Final Exam: Essay

PDF file for Question 1 and Question 2

1. Taking a semiotic approach, analyze one of the films shown in class.

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s The Return is a disturbing story about the transition from innocence to experience. The plot revolves around two brothers who go on a confusing quest with their previously absent father. At first glance the film could be perceived as simplistic, but upon further interpretation it is highly allegorical. Through a semiotic analysis of the animal imagery, physical objects and natural elements, we will argue that the film is symbolically driven rather than plot driven.

Animal symbolism plays an important role in conveying the main theme. The first prominent animals are fish. To begin, the act of fishing represents the stereotypical activity that father and son share with one another. The two fish that we see in the film also parallel the two brothers; they are both caught and are suffocating from the tension with their father. Another group of animals worth analyzing are the birds. Birds are symbolic of hope, therefore when one of the boys finds a dead bird this foreshadows the outcome of the plot.

In the film, there are two physical objects that are overtly symbolic. These objects are the shoes that belonged to Ivan, as well as the watch that belonged to the father. In the film the father ominously repeats to Ivan “take off your shoes”. After the father falls to his death Andrey repeats the same phrase. Traditionally, shoes represent power and authority. Towards the beginning of the film it is clear that the father has control and authority over his two sons. After he dies, however, his eldest son steps into the role of the “man of the house.” Another prevalent symbol is that of the watch. The watch is symbolic of time and acts as a tool for the father to keep his children in line. He uses time as a means to punish them and restrict them from rebelling against him.

Finally, the characters can represent different classical elements that emphasize their personality and role. The youngest brother, Ivan, is represented by fire, which is symbolic of anger, hate and passion, whereas the father, Otets, is represented by water. For example, Ivan does not want to jump into the water in the opening sequence because it represents his father and he is reluctant to forgive him for leaving them. Ivan is also initially afraid of the water and heights, however, near the end of the movie, Ivan stoically stands up to him and we can see that he is now prepared to jump off the tower and confront his fear of heights, thus his father. The older of the two brothers, Andrey, represents the air element, which is freedom of spirit, because he constantly changes opinions about his father, sometimes agreeing with him and other times siding with his brother, Ivan.

The film’s effect depends on the viewer’s interpretation of the symbolism. The animal symbolism of the fish emphasizes the parental bond, or lack thereof, and tension between the brothers. The birds represent hope and foreshadow the ending of the film. The shoes indicate the transfer of authority from the father to Andrey, and the watch represents the approaching punishment of the sons. Furthermore, the natural elements highlight each character’s state of mind. All of these elements combined create a highly uncomfortable and thought provoking film.

*Interesting fact (not in essay): As I was searching for pictures, I found that The Return is the title for Rene Magritte surrealist/symbolic painting. It was created before the movie, so perhaps this painting had an influence on the director. Magritte’s mother had committed suicide and they retrieved the body in the river. Perhaps I am taking this interpretation a bit too far, but there are parallels to be made. 

Works Cited

The Return. Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev. Ren FIlm, 2003. Film.

2. Discuss how a filmaker can both make generic films (that is, work within a genre) and at the same time be an auteur. Give examples. 

One of the biggest challenges of filmmaking is being able to make a generic film while still expressing originality and personal creativity.  Although there are certain conventions to a genre, the filmmaker is free to express their own personal preferences and experiences as long as he abides by the genres restrictions.  Almost Famous and Reprise are both considered coming of age films though they both have distinct auteur interpretations.

Almost Famous is the coming of age story of a boy transitioning into adulthood. It respects the conventions of the coming of age genre because the main character is a teenager, he has his first sexual experiences, he is looking towards his future prospects and he is gaining new perspectives on life. However, it is also directly based on the director, Cameron Crowe’s experiences writing for Rolling Stone. Therefore Crowe bases the film off of his personal life and experiences while still staying within the conventions of the genre.

Another coming of age film is Joachim Trier’s Reprise. This film is part of the genre because it is the story of two young writers trying to establish their identities as they overcome the challenges of growing up. Trier takes a far more postmodern approach to this genre and the diegesis of the film is far different from that of Almost Famous.

Although these two films are of the same genre, they are both exceedingly different from one another.  Almost Famous is a romanticized depiction of the transition into adulthood whereas Reprise has a far more realistic approach and asks important existential questions. This speaks to the auteur’s freedom to express personal visions within a genre.

Work Cited

Almost Famous. Dir. Cameron Crowe. Vinyl Films, 2000. Films.

Reprise. Dir. Joachim Trier. 4 1/2 Film, 2006. Film.

Final Exam: Q&A

1. Describe Auteur Theory and name a director who is considered an auteur.

• “Auteur Theory” is the intended choices that the director makes, which reflect his/her creative vision.
• People thought that film should be analyzed like literature. It should be taken more seriously.
• Andrew Sarris developed the Auteur Theory. Talking about filmmakers as authors.
• Camera sylo is a term used to allude to this idea of the director as an author.
• Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Coen brothers…

2. What is the difference between epic and novelic?

• Epic is where everyone knows the story. I.e: a war story, where the story lives vicariously through the characters. The goal is to pass on the knowledge/tradition/legend and engage the audience in a wide scope of the entire story. The audience already knows the end.
• Romances are usually always epics? Boy meets girls, fall in love…
• Novelic is a new story, which hasn’t been told yet. Telling a new story.

3. List at least five symbols in the film “The Return” and their meanings.

• Eagles: Birds are a concrete image of hope; the dead bird can foreshadow the ending. It can represent what will happen if they stay on the island for too long.
• Fish: The whole concept of fishing is a stereotypical activity that is seen as father and son bonding. The father didn’t care much for fishing, but taught the kids how to become more independent (finding a restaurant, paying the bill, getting the car our of mud…). The fish can also be a symbol of the two children. The two kids are trapped and don’t know what will happen like the fish.
• Worms
• Watch: Time and punishment seem to be important in this movie. The watch evokes some kind of punishment/consequence if what the father requires is not completed. It’s as though time represents adulthood, structure, orders… The lack of awareness of time brings about innocence and youth.
• Jump: The jump can be interpreted as the right of passage. The transition between child to adult.
• Island
• Water (rain, body of water)
• Fire, Wind, Water and Earth.
• Numbers: 3 and 12.
• Shoes
• Journey: The journey is what transforms the kids into the mature stage of life. This journey ended their innocence and threw them in the reality of life, just like the opening scene, when the kid jumps in the water. That effect parallels the transitional period. Another point about this journey is that they made it halfway with their father, and now that he’s dead, they must do the other half without his help. In order to survive and get out of this island, they have to do what their father told them.

4. What is iconic, indexical and symbolic in terms of semiotic analysis?

• Iconic: 1 to 1. “Pertaining to, or consisting of, images, pictures, or representations of any kind” and “a sign which resembles the signified (portrait, photo, diagram, map)” Also used metaphorically as a quality of high representativity.
• Indexical: pointing to. “A sign, which is inherently connected in some way (existentially or causally) to the signified (e.g. smoke signifies fire; and all the little symbols you see on web pages — mailboxes, envelopes, arrows).”
• Symbolic: arbitrary. 1&2 become symbolic. “A sign which does not resemble the signified but which is purely conventional (the word stop, a red traffic light, or a national flag)”

5. Characterize cinema pur.

• Little post production;
• Independent,
• No C.G,
• Real locations,
• No professional or A list actors… (Finding actors on the street belongs to the neo-realist or French wave).
• Avant-guarde film movement
• Dogma95?
• Term coined by Henri Chomette.
• Focuses on filming pure elements such as motion, visual composition and rhythm.
• Key filmmakers are: Rene Clair, Fernand Leger, Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling…
• Films include: Ballet Mecanique, Symphony Diagonale…
• More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_pur

6. How can the use of music help in a film?

• American Model: Cover a lot of territory in a short amount of time. Use music and shots to compress time and tell a story. I.e.: Rocky
• Having a video and audio track can evoke certain reactions/emotions from the viewer. Track A- video + track B- audio = viewer’s anticipation based on the two devices. Vertical montage (similar to the Kuleshov effect).
• It fills in the gaps where the director choses not to reveal too much.
• In melodrama: use of music and emotionalism to sell the story

7. What is eros and thanatos?

• Eros: Desire/drive for life
• Thanatos: Death

8. What is “Auterism”?

9. *How is a film genre different from auterism?

• During Hollywood’s golden era, certain production companies would specialize in specific genres.
• Directors and producers would also develop their own style.
• Following certain genres limits the authorial vision because of genre constraints.

10. What makes the film “The Return” such a unique movie (think symbols)?

11. What does “camera stylo” mean and how does it apply to auteur theory?

• Camera stylo refers to the idea of auteurism (director as an author).
• Camera is a camera and stylo refers to pen (in french) similar to an author writing a book.
• Alexandre Astruc published an article called “Naissance d’une nouvelle avant-garde”, in the magazine L’Écran français, march 30^th 1948 with this term.

12. Generally, how do American remakes differ from their source material?

• More special effects/C.G/Animation…
• Story tends to be more explicit/clear. More obvious for the audience
• Think of Let the Right One in vs. Let Me In.

13. What is semiotics and how can it be used for film analysis?

• Semiotic: study of symbols and signs. “The (1) sign is composed of a (2) signifier — the material form of the sign — and (3) the signified — the concept it represents.” (Fernand de Saussure)
• Semiotic is when signs are analyzed, and interpretations can be made from certain symbols (Biemann).
• Semiotics studies in film usually structures a concept or theme that the director is trying to evoke.
• Semiotic is used in film analysis because it provides different techniques, conventions, devices, which are used to understand the main message.
• Like literature and metaphors.
• Mise-en-scene, pacing, rhythm, shots, camera angle, color, sound, symbolisms… (kcvi.limestone) are all important factors to examine when analyzing a film from an academic point of view.

14. Who is Francois Truffault? How did he contribute to the film industry?

• 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984
• Film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and film critic.
• Contributed to the French New Wave
• Les 400 coups: defined film of the New Wave genre.

15. What is a situational genre?

• Western (1903) – Situational genre (Cowboys, Indians, Geographical location, big issue with heroism, pre vs. post westerns is very different.

16. What is unique in Won Kar-Wei’s “In the Mood for Love”

• Uses genre and auteur theories.

17. How does Formalism play off of Realism in a film?

• Realism: Creating a depiction of life as it is, rather than distorting it.
• Lumiere brothers “Exiting the Factory” is a film of people leaving a warehouse. This was the beginning of realism in film
• George Meliese (came after Lumiere) and saw the potential of film with editing with gave the idea of formalism
• Formalism: “is a theory of film study that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of color, shot composition, and editing. It is a major theory of film study today.” (wikipedia)
• Mussolini’s totalitarian regime. He could control everything that people were saying with the use of media. He saw cinema as an ideal medium for the people.

18. How does symbolism affect the viewer in Zvyagintsev’s “The Return”?

• Check question #3

19. In semiotics, what is the difference between an iconic, an indexical and a symbolic symbol?

• Check question #4

20. What is the difference between a musical, a melodrama and a romance?

• Musical – Self-referential.
• vs. Melodrama – Use of music and emotionalism to sell the story.
• Romance *can’t have an epic romance. Plot/story-driven. Boy meets girl.
• Epic vs. novelic: epic is where everyone knows the story. Like a war story, live vicariously through the characters. Novelic is a new story, which hasn’t been told yet.

21. What religious symbols are represented in “The Return”?

• Check question #3

22. In what way was “The Return” a ‘Coming of Age” genre film?

• Quest film: journey, discovery, and boy going through right of passage, coming of age… the German Bildungsromans.
• Two boys embark on this journey with their father and come back as having changed (psychologically). In a way, they are more mature and their innocence is not as it was at the beginning of this movie.

 

12. April the 30th – Genre Studies

12. April the 30th – Genre Studies

• Watched: Reprise, Joachim Trier (2006)

Genre Theory

1930-1948 Golden Era movies were massed produced. Certain directors started to specialize in certain genres. Certain cinemas showed specific genres.

• Western (1903) – Situational genre (Cowboys, Indians, Geographical location, big issue with heroism, pre vs. post westerns is very different.
• Musical – Self-referential
• vs. Melodrama – Use of music and emotionalism to sell the story
• Romance *can’t have an epic romance. Plot/story-driven. Boy meets girl.
• Epic vs. novelic: epic is where everyone knows the story. Like a war story, live vicariously through the characters. Novelic is a new story, which hasn’t been told yet.
• Youth – Demographic/character-driven: coming of age films.

• Reprise, Joachim Trier (2006)

• A lot of elliptical editing (dialogue spoken when lips are not moving. Like in The Limey or Out of Sight)
• Talking in conditional form reflects this dwelling feeling that young adults usually go through.
• Trying to recreate a story (hence, the word “Reprise” has a lot of significance just like the one word-titled novel)
• Bechtel test: find a film where there are two female characters and see if they have a conversation about men at some point.

11. April the 23rd – Psychoanalytic Film Theory

11. April the 23^rd – Psychoanalytic Film Theory

• Watched: In the Mood for Love (2000), Kar Wai Wong
• The two founders of psychoanalysis were Freud and Lacan à Reducing the possibilities to what we know. Meaning that when you attain your goal, you immediately transcend it (building expectations, which then fail to meet the build up, and lead to disappointment).

1. Eros: Desire/drive for life
2. Thanatos: Death

In the Mood for Love

• Inverted melodrama
• Watch it from a psychoanalytic reading, which means that, the goal of eros: realm of the imaginary. Pay attention to the shots, and how he decides to shoot the two absentees. What is the eros in the movie? Play of imaginary vs. the real (realm of eros)
• In the beginning, the audience can only see half of most of the shots. The camera is one person, but the other one isn’t caught. Either it’s to show the claustrophobia and the tight space, or it’s to imitate what the absentees are doing to their partners (who are never seen). It’s as if there is one side of the story.
• Rice cooker—object, which situate the audience with the movies culture. But also has more meaning. When Mr. Chow tells Mr. Chan that he will pay him back, Mr. Chan says that his husband already did. The dialogue has several subtle messages, and never implicitly says that there is an affair going on.
• The books on the table show the time that elapsed and the disconnection between Mrs. Chan and her husband.
• The connection between Mrs. Chan’s boss vis-à-vis his wife is very different compared the Mr. and Mrs. Chan. The boss is closer to his wife, receiving calls, getting her presents…
• First restaurant scene, Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow complement each other’s purse and tie, with a purpose behind. The camera never captures them in the same frame, till the end of the dinner when they are walking in the street.
• Japanese stamp

CLASS DISCUSSION

• Melodrama: defined by the constraint from society. In this movie, it’s the characters that set themselves constraints. The importance of dignity, integrity, not loosing face is highly valued in their culture.
• The movie isn’t “clear” (in terms of plot) for intentional purposes. The director is playing with the kuleshov effect, and letting the audience make judgments.
• Music is another element that is important. It fills in the gaps where the director choses not to reveal too much.
• Mise-en-scene: gives this feeling of constraint, claustrophobia, reflecting the situations that the two characters find themselves in.

10. April the 16th: Auteur Theory

10. April the 16th: Auteur Theory

• Watched: The Five Obstructions, Lars von Trier (2003).
• The term “auteur” was coined the by French.
• Francois Truffault, Jean Luke Goddard
• Camera stylo
• Cahier du Cinema, and was associated with the French New Wave.
• Auteur Theory are the intended choices that the director makes, which reflect his/her creative visions.
• People thought that film should be analyzed like literature. It should be taken more seriously.
• Andrew Sarris developed the Auteur Theory. Talking about filmmakers as authors.
• Future: controllable
• L’avenir: uncontrollable material, we can’t predict.
• The more obstruction that Lars put, the more opportunities for creativity he had. The films were more interesting when there were more obstructions than when there were none. The movie in Brussels was similar to typical Hollywood movies. The message was less powerful because of the leeway.
• When you have restrictions, you have to find ways to cope with these problems. If you have the skills, then you can apply them.
• (Discussion about auterism to be continued t-ill next class)

9. April the 9th: Cinéma Pur/Semiotics

9. April the 9th: Cinéma Pur/Semiotics

• Watched: The Return (2003) Andrey Zvyagintsev

Cinéma Pur

• Little Post production, independent, no C.G, real locations, no professional or A list actors… (Finding actors on the street belongs to the neo-realist or French wave).
• Avant-guarde  film movement
• Term coined by Henri Chomette.
• Focuses on filming pure elements such as motion, visual composition and rhythm.
• Key filmmakers are: Rene Clair, Fernand Leger, Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling…
• Films include: Ballet Mecanique, Symphony Diagonale…
• More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_pur
• Semiotic: Study of symbols and signs. “The (1)sign is composed of a (2)signifier — the material form of the sign — and (3)the signified — the concept it represents.” (Fernand de Saussure)
• Allegory: using characters to represent something other and larger than what is on the screen. (Microcosm)

1. Iconic: 1 to 1. “Pertaining to, or consisting of, images, pictures, or representations of any kind” and “a sign which resembles the signified (portrait, photo, diagram, map)” Also used metaphorically as a quality of high representativity.
2. Indexical: pointing to. “a sign which is inherently connected in some way (existentially or causally) to the signified (e.g. smoke signifies fire; and all the little symbols you see on web pages — mailboxes, envelopes, arrows).”
3. Symbolic: arbitrary. 1&2 become symbolic. “a sign which does not resemble the signified but which is purely conventional (the word stop, a red traffic light, or a national flag)”

• Epic: goal is to pass on the knowledge/tradition/legend and engage the audience in a wide scope entire story. They already know the end.  vs. novelic. Telling a new story.
• Quest film: journey, discovery, and boy going through right of passage, coming of age… the German Bildungsromans.

The Return, Andrey Zvyagintsev (2003)

The Return is a movie by Andrey Zvyagintsev (2003) and is considered a work of cinema pur. In film, the study of semiotic is important because it is a technique which allows directors to convey their message through concrete objects. Emotions, connections, relations, tensions… can be translated through signs and symbols, for example Hitchcock’s famous close-ups of doorknobs. The Return is packed with symbolism, metaphors, and is an allegorical story between father and son. There are many different ways to interpret the director’s choices in terms of the mise-en-scene, starting with a religious approach. In class, we had discussed some of the symbols and what they meant.   Here are some more symbols that weren’t brought up, and that may be of note.

Symbolisms:

• Eagles: there were some scenes where eagles were flying. When the two kids and father stopped on an island, there were no other creatures other than the three. While walking around this desolated place, Ivan finds a dead bird on the ground. Birds are a concrete image of hope; the dead bird can foreshadow the ending. It can represent what will happen if they stay on the island for too long. Several meanings can be derived from just this one symbol.
• Fish: The whole concept of fishing is a stereotypical activity that is seen as father and son bonding. The father didn’t care much for fishing, but taught the kids how to become more independent (finding a restaurant, paying the bill, getting the car our of mud…). The fish can also be a symbol of the two children. The two kids are trapped and don’t know what will happen like the fish.
• Worms
• Watch: Time and punishment seem to be important in this movie. The watch evokes some kind of punishment/consequence if what the father requires is not completed in time. The first moment when the watch appeared was when Ivan didn’t want to eat his soup. The father gave him two minutes to eat it. Also, when the kids were going to get some fish, the father said to be back by 3:30. When they didn’t come back, the Dad started hitting Andrei. It’s as though time is more significant to the father than it is to the kids.
• Jump: The jump can be interpreted as the right of passage. The transition between child to adult.
• Island
• Water (rain, body of water)
• Fire, Wind, Water and Earth.
• Numbers: 3 and 12.
• Shoes
• Journey: The journey is what transforms the kids into the mature stage of life. Not only do they learn certain things/skills, but they also witnessed death. This journey ended their innocence and threw them in the reality of life, just like the opening scene, when the kid jumps in the water. That effect parallels the transitional period. Another point about this journey is that they made it halfway with their father, and now that he’s dead, they must do the other half without his help. In order to survive and get out of this island, they have to do what their father told them. Follow his command.

This movie is very rich in symbolism, seeing it once isn’t enough to catch all of them. Semiotic understanding may requires viewing a movie more than once.

Themes: desolation, isolation, loss and abandoned, independence…

Film Remake

The Postman Always Rings Twice

• The Postman Always Rings Twice, Tay Garnett (1946)
• The Postman Always Rings Twice Bob Rafelson (1981)

The Postman Always Rings Twice was originally made in 1946 directed by Tay Garnett, and Bob Rafelson did the remake in 1981. Although there are a few alterations, the two films use different means and techniques to tell the same story.

Color isn’t for everyone

The first version was a black and white film and the remake is in color. The love story between the two main characters, Frank and Cora, was meant for the black and white screen. Using colors makes the visual more ‘attractive’ and modern, but the black and white hue gives an authentic and classical quality to the movie in the sense that it makes the story grittier, therefore more gripping. The black and white builds more suspense and tension because of the greater contrast. The director has to pay more attention to these details, which aren’t always thought of when using color.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I watch a film noir, I build a universe according to their mores, which are different from my expectations and thoughts. I also analyze and treat the subject accordingly. I imagine living in that period and dealing with their social issues. The subject matter can’t always be translated into modern cinema because we socialize and interact differently (than say sixty years ago).

Timelessness is another key aspect in black and white films. If these movies managed to survive the new technologies and the colored pictures, then it is truly a masterpiece that will transcend the passage of time. Ultimately, the theme and the plot of this movie are more appropriate as a real film noir.

Actions vs. Acting

In the older version, the dialogue revealed more about the passionate love between Frank and Cora. The typical I-can’t-live-without-you and life-is-not-worth-living-if-we-are-not-together is exchanged between the two verbally. In the recent version, the scenes were more graphic and used less dialogue to convey their wants and desires. It would have been awkward, because of the changed social reality if the script had remained the same in the two movies.

Instead of dialogue and the dramatic acting used in the classic film noir, explicit sex scenes are used to convey their passionate love. This changes the dynamics between Frank and Cora because sometimes she seems clingier and then surrenders her control over the situation to Frank in scenes where you are not sure if it is passion or violence.  There were moments when it seemed as though Frank was raping Cora.

More Scenes

In the remake, the cat appears closer to the beginning. The cat becomes a metaphor that almost foreshadows where the story is leading.

The newer version also had more of the escape scene. Instead of the two running away from Twin Oaks (by foot), they were going to go by train. This is understandable given the different circumstance with transportation. But Frank gambles and Cora leaves him at the station. The original version had Cora return for different reasons.

During the murder scene, the original version builds more suspense and tension because of the stark contrasting shades. It also doesn’t reveal what Cora is doing during the murder. In the remake, they show what happened in the bathroom. Little details such as the cop exploring the house at night instead of the day, and climbing the ladder… are modified in the recent version.

The second time around, when murdering Nick, the remake has Cora and Frank hitting each other to make it look like they were in a car accident. This could be interpreted in many ways. Did this event foreshadow what would happen at the trial or did the director add this for the theatrical effect?

There is also an added scene with Frank’s whereabouts when he goes to San Francisco. It shows what he does and whom he does it with. The first version had the viewer draw his/her own conclusions about what was going on when Frank gest in the lady’s car (without revealing anymore than that). The remake has Cora marrying Frank and carrying a child. Given the period in which the remake was done, their love wasn’t enough; they had to add marriage and pregnancy to the plot. I figure that the latter adds more of an emotional impact at the end.

Where did the scenes go?
There were some scenes, in the newer one, that were omitted/changed.

Notably, one of the firsts scenes, when Frank meets Cora, was depicted differently. The original film had Cora drop her lipstick and wait for him to bring it to her. Right at the beginning, this builds tension and a potential conflict. At the very end when Cora dies, she drops the lipstick and it goes rolling just like the very first scene.

The scene about selling twin oaks is also missing. It is important because it revealed more about Cora as a character, and showed that she had ambitions, desires and a say in the business. It was probably replaced with Nick’s return party.

The scenes where the two are in the ocean and share those moments are not included in the recent version.

The ending really affects the way the viewer sees the title. In the newer version, the last scene is showing Cora dead, and lying on the ground from the car accident. In the 1946 version, Frank is in jail and the movie is narrated as he tells the story to the detective. He doesn’t want to be sentenced for Cora’s death, but accepts that he was responsible for Nick’s death.

• The Postman Always Rings Twice. Dir. Tay Garnett. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1946.
• The Postman Always Rings Twice. Dir. Bob Rafelson. CIP Filmproduktion GmbH, Lorimar Film Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Northstar International, 1981.

8. April the 2nd: Film Remakes

8. April the 2nd: Film Remakes

• Watched: Let the Right One In (2008) Thomas Anderson/Let me in (2010), Matt Reeves

Essay

1. Circumstances of the films production (the making of…)
2. Editing Techniques
3. Mise-en-scene

Let the Right One In (2008) Thomas Anderson

• Anomie stories: not being able to connect with the culture.
• Most of the shots are wide shots and some close ups.
• The audience has to work to figure out the information. The way the dialogue and the shots are taken lets the viewer make connections.

Let me in (2010), Matt Reeves (American Version)

• Title are in huge red letters
• Right at the beginning: Ambulance chase scene
• More dramatic, the first shot jumps into action
• The music and background music sets the atmosphere and mood
• Non-linear
• More close-ups, which reveals more information that the first one.
• The close-ups also give the effect that it is less realistic.
• More sympathetic towards Oskar. The casting choice is better in the other movie but also the kind of person he is.
• Special effects; less natural/less realistic
• Drama: Unexpected outcome where a conflict needs to be resolved. There is the main conflict with several other sub-conflicts. Builds tension.

Prep. for the Midterm: Q&A

1. What are the two types of montage?

• Collision Montage: emotion from the viewer is not as predicable. Don’t always know how the audience will respond. It can have a good and bad effect. “Two events collide to enforce a concept feeling or idea. The conflict creates tension.”
• Compliment Montage: An expected emotion from the viewer. “These comprise of shots that are juxtaposed to thematically related events to rein enforce a basic theme or idea. Thematic related events are compared to reinforce a general theme.”

2. What does the editing affect?

• Editing can affect the way the audience interprets certain pictures. Montage editing, created by Lev Kuleshov, demonstrated that two unrelated shots can create an emotion from the audience. Directors from there saw that they could control shot A and shot B, but not C which is the viewers emotion. There can be some negatives but also positives to this effect.

3. Describe the Golden Era of Hollywood

• 1930-1947 Also known as the Golden Era. “During the Golden Age of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in American cinema in the late 1920s to the early 1960s, films were prolifically issued by the Hollywood studios. The start of the Golden Age was arguably when The Jazz Singer was released in 1927”
• Used to be 5 major film companies.
• 52 movies/year or 1 movie/week. Each movie theatre had 2 movies, the Feature and the B movie (which was not made by major film production)
• Creation of sound was during this era.

4. Who is Edward Porter? What movie did he make?

• Edwin Porter (The Great Train Robbery) 1903
• Edwin Porter proved that cutting certain shots could make a movie. Such as inter cutting 2 shots that have nothing to do with each other.

 

 

 

5. Name the 3 different motion pictures? Explain


• Primary: which is real life motion. Need coverage (different angles taken for a certain shot).
• Secondary: the camera motion. Pan: (camera is moving from left to right), swish pan (faster than 24 frames), tilt: (camera is on a tripod and moving up to down), zoom: (bringing stuff closer, change focal point of the lens; wide angle, telephoto, aperture) vs. push in, dolly: (literally moving back or forward), track or truck, reveal.
• Tertiary: the last element, editing. Match cut, graphic cut, transitional shots, parallel editing (two events are happening simultaneously and they will come together), vectors…

6. Who is D.W. Griffin?

• 1913 D.W Griffith (The Birth of a Nation)
• D.W Griffith was first director for psychological editing. His mastery in close up revolutionized film grammar. He also started the invisible cut (mask the cut to make it more fluid).

 

 

 

 

7. What/when and who created the first movie?

• The First Motion Picture Ever Made – The Horse In Motion (1878) Eadweard Muybridge’s
• First Home Movie Ever Made – Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)
• First Movie Ever Made for Projection — Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory (1895)

8. What year was sound integrated in movies? What was that period called?

• 1927 Movies with sound à The Jazz Singer was released in 1927
• 1930-1947 Also known as the Golden Era

9. What are the 2 types of reveals?

• Story reveals
• Camera reveals: Shot pans to reveal more about the situation.

10. What is the assembly line model, and who created it?

• 1930: Editing was made into an industry. There were classic Hollywood forms/mode. I.e.: D.W Griffith – Assembly line model
• a)     Establishing Shot (Master shot/Wide shot)
• b)    Two Shot (Medium shot)
• c)     Close up
• The general model goes from a wide shot to smaller one. The term used is coverage.
• WWII starts of juxtaposition (Third thing or the tertium quid)
• Shot A + Shot B (marrying the shot together)= emotion from the viewer.
• You can control shot a and b but not c.

11. What is the difference between Vertical and Horizontal integration?

• Vertical integration: which is to own the top to bottom. Vertical integration is when the film industry controls everything. Just like a closed house. Back in the day, producers were more in charge with their films than they are now. “Management control”
• Horizontal integration: Product Placement, Ads, Video games, Kids game made before/after the movie (even the toys from McDonalds). Product tie ins are more important. One must consider who is writing, merchandizing, advertising, and product placement… The money comes from a whole bunch of different sources, but with certain restrictions and limits to the creativity and freedom of the movie. “Horizontal integration occurs when a firm is being taken over by, or merged with, another firm which is in the same industry and in the same stage of production as the merged firm […] The goal of horizontal integration is to consolidate like companies and monopolize an industry.”

12. How did the Russian Revolution affect film editing?

• “Propaganda films began to emerge. Certain cuts were used to foster a specific psychological and emotional affect from the audience members.”

13. How did television and the rise of the suburbs contribute to the end of the Golden Era of Hollywood?

• Hurt the film business because people were living further from the city where movies where being shown.
• 1946 the year the TV was invented.
• 1948 The government started to take control over the big studios creating this anti trust act (divorcement).

14. What is unique about Polygram Films’ business model?

• Polygram is horizontal, yes and no.
• Yes: Because a big studio owned it: Philips, GE.
• No: polygram pictures. Take a chance on a movie. Letting people create without restriction.
• Polygram was based on the (record) label system “A record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Often, a record label is also a company that manages such brands and trademarks; coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists (“artists and repertoire” or “A&R”); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.”

15. What 12 minute movie is considered “a milestone in film making” and why?

• “The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 American Western film written, produced, and directed by Edwin S. Porter. The film used a number of innovative techniques including composite editing, camera movement and on location shooting.”

16. Describe what mise-en-scene is and how each aspect of it contributes to a film.

• Mise-en Scene
: The term usually used to denote that part of the cinematic process that takes place on the set, as opposed to editing, which takes place afterwards. Literally, the “putting-in-the-scene”:
• 1. Decor (properties)
• 2. Lighting (Director of photography)
• 3. Camera position angles (Director of photography)
• 4. Blocking (actors?)
• 5. Costumes
• *Sound

17. What are some of the differences between “The Golden Age” and now?

• “The mode of production came to be known as the Hollywood studio system and the star system, which standardized the way movies were produced.”
• “All film workers (actors, directors, etc.) were employees of a particular film studio à results in a certain uniformity to film style: directors were encouraged to think of themselves as employees rather than artists, and hence auteurs did not flourish.”
• “The Hollywood Studio System was controlled by the Big 8 studios, however, the Big 5 fully integrated studios were the most powerful. Big 5 à MGM, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and RKO. They all operated their own theater chains and produced and distributed films as well. The ‘Little 3’ studios (Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures, and United Artists) were also full-fledged film factories but they lacked the financial resources and therefore produced fewer A-class features, which were the foundations of the studio system.”

18. What contributed to the end of the Golden Age in Hollywood?

• Suburban life: people spreading out of the city
• Collapse of the studio system,
• Television’s invention
• Auteurism among directors and its growing popularity
• Increasing influence of foreign films and independent filmmaking.
• The 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision, which outlawed the practice of block booking and the ownership and operation of theater chains by the major film studios (as it was believed to constitute anti-competitive and monopolistic trade practices)

19. Who was Margaret Booth and what did she do?

• Started her Hollywood career as a ‘patcher’, editing films by D. W. Griffith, around 1915.

20. What’s the difference between “Off Line Editing” and “On Line Editing”?


Offline Editing: are often women who cut the story together (a.k.a: rough cut).

• “where the raw footage is copied and edited, without affecting the camera original film stock or video tape. Once the offline editing is done à Online editing.
• The term offline originated in the computing and telecommunications industries, meaning “not under the direct control of another device” (automation).
• Modern offline video editing is conducted in a non-linear editing (NLE) suite. The editor and director are then free to work with all the options to create the final cut.”

Online Editing: mostly men. Once the story is finished, the technical stuff comes into play. They get paid more money.

• “Online editing is a post-production linear video editing process that is performed in the final. Occurs after offline editing.
• The term online originated in the telecommunication industry, meaning “Under the direct control of another device” (automation).”

21. Now days, what do we see more in films “Vertical Integration” or “Horizontal Integration”? Explain what it is.

• Nowadays, we see more horizontal integration because of product placement, big studios…
• “Studios seek content that can move fluidly across media channels” Horizontal seeks to merge similar companies into one big one for competitive advantages. Vertical aims for the raw material resources or the distribution.

22. What is parallel editing? Why is this technique used?


• Also known as cross cutting, is the technique used to alternate between two or more scenes “that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally culminate in a single place, where the relevant parties confront each other.” To assimilate two simultaneous scenes together and making them come together. It is used to interest and/or excite the audience. It is also used to build suspense.

23. Who was Georges Méliès? What is he best known for?

• 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938 was a French filmmaker “famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema.” Melies was the inventor of “special effects, accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896 (and hand-painted color in his work).”
• A Trip to the Moon (1902); The Impossible Voyage (1904) The Great Train Robbery.

7. March the 19th: Realism vs. Formalism

7. March the 19th: Realism vs. Formalism

• Watched: The Bicycle Thieves (1948) Vittorio De Sica/Beijing Bicycle (2001) Xiaoshuai Wang
• Realism: Creating a depiction of life as it is rather than distorting it.
• Lumiere brothers “Exiting the Factory” is a film of people leaving a warehouse. This was the beginning of realism in film
• George Meliese (came after Lumiere) and saw the potential of film with editing with gave the idea of formalism
•  Formalism: “is a theory of film study that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of color, shot composition, and editing. It is a major theory of film study today.” (wikipedia)
• Mussolini’s totalitarian regime. He could control everything that people were saying with the use of media. He saw cinema as an ideal medium for the people.

The Bicycle Thieves (1948) Vittorio De Sica

• A realist film depicting modern day life as an lower class Italian.
• Political film: representing the real Italian life as oppose to the life represented by the dictatorship.
• One of the theme is the struggle to survive. Even the good people have bad things occur to them.
• More and more now, Hollywood represents a life that is unreal. i.e: Effects…
• During the time that this movie was produced, realism wasn’t so much about aesthetics. As a matter of fact, the movie has aesthetics because of the realist aspect. It told in a linear form.
• Deep focus shot: with French new wave- no close up… the camera is still. It uses a large depth of field. ”Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image — that is, how much of it appears sharp and clear. […] The foreground, middle-ground and background are all in focus.”
• Mumble core aesthetics: What the term unofficially references is a belief in character driven storytelling with an extremely basic aesthetic. The films often rely on handheld camera-work but never veer into nausea inducing shaky cam style. […] Mumblecore seems to be focused on the analysis of communication” (film.com)
• Andre Basin
• Dogma95: A movement in 95 where a group of people set up rules for filming. These rules were a reaction to special effects. Their goal was to try to be more realist and in tone with real life. Avant-guarde, experimental… Check out filmbug for the rules.

Beijing Bicycle (2001) Xiaoshuai Wang

• Also had a political message similar to the Bicycle thief. The wide divid between the rich and the poor, communism…
• The shots were also long tracking shot like the previous movie. This is a depiction of everyday life in China. It is filmed so well that is seems like a documentary.
• Stylized shots: formalized style not realist because it’s more complex/artistic.