Film 1010
Chapter 1 (9 out of 10)
1. Explain why the director is the person most commonly viewed as the “author” (auteur) of a film. Who else might be considered a film's author?
2. Why are ancillary markets so vital to a film's distribution? What ancillary markets do you think are the most important?
3. Briefly discuss the film "The General" (avoid just giving a plot summary.) How is this film different from or similar to current popular films (besides the fact that it is silent and black and white?).
The director is the most responsible person for the final look and the sound of the film. The director plays the central role from pre-production phase till it completes all phases of production and is ready to be released. This is the main reason why the director is most commonly viewed as an author.
If the directors or the producer finds the writer's screenplay unsatisfactory, other writers may be hired to revise it. The original script might be altered. The directors can allow the actors to modify the dialogues and may necessitate changes in the scene. There might be some films where the script of the author is completely followed from start to the end of the movie, but I think it is very rare. As the script is revised, edited and added form time to time by different peoples, it is unjust to credit or consider one person as author of a film. In my view every one who significantly contribute in making the story more livable should be considered as an author rather then giving full credit the person who comes with the skeleton of the script. They might be the actors or the people who revise the script or any of the crew members who has contributed to the story of a movie significantly.
Ancillary markets are so vital to a film’s distribution because it typically return more money then theatrical release. Among all the different ancillary markets I think the DVD release is the most important one. I think a movie can reach to the maximum number of audiences through DVD’s and yield better returns. All people might not travel through airlines or stay at hotels where they might get chance to watch the movies. Pay-Per-View is also not so effective as the viewers must have to go some extra miles to watch the movie; the viewer must have access to the Internet or have credit or debit card and should be a literate to all these. DVD is the perfect solution where the viewer can watch the movie very easily with less effort in a reasonable price.
I watched the movie “The General” but I finished watching it only in fourth attempt. I found the movie hard to understand, as it was silent and black and white. My unfamiliarity with the American actions and gestures made things even more complicated. The major difference that I saw between today’s Hollywood movie and “The General” is the use of technology. “The General” is a movie that is made with very little technology. The quality of the move seemed to be faded, it might be because the lighting effect was not properly used or the lighting technology was not developed. The script of the movie also seemed to be different. The modern movies have twists and turns and thrill, “The general” was kind of dull and test less.
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Module 2 (8 out of
10)
1. Distinguish between
“interpretation” and “evaluation” of a film. What are some typical interpretive
remarks that a critic might use in discussing His Girl Friday? What are some
evaluative claims that a critic might make about it? Cite specific aspects of
the film that might be used as evidence for each.
2. Define “motif” as it
applies to film form, giving at least one specific example from His Girl
Friday.
3. Explain the distinction made in Film Art between “plot” and “story”
in narrative films. Use specific examples from Citizen Kane to illustrate this
distinction.
4. Discuss at least two ways in which Citizen Kane’s narrative
adheres to conventions of classical Hollywood narrative and at least one way in
which it departs from that tradition.
Film Interpretation is the act or the process of explaining the film.
The interpretation of movie differs from viewer to viewer. How a viewer
interprets the film depends upon viewer values, environment, age, taste or
anything that is affecting a viewers way of thinking. Film Evaluation is the
process of evaluating weather the film is good or bad. Evaluation of a film is
has very slim connection with the personal preferences. Evaluations are done
generally based on specific criteria. A criterion is a standard that can be
applied in the judgment of different works. The moral of film, its complexity,
originality and accuracy are some of the movie evaluation criteria. Narrative,
editing, characterization, sound, visual style may also affect film evaluation.
Motif is the recurrent thematic element in any artistic or literary work. A
motif can be any thing; an object, person, sound, place or color. Motif creates
parallelism and maintains connection between plots. It helps viewers what to
expect next. The newspaper room where Walter and Hidly spent most of their time
might be one of the motifs in the film. Most of the film is filmed in the
newspaper room. Story is the
account of events in chronological order. It consists of all the events that
are shown in the plot. In addition to the events, the story includes their
relationships, order, duration, and frequency. Plot is the actual presentation
of story events in a film. Plot rearranges the chronology of the story. The
plot also includes materials like opening credits, musical commentary, and
features of the film, which don’t really affect the affet characters or events.
The real story sequence should start form Kane’s childhood, his marriage,
political campaign and so on. Kane’s childhood, his marriage and the political
campaigns are the plots of the movies. The plots and the story is not in the
same sequence. In the movie the death is shown before the birth. This movie has
multiple narrators that was new in Hollywood movies. Different narrators narrate different parts
of Ken’s life in different way. Citizen Kane is not told in traditional
chronological style like other movies. It uses flack back styles using
different points of view to tell the story
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Module 3 (8 out of 10)
1. Discuss the problems with using realism as a criterion for evaluating films, giving specific examples from "Night of the Hunter."
2. Describe and discuss the functions of the mise-en-scene. Mention at least one example of each of the four major categories of mise-en-scene from "Night of the Hunter" or "Film Art."
3. Briefly describe each of the different camera distances (NOT LENSES) as explained in "Film Art." Give at least two specific examples of different types of camera distance from "North by Northwest."
4. How does the cinematography work to create suspense and complement the story in "North by Northwest"? You may comment on any aspect of cinematography discussed in "Film Art" - framing, types of lenses used, on-screen and off-screen space, etc. Please provide specific examples from the film to back up your claims.
Evaluating films using realism, as a criterion is a misevaluation. All films do not try to achieve realism. If all films try to achieve realism there will be no diversity. Viewers are always hungry for exclusive stories; they want to see what they have not seen before. If Hollywood had based its production on realism it would not have been what it is now. If I am watching Jet Lee’s movie I expect a scene where he jumps from a helicopter, fights with one hundred armed villains and kills each of them with out getting a single bruise. I don’t want to see Jet Lee beating a thug with spatula or Jet Lee running with a club to kill a fox. I don’t want to see Jet Lee doing all these, although beating a thug with spatula and running with a club to kill a fox sounds more realistic then fighting with one hundred villains alone.
Evaluating a film using realism is overlooking all the goodness and panning the impoverishment. In order to evaluate a film one should look at what the film is aiming to offer. Watching “Avatar” and evaluating it as a bad movie just because it is unreal is like writing a congressman to complain the water in the ocean is salty.
The main problems with using realism as a criterion to evaluate film is discrediting all other unseen and seen greatness that made the unreal thing appear real in the screen. The creativity, technology and the hard work of crew members are the unseen greatness. The other aspects of the movie like story, plot, characters, music/sound effects, lighting effects etc. are ignored while evaluating film using realism as an criterion which is really unfortunate.
In the movie “the night of the hunter “ two little kids row the boat all night to escape for Mr. Powell. Can two little kids row the boat and escape form an intelligent enemy like Mr. Powell in real life? Can little kids like pearl and John keep secret when they were undergoing so much of trouble? The movie is in fact full of unrealistic plots. Should this movie be evaluated as a bad movie? Shouldn’t we consider the wonderful story, the wonderful acting, wonderful lighting and wonderful sound effect?
Mise-en-scene means everything that appears before the camera, it literally means putting everything into scene and making it something meaningful. The setting, character, costume, makeup, lighting, staging, special effects, sounds, space etc. are some of the aspects of mise-en-scene. I discovered the musical aspect of mise-en-scene in the movie. The song sang by pearl is melancholic, but melodious. Its accompanied by a slow paced tingling music. This song is made to sound smooth by blending different effects so it would perfectly match the environment around. The song that Mr. Powell sings is made harsh so it would be suitable for his evil personality.
The different kinds of camera distance are (consider: we are taking a picture of a person): I. Extreme long shot: the human figure is barely visible on the shot taken from this distance II. Long shot: the human figure is more visible then the prior one, still the background dominates. III. Medium long shot: these are common, the background and the figure of a person is balanced. IV. Medium shot: frames the human body from waist to the top. This shots are taken to make the gestures and expression of a person visible. V. The medium close-up: frames the body from chest and up. VI. Close-up: is shot showing the parts of the body like head, hand, feet or any other small object. VII.
Extreme close-up: singles out the portion of the face or isolates or magnifies an object. In one of the scene in the movie Roger Thornhill enter the building. This shot is taken from extremely long distance. Thronhill Cannot be identified as the background dominates his figure. The conversation between Thronhill and Townsend in one of the scene is captured in medium shots. Both of them are shown above the waist. There facial expression and the gestures are clearly visible.
North by Northwest has incredible cinematography. While Thornhill and Townsend are having conversation, there was someone watching them from the entrance room. The camera shows the conversation of Thornhill and Townsend, it flash back to show the suspicious character wearing gloves and it come back and shows the conversation between two people again. Suddenly knife enters from the right and kills Townsend. It was completely unexpected. When people look up they see a knife in Thornhill’s hand. This creates a quick shock and confusion in the audience.
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Module 4 (5 out of 10)
1. When discussing editing, what is meant by the following qualities in the cutting? Define each and provide an example of each from one of the films shown in class thus far. a. temporal, b. spatial, c. rhythmic, d. graphic
2. Describe three techniques of continuity editing, including the 180-degree rule, and provide an example of each.
3. Breathless is a quintessential film of the French New Wave movement. What makes Breathless remarkable/innovative/unique? Why do you think Breathless is one of the films almost always included on film course selection lists?
Temporal continuity is showing the story continuously without breaking it into parts or with out skipping the details. This technique is used usually to avoid the viewer’s temporal disorientation. Shooting the whole film in one take and including every action involved in the story usually maintain temporal continuity. This technique excludes all unnecessary details and keeps only what is necessary. This technique does not require the film to be shot in one take. Different shots can be taken in different time and location; these different shots are later joined. The technique used to join different shots on the basis of purely rhythmic qualities independent of time and space they represent is rhythmic quality of editing. Single frame films are the examples of overriding the rhythmic concern. The texture, shape and size, continuities and discontinuities in light motivate rhythmic editing. Graphic editing has to do with picture unlike rhythmic and temporal relations, which concerns with time. The graphic style of editing is more abstract then compared to other styles. The three different techniques of continuity editing are:1) Diegetic sound:2) Match on action3) Temporal discontinuityBreathless is remarkable/unique/innovative and it is included on film course because it broke many existing rules of conventional filmmaking. This movie replaced silky cinematography with raw natural lighting, polished studio sets with realistic location shooting, replaced editing continuity with unexpected jump cuts, replaced clear smooth camerawork with shaky hand held photography and many other traditional things. The movie is so different; it has scene of 20 minutes long conversation and 4 seconds action.
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Module 6 (8 out of 10)
1. Briefly describe how ideas about genre are used by people within the film industry, by film reviewers, and by ordinary moviegoers. Give an example of how you personally might use the idea of genre when selecting a film.
2. What are two the distinctive conventions of horror film (character, plot, theme, iconography) found in “The Shining”? How do these conventions operate within the film (be specific)? Does “The Shining” depart from typical horror conventions, and if yes, how?
3. Briefly define the characteristics of abstract and associational formal systems in experimental film, giving specific examples from "Film Art."
4. Describe how animation differs from live-action filming, using terms from "Film Art" to support your answer. Describe at least two of the different types of animation presented in "Film Art" and provide specific examples.
5. What kind of documentary form does "Man on Wire" employ? What are different techniques that the film uses to tell its story? In your experience, how does “Man on Wire” compare to other documentary films that you’ve seen in the past?
There are no any firmly established rules to define exactly in which genre each movie falls. There are some large blanket genres categories that fits many films. for example we say thriller film; it covers horror films, detective stories, hostages films and many others. similarly “comedy” is another blanket genre which covers all kind of comedies like slapstick comedies, romantic comedies, parodies, gross-out comedies etc. For different purpose film reviewers, film industries, and the audiences devise the sub genres from the main blanket genres to describe more exactly what films are like. In film industries executive or the financier finance the projects whose genres are popular. So the people working in the film industry come up with the project to fit the genre which are popular in the current markets. Reviewers classify films in a particular genre so the viewers can understand what they are talking about. Personally genre to me is what kind of story the film has. I like comedy movies. i usually figure out film genre watching the trailers or reading the reviews. if the reviews or the trailers have the smell of comedy, i watch that movie.
In abstract forms, the film’s structure is arranged around the abstract qualities of different colors, shapes, object, size and movements. The object are secluded typically from their everyday context and filmed in a way which revels its abstract qualities. The viewers figure out the object mostly looking at the texture and the size of the object. Abstract films are often organized in a way that we might call theme and variations. These terms are related to music where a melody or other type of motif is introduced, and the series of same kind of melody follows throughout the rest of the film.The introductory section of the film will establish the kinds of relationships that the film uses as a foundation element. Abstract films are presented in unique pattern to move us emotionally, stir us mentally, and challenge the way in which we see the things around us in day to day life. Ballet Mecanique is one of the example of abstract movie. This movie shows how objects can be transformed when their abstract qualities are used as the basis for a films form.
Associated formal system groups the images and sounds that do not have any immediate reasonable connection and promote us to look for some kind of connection between them. the images are grouped together in large sets to create distinct and unified parts as a whole. these kind of films have repeated motifs to reinforce these connection and strongly invite the viewer to interpret what they are viewing. “A Movie” is one of the example of associational form.
During the production stage of animated films, series of images are created by shooting one frame at a time. This images are manipulated by the film makers according to the subjects. Live action films are filmed continuously on on going action in real time. Daffy duck was not filmed continuously like other live action films. film makers created illusory motion and project the image of Daffy Duck. Animation is a convenient way to show things that are normally not visible. for example the slow change of geological formations is not possible to be filmed, but film makers can easily animate it.
There are different types of animation. The most popular one is a drawn animation. The picture are drawn either in paper or cels. the cels and drawings are photographed, but an animator can work with out camera as well. when the animation is done without using camera animators draw pictures directly in the films. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Ducks are the example of drawn animation. Another type of animation is Cut-outs. Film makers sometimes make flat puppets with movable joints. Animators can also manipulate cut out images frame by frame to create moving collages.
Man on wire is partly a compilation film. It is produced by assembling images form archival sources. The documentary has used some of the real photographs that were taken in past. It also includes the interviews of the people who witnessed it. It has mixed archival footage, interviews and material shot on the fly. Man on wire is a very inspirational documentary. The documentaries that i have watched in past were mostly related to nature, outer space, social problems etc. Man on wire has a story which is very unique an unbelievable. The past documentaries were mostly direct-cinema documentaries which showed the on going event. Those documentaries were had minimal interference by film makers comparing to Man On wire.
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Module 7 ( 8 out of 10)
1. Watch "Do the Right Thing." Summarize the film review in the chapter and express your thoughts and opinions on what the textbook authors had to say about it. How does your own review of the film differ from theirs? Be specific. Please write at least one full page in your response to this question.
2. What is a "film movement"? Briefly discuss at least two film movements described in chapter 12, naming important persons and films for each.
3. What are some important ways that Hollywood films have changed since 1960? What brought about these changes? Who are some important figures in recent Hollywood film and why are they important? Please be specific.
This movie opens with corny dance moves of Rosie Perez and the Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”. The corny dance, the blaring song beats and the long and retiring credentials was thwarting me from continue watching the movie in the beginning. Anyway i kept my patience and i later thanked my self for doing so; the movie was great in many aspects.
The movie shows a typical daily life of people in Bedford-Stuyvesant by introducing the audiences number of different characters.The neighborhood and its problems were what they all share; all characters have different thoughts,interests, values and occupation(though most of them were shown unemployed).
Sal’s pizzeria is a famous business in the neighborhood. It has been there for 25 years serving two generations of customers. Mookie and two of Sal’s son Vito and Pino worked in Sal’s Pizzeria. There was a huge difference between Sal’s two sons. Vito was a cool man who did not judge and treat people looking at the color of their skin where as Pino was a unabashed racist. Pino had spent his life so far talking profanity about their black customers. Mookie who worked as a delivery boy was not bad at job, but the working condition there was not very good as Pino always gave him a hard time. Another giant guy Radio Raheem did not care about anyone and walked around with his giant radio turned on full volume all the time. Buggin’ Out is another raciest guy who do not want to see the picture of white people in the wall of Sal’s pizzeria. There were other characters like Da Mayor, Senor Love Daddy, the Korean couples, mothers sisters. these characters were normal and spent their daily life in their own ways.
The movie shows how a single rotten fruit in a basket can make other fruits rotten, when the rotten fruit is left in the basket and not taken care. Sal’s raciest son Pino did not hear his father. His actions resulted in creating enmity. Radio Rahim’s stupid passion, and Buggin’ Out’s and Mookie’s stupid action created a violence which resulted in the death of a person and loss of property. More then that it increased the racial intolerance and the reason to hate each other. There was no any one particular person to be blamed for this misfortune. There was contribution of more then one person. Not a particular color can be blamed; the movie showed both black and white characters with both god and bad character.
The book says because Sal do not have any picture of black heroes in his wall, he lacks real integration into the community which i slightly disagree. Sal worked so hard his entire life to build that business, the walls of Pizzeria belongs Sal, so Sal has the right to decide what pictures he wants hang oh his wall.
Mookie is shown counting money in the beginning, and Mookie is also shown advising other guys to find a job and make money. The book interprets those scenes as Mookie’s willingness to work, But somewhere in the middle of the film Mookie goes to home and takes shower although he was still in his work hours. Mookie was supposed go back to work after he delivered pizza, instead he decided to take shower. This scene shows Mookie’s dishonesty towards his job. Actually Mookie was Compeld to work as he had to support his child and his girlfriend financially. The book has interpreted Mookie’s compulsion too work as his willingness which i disagree.
The term film movement consists of films that have been produced within a particular period or nation that share significant traits of style and form. The phrase film movement comes from filmmakers who operate within a common production structure and who share certain assumptions about film making. Film movements consists not only films but also the activities of specific filmmakers. the relevant factors like film industry, artistic theories held by film makers, technological features, cultural and economic elements are also sketched in film movements. These factors helps to explain how a particular movement began,how it developed, and what affected its decline.
During 1980’s young directors were recognized. James Cameron was one of them who made the movies like “ Terminator, Terminator-2 and “judgement day”. Like James Cameron, Spiel Berg was another fresh director who got recognized from a fictional movie Jurassic Park. These films were unique, had used new technologies and they yield maximum profit to the Hollywood film industry.
During the mid 1960’s Hollywood film industry seemed healthy with many blockbusters yielding maximum profits. But then the expensive studios failed. Televisions stooped bidding for the movies after they were released from theatre. To prevent this fall producers and directors came out with the strategy and started making counter-culture flavored films aiming at young peoples. The movies like “The god Father”, “ star wars” etc helped to lift the Hollywood's fortune as they these films were made aiming at border audiences. The traits of new generation making movies was the result of falling film industry and also the effect of French New wave.
Tom Hopper is one of the important figure in recent Hollywood film industry. He won Oscar for his movie “The Kings Speech” in the beginning of this year. This movie was also nominated for twelve Academy Awards including the Best picture of the year. James Cameron is another most important figure in Hollywood Industry. He is a Writer, Director and Producer who’s earning is highest among all those in Hollywood industry. His Movie “Avatar” and “Titanic” were greatest hit allover the world.. Johnny Deep, Seven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Will Smith etc. are some other shining stars of recent Hollywood Film Industry.
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Film Making Assignment
After the Death; the Doctor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnmo23t0kYE
“After the death; the Doctor” is a short comedy movie. I used narrative style tell the story. It looks like a silent movie in the beginning but it isn’t. In the middle I have included little bit of conversation to make the movie look better.
Most of the time the unseen narrator keeps narrating the story through captions. The captions in the movie represents two voices. The voice of the unseen narrator and the voice of the protagonist. For example the film starts with a caption in the black screen saying “Its 2am in the morning and Joe ….”. This is a voice of a narrator. This narration explains the viewers many things at once. Some of the simple guess that viewers can make by reading the very first caption are: the name of protagonist, his mood, his habit, the time etc. Further more viewers can expect night scenes, desperate look on protagonists face and the actions of searches in the movie.
The Protagonist’s voice is also represented by the captions. For example when Joe was not able to light his cigarette with iron, he is shown scratching his head desperately. The caption below him reads “ i need my lighter”. Although he was not speaking, the captions told the viewers what Joe was thinking in his head.
The film has maximum close shots. I choose to do this because close shots helps to emphasize objects. The shots when Joe was searching in his cabinets for the lighter were taken from very close distance. The contents of the cabinets were clearly seen. Those shots were taken so closely in order to convince the viewers that everything was inside the cabinet except a lighter.
Other close shots include the scene where Joe is shown trying to light a cigarette with an iron and hair straightener. These scenes were shot closely to show his facial expressions, and his efforts to light the cigarette.
Music is the motif as it is played throughout the film. Sometimes the music plays fast in high pitch, some time slow in low pitch depending upon the scene. The scene when Joe failed to light his cigarette with the iron and the hair straightener, and the scene when he crushed his cigarette and trashed are accompanied by deep heartbreaking music. This heartbreaking music is played along with every failure scene in the movie.
In the middle when the conversation was about to start the music fades out. It means the conversation is more important then the music at that point. When Joe turns on the iron to light the cigarette the music volume is kept low. The sound of turning the iron meter(switch) is given priority. This is also done to assure that the protagonist is not faking the audiences by holding the cold iron. The glowing power indicator in the iron also adds assurance. On the other hand the sound of the turning switch(meter) is faithful to its source. This is the sound what every viewer expects hear when such scene appears in the screen.
Different scenes in the movies are shot from different angles. Immediately after the first caption Joe is shown descending down staircase. This shot is taken from high angle. This is done to show the subject is less powerful. Joe is in fact is powerless in the story. The film clearly says that Joe has a bad forgetting habit and he is also the servant of his own smoking habit.
When Joe’s friend tell him to try his luck with the ceiling bulb, he points the glowing bulb above his head and mutters “Oh! no”. This scene is shot using the slanted camera angle. The camera was slanted in 45 degree angle from the floor and was focused towards the ceiling. This made the light bulb appear high above him. Joe did not try this. It is not because he knows its impossible to light a cigarette from the electric bulb, but because the bulb was physically far above him. Viewers can conclude this from his previous actions like trying to light a cigarette with an iron and a hair straightener.
Joe looks shorter then he really is when he is filmed from high angles, and he looks taller when he is filmed from low angles. Some of the scenes like Joe scratching his head and saying i need my lighter and Joe searching his pants pockets were shot from eye levels. Joe is not physically manipulated here. These scenes has shown Joe’s real height and weight and size.
It took time for me to come out with this title. The ending scene of the movie motivated me give the movie this title. I think the title “ After the death; the doctor” matches the story line.
I did not worked too much on lighting. The story asked for the night scenes, so i shot the whole movie at night time. I turned my room lights on and off when required.
I used a simple free software from windows to edit this movie. I downloaded a free music from the Internet. This is from one of the Bollywood movie i have watched some years ago. Accidentally i forget to give credit to music at the end. I realized this after i uploaded this in YouTube. I will re-edit the movie and add the credentials, if i decide to keep this in You Tube once it is evaluated.
I never thought movie making would be so much of fun. My brothers and friends helped me. I am not seen in the Film as i was busy rolling the camera and directing my crew members.
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