic, episodic structure (L'Avventura, Antonioni, 1960) 3. open/unresolved endings/closure (The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut, 1959—freeze frame)

3 main types of sound used in film:

1. dialogue, speech --Sound production recordist (record dialogue during a shoot), --ADR (automated dialogue replacement) is 50% plus; dubbing and looping) 2. music—diegetic and non-diegetic (Silence of the Lambs, 1991) vs The Conversation recording 3. sound effects (e.g. Foley artist—specialist in everyday sounds); Created especially for a film, e.g. A Man Escaped (1956); or from an effects library, e.g. "the Wilhelm scream") 4. and silence (2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968)

classical hollywood styl

1. expressive mise en scene 2. character centered camerawork 3. continuity editing 4. sound reinforces image

realism

1. location shooting 2. psychological complexity 3. sexual frankness 4. contemporary problems: alienation, existentialist view of life

Accoustical (perceptual) properties of sound

1. loudness: amplitude of sound vibrations in the air—related to distance (space), e.g., 127 Hours example in textbook 2. pitch: frequency, highness or lowness of sounds; think of notes on a musical scale (Susan singing in Citizen Kane, 1941) 3. timbre: the tone, quality or texture of a noise of voice (Susan vs. Kane argument over singing in Citizen Kane)—in the case of voice, part of the actor's toolkit. Nasal? Smoky?

authorial expresivity re: art cinema

1. personal obsessions 2. stylistic signature

art cinema narration

1. range - often restricted 2. depth -can be resolutely objective (early Neorealist films, early Fellini films, Antonioni films) Or intensely subjective (Ikiru ("Living", Akira Kurosawa, 1952; 8 ½, Fellini, 1963) 3. uncommunicative (L'Eclisse ("The Eclipse", Antonioni, 1962) 4. visible--overt (Tirez sur le Pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player, Truffaut, 1960)

sounds relation to spatial dimensions

1. sound perspective (Play Time, Citizen Kane): more than volume Multi-channel sound, separation effects (Apocalypse Now, 1978) - an app. spatial dist in perceived soung i.e. cit kane speeches in the auditorium etc. the reverbeation 2. implying off-screen space (The Graduate, His Girl Friday, 1940; Stagecoach, 1939); Silence of the Lambs, Rear Window, 1954) - the grad when ben calls mis rob 3. diegetic (from within the story world) and non-diegetic sound (from outside the story world)—Magnificent Ambersons, 1943 4. diegetic: can be on-screen or implied (off-screen space) music (Rear Window) 5. voice over (The Graduate, 1968) 6. play of diegetic / non-diegetic sound (Magnificent Ambersons; Le Million, 1931; and Blazing Saddles, 1972)) 1. internal and external diegetic sound (Wings of Desire, 1987; Airplane, 1980; The Conversation, 1974)

three phases of the film business:

A. Exhibition: theatrical and non-theatrical (museums, colleges) B. Distribution: circulation of prints/copies, advertising and publicity 1. In theaters 2. In ancillary markets (home video, premium and cable; marketing, licensing of toys, soundtracks, novelizations) C. Production: four stages 1. Scripting and funding (screenwriter and producer) 2. preparation or preproduction (director, casting, scheduling, production design) 3. production or principal photography: image and sound units 4. Assembly or post-production (editing, sound editing, special effects

III. Ideology as a critical concept

A. Ideology defined (symptomatic meaning) B. Ideology and film art-mediation (general examples) 1. narrative form: causal logic and the ideology of individualism 2. invisible film style and a Marxist critique of capitalism 3. gender representation (feminist analysis), racial representation, sexual orientation, disability (Pramaggiore and Wallis) 4. every film has ideology embedded within it; film genres codify ideologies

approaches to documentary

A. compilation film (The Atomic Café, 1982) B. nature film (March of the Penguins (2005); Planet Earth (2006); IMAX movies) C. talking heads/interview film (Word is Out, 1978) D. essay film (Bowling for Columbine, 2002; Sicko, 2007) E. diary film (Sherman's March, 1986; Supersize Me, 2004) F. portrait (Man on Wire; Citizenfour, 2014) G. ongoing "event" or "crisis" films (direct cinema) (Primary, 1960; The War Room, 1993) H. concert film (The Last Waltz, 1978; Shine a Light, 2008) I. mockumentary (This is Spinal Tap, 1984; Best In Show, 2000, The Office (2005- 2013)) J. ethnographic film (Nanook of the North; Paris is Burning (1990)

probs of nonfiction doc

A. distinguishing fiction from non-fiction B. John Grierson: "the creative treatment of actuality" C. Film Art: "purports to present factual information about the world outside the film." D. and the filmmaker's response to it E. documentaries come to us labeled as such. F. documentary truth (inaccurate documentaries are still documentaries); and documentary opinion (documentaries are still documentaries if they are partisan and advance an argument based on evidence)

Reasons for film genres' popularity and endurance

A. economic C. psychological—repetition, ritual D. mythological—ideological: mediation of social and cultural conflicts, contradictions

Defining and analyzing Genres-their conventions: the hard boiled detective film and film noir

A. terminology: the term "film noir" 1. defined by French critics of the 1950s, not Hollywood 2. the genre vs. style controversy B. plot patterns (narrative formulas) C. characters (the detective, the femme fatale, the deviant villains: The Big Sleep, 1946; Double Indemnity, 1944; The Maltese Falcon, 1941) 1. novels by Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon), Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, 1946)—hard boiled detective novels: 2. unsentimental, hard-edged, violent, cynical hero 3. alternate hero: victim overwhelmed by circumstances D. narration (range and depth)—voice over narration (Double Indemnity, 1944); And flashbacks E. settings—urban; city streets, E. style and iconography 1. recurring symbolic images that carry meaning from film to film; 2. the influence of German Expressionism: filmmakers fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s; hard lighting; low key lighting (excerpt from Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography, 1992) F. ethos (implications) and ideology

American avant garde example

Meshes of the Afternoon

soviet montage

Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing (montage is French for "assembly" or "editing"). ex: battleship potemkin

art cinema style

Style-realistic, and often calls attention to itself 1. location shooting 2. obtrusive mise en scene (Blow Up) 3. camera movement, angles that obscure vision, movement (Vivre Sa Vie ("To Live her Life," Jean-Luc Godard, 1962; Weekend, (Godard, 1967) 4. lack of frontality, facial expressions decentered (Vivre sa Vie) 5. continuity editing, but often inventive editing (jump cuts in Breathless, Godard; 1959; cutaways in Shoot the Piano Player)

Essay prompt one/ the convo/falcoln

arg: It is true that The Conversation features elements of art cinema in the way that it invests equal imp in style and narrative, a muddled protagonist, and a clear authorial expressivity. But it also ruptures classical Hollywood standards with the way that it offers a slightly "unresolved" ending that departs from standard values in the way justice does not necessarily prevail, and we have a protagonist that is essentially undone by his need to pursue justice and what is right. 1. A key way of understanding how the Conv. departs from clas. h standards is by looking at it in comparison w a very typ hwood film: the m.falc. One of the biggest differences in each film is the protagonists they give us. Sam Spade, Falcon's protag is the quintessential hero, "tough guy". Frequently shot from a low cam angle so that he gives the impression of powerful looming and imposing presence, he finds himself in a number of fights, vulnerable scenarios etc. and yet never does he let someone else gain the upperhand. He is consistently one step ahead of others, never loses a fight, etc. This is what we want in a hero: someone powerful, incorruptible etc. Adversely, in the conv we have a protag whose morality is called into q from the very beginning via his voyeuristic tendencies. similarly, there is something consistently difficult to know about him. a feature of art cinema characters are a sort of aimlessness and not clearly def characteristics. this describes harry caul - his morality is ambivalent, he has a conscience but is somewhat powerless to follow it or exact the good he wants to safeguard it. in the dream seq where caul tries to warn his surveilance subj, there is a contradiction between caul's transluscent rain coat and a setting clouded and vague in bluish light, rolling fog etc. similarly, we vacillate between internal and external diegetic narration as caul speaks out dialogue in his sleep which in turn is rpeated in his dream-scape. this inability to tease out what is trans. about caul vs what is foggy, hidden, what is truly vocalized vs what is merely thought of, gets at a certain muddled unclearly defined character somewhat typ of art cinema. adversely, spade is a "what-you-see-is-what you get" kind of guy. we know his secrets. though his morality, in typ film noir form does come into question via affair w partners wife, it is still signif we know he was having an affair w his partner's wife, we know when he begins his affair w o-shaughnessey. this has much to do w setting in the film. we are injected into deeply pers. spaces for spade - his office, his apt. this gives us a sort of unlimited feel when it comes to him - as if we will be able to find him, see him, stay w him no matter where or when. we are never distanced from spade, but rather we become an extension of him. in this way we get an idea of him as a strong character - one worth following. on the other hand, caul is frequently shown out of control in situations. for example, when he goes to the hotel in an effort to intervene, upon seeing the murder, he cowers, throws his hands and crawls into bed helplessly like a child. the rapid cuts and altering camera angles in this scene achieve a disorientation a mania that mirrors a protag we want to be more in control, more powerful. similarly, the reverbeating scream takes on the same tone as a siren, further reinforcing the "blurriness" of the scene the inability to distinguish reality w certainty. the freq. rep of the conversation caul records also calls into mind his reliability. it is diff to pin down w certainty when this recording is external diagetic vs. internal diegetic. is caul hearing the room next door playing the rec. or is he himself replaying it? this further reinforces an instability that clas. h-wood detective stories might not flesh out in a protag/heroic figure. similarly, it reinforces the abiguity typical of art cinema. we are more accustomed to seeing them like spade: unruffled, powerful, in control. here, instead, the call to do what is just is what shoves caul into a tailspin, into this out of control and manic state. this inverts the ideology that doing good will bring good. for caul, the attempt to do good only further ellucidates his role in causing the wrong in the first place, and furthermore his inability to fix things. 2. all that said, the conv. does have standard h wood elements. we do get character centered camerawork, a typ feature of h-wood classical flms. we follow caul constantly. in a way, this sort of achieves a self-reflexive voy. feel that caul subjects the people he screens to. we get a number of close up shots of caul obsessively doing his work, reinforcing an intensity that clearly identifies him as our protagonist, our anchor and touchstone in the story. this is similarly featured via sam spade in maltese falcon. we follow him above all others, work through plot through him, with him. in this way, we do get to know something of each character - even though in caul's case, his person is a little bit more diff to tease out. = caul does have a moral imperative. and goals whereas art cinema characters are usually more aimless. he has prof. goals of recording the conversation, he does try to fix what he has a part in going wrong - which is partly what makes the unsuc nature of his attempts so difficult to deal w. like spade in the maltese falcon, he is abhorred by murder and willing to do whatever he can to bring justice to it - spade does this by turning in his love interest, caul does it by injecting himself in vulnerable situations and trying to prevent and then shed light on the occurring violence. in each case we have character's w hints of values we can appreciate. similarly, they are each goal driven, and for the most part the narrative isn't episodic - typical of art cine, however the affect of these values on characters signifies where each branches in diff direc. in terms of classification In "classic Hollywood" films we are accustomed to the resolved ending. In the Maltese Falcon we see justice carried out. Though Spade fulfills the sort of film-noir trope of returning to the way things were, his morality, his virtue is what preserves the needed sanctity of seeing the crime solved, the bad guy sent to prison, the good guy deemed a hero. The conversation is a stark departure. Instead, we see that Caul's "virtues" lead him to try and protect Ann's character, and in turn what helps cause her husband's murder. The bad guy gets away, the good guy isn't the hero but rather a sort of complicit actor in carrying out the murder, and his "goodness" does not protect him and safeguard our values of justice. Rather, it completely disables him, drives him to paranoia and ruin. We see this esp well in the closing film of the scene. Nothing is resolved but it is literally and symbolically destroyed. Caul completely disables the setting, the props, of his apartment which had previously been a reflection of his own character. He passionately and frantically rips into the walls, the floors, destroying treasured and valued decorations and belongings. The slow pan we get showing the apartments brings us center stage to its ruination as if we need to really soak it in, really recognize that Caul is the one with the short end of the stick here. This is further reinforced with the length of the shot. It is long, it dwells. It pans left and right just like a security camera further reminding viewers of Caul's own voyeuristic, surveillance tendencies so that we can est. a correlation perhaps between who Caul is and what becomes of him. given the depiction of Caul as an isolated character, we can consider this an aspect of authorial expressivity - art cine trait. moreso, however, we can see the way it embodies a lack of closure, an open-endedness typ of art cinema. The fact that he never discovers the bug is further affirmation of what is left unresolved. Caul's beloved saxophone as the remaining prop left intact is a further manifestation of regression. He plays lamenting mournful music that we've heard throughout the film, and that we have seen Caul play earlier. This is symbolic of the fact that there is little character growth here, but rather character regression. He is helpless, powerless, pathetic and isolated, a departure from the standard of showing protagonists - esp those who attempt to do good - as heroes or at the least, at peace come the conclusion of the film.

reflexive mode

calls attention to the assumptions and conventions that govern documentary filmmaking. Increases our awareness of the constructedness of the film's preresentation of reality." speaking about the historical world, but also how to represent it Chronicle of a Summer; Night and Fog; Sherman's March

functions of film sound:

directs our attention ex: In Playtime, we hear footsteps as a man walks down the corridor, which helps direct our attention to him in the scene. creates continuity over disparate ex: i.e. Clerks is a film that makes use of jump cuts, moving from inside spaces to outside spaces. Sound here, helps tie together these jarring transitions w dialogue vo carried over from shots conveys important information ex: via dialogue re: Bringing up Baby, letting us know David's getting married. Clarice telling hannibal info about her upbringing, the lambs etc. can generate expectations ex: re off-screen sound in rear window as Jeff waits for Thorwald's approach can clarify or contradict the image ex: Le Million can create formal parallels, contrasts: dialogue motifs, musical motifs in score i.e.: the repeated singing in Bringing up Baby

(t/f) ADR refers to a type of sound recording that takes place while filming on set

false

avant garde

favors new and experimental ideas in ingmar bergman, Fanny and Alexander; persona typically abstract form re Cubism, fracturing objects into geometrical forms, emphasizing the flatness of the canvas episodic structure usually

critical concept(s) of national cinema

films associated with a specific country. Although there is little relatively written on theories of national cinema it has an irrefutably important role in globalization. Film provides a unique window to other cultures, particularly where the output of a nation or region is high.

what are two methods of sound recording?

foley, ADR

casual factors of genre evolution

generic formal/stylistic (Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography, 1992) industrial social

genre

genre: a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

german expressionism

heavily influenced film noir; canted angles; character emotion often mapped on set; distorted; darkness ex: noseferatu; the cabinet of dr caligari

art cinema characteristics

the art cinema motivates its narrative by two principles: realism and authorial expressivity." Art films deviate from the mainstream, "classical" norms of filmmaking in that they typically deal with more episodic narrative structures with a "...loosening of the chain of cause and effect".[15] As well, art films often deal with an inner drama that takes place in a character's psyche, such as psychological issues dealing with individual identity, transgressive sexual or social issues, moral dilemmas, or personal crises In art films, the dilemmas are probed and investigated in a pensive fashion, but usually without a clear resolution at the end of the film.[16] The protagonists in art films are often facing doubt, anomie or alienation, and the art film often depicts their internal dialogue of thoughts, dream sequences, and fantasies. In some art films, the director uses a depiction of absurd or seemingly meaningless actions to express a philosophical viewpoint such as existentialism. The story in an art film often has a secondary role to character development and an exploration of ideas through lengthy sequences of dialogue. If an art film has a story, it is usually a drifting sequence of vaguely defined or ambiguous episodes. There may be unexplained gaps in the film, deliberately unclear sequences, or extraneous sequences that are not related to previous scenes, which force the viewer to subjectively make their own interpretation of the film's message. examples: Dali's Un Chien Andalou Battleship Potemkin Nights of Cabiria La Strada 400 Blows

french new wave

the desire to shoot more current social issues on location, and their intention of experimenting with the film form. "New Wave" is an example of European art cinema.[2] Many also engaged in their work with the social and political upheavals of the era, making their radical experiments with editing, visual style and narrative part of a general break with the conservative paradigm. Using portable equipment and requiring little or no set up time, the New Wave way of filmmaking presented a documentary style. The films exhibited direct sounds on film stock that required less light. Filming techniques included fragmented, discontinuous editing, and long takes. The combination of objective realism, subjective realism, and authorial commentary created a narrative ambiguity in the sense that questions that arise in a film are not answered in the end.[3] more sexually frank; influenced the emergence of the "Art film" ex: Hiroshima Mon Amour

operational aesthetic

viewers enjoy the construction of elaborate complex narratives and think as much about the creators as the characters and their story. They learn the rules as they do when they first play videogames; Viewers make a greater effort to comprehend the story and pleasure in being surprised by storytelling innovations, as well as investment in characters.

Ambiguity in art cinema

we work to interpret an unusual element in the film as either realist/lifelike or as authorial expressivity (expressionistic symbolism