This moment includes Theo riding in the back of a Phantom a car that is. In this moment he is going to visit his cousin. The car is grey with a silver hood ornament. The scene begins with the hood ornament. What I see, are the homeless people, dressed in heavy layers of grungy old clothes. There are also venders, selling things from fish to misc. objects. One vender looks like he is selling rice, the other potatoes. The market is sort of in front of a large building, they are not against the building just in front of it. As the car is moving, there are people on bicycles moving out of the way. Then finally we see Theo’s face as he watches the people surrounding the car. As we see him there is (put-put), bike/slash carriage riding behind the phantom. The driver is wearing heavy neutral layers and has his face covered. The scene is dark and grey. There is filth on the streets, pieces of shredded paper ,everything. Some people are covering their faces to prevent smelling the awful surroundings. Then the camera cuts to outside the frame of the car and shows the surrounding people, ending the moment.
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Hugo:
I must say that this film was a refreshing take on 3D. I normally wouldn’t go see a 3D film because it hurts my eyes, and it is pretty expensive. As I watch this I felt like I was back in my elementary days, the digital work was so spot on and exciting. Scorsese really created an amazing film. Here are a few things that stuck out to me:
It seemed there was a pattern in the film with the number 4. Hugo looks through two number fours when he is watching passengers at the train station, and the Toy- maker Papa George. Then the automaton clicks 4 times before cranking up to start drawing. Now I don’t know if this was intentional, or what it really means really.
I also enjoyed seeing Hugo turn into an automaton. This showed me that man and machine are starting to blend together and become one. This topic has been reoccurring over and over again in films lately, such as Surrogates with Bruce Willis, and The Island by Michael Bay. It shows that there is a sense of anxiety when it comes to technology and what the future is for the human race.
This might just be me, but at the end of the film with close up of the automaton kind of looked like it was smiling. Now it could only signify that somehow it can understand human life and conversation, just a far-fetched idea.
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A Single Man:
I must say that Tom Ford did an impeccable job with this film, especially when it came to fashion.
My cinephilic moment came when George was getting ready for the day, getting dressed and then he put on a “pinky ring”. This automatically caught my eye. Then I went about researching pinky rings and found out this: Engineers in Canada and the US who were participants in “the ritual” of the calling of an engineer and members of the “order of the engineer” wear a steel or “Iron ring” on the pinky finger on the “strong” hand; they sometimes wear a signet ring on the pinky finger. Then I went on to find out that in mythology wearing a ring on a certain finger means something. Your pinky finger represents Ares, God of war; which also represents conflict. This appeared with George and his battle with losing Jim. Then I went on to find out that Tom Ford studied a bit of architecture in college. Also George’s lover Jim was said to be an architect in the film. It is amazing how something so small as a pinky ring could mean so much. I have always thought the pinky ring worn was just for style and fashion, nothing else really.
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THE PRESTIGE:
The Prestige was an amazing film; I can’t believe I have not heard about it before. I love movies that incorporate mystery and puzzles. It engages the audience more and keeps them on the edge of their seats.
What interest me the most was, how space was presented in the film; we first see space shown as a tank filled with water and a woman being suspended in the air into the tank. Eventually she gets stuck and dies. The space is small secluded and holds a helpless feeling towards it. Along with cases, which also show a small space. The women who ended up dying, her funeral was held in a long, closed in corridor, which seemed to have only one way out. This space represents how the characters were shown, stuck in the world of magic which they were both obsessed with. The cell is another example of a small space, Borden has always been trapped in a cell, but this time it was an actual jail cell.
Even the transporting device that Angier has built is put in a case of a funny shape. The device is put in a case, because it is dangerous and something the rest of the world cannot handle. Christopher Nolan really worked with the elements of this film to bring the whole plot full circle.
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MELANCHOLIA:
This film takes on a different style that some other films I have seen. Meaning in the beginning it is very slow. The speed of the beginning is in slow motion.
- · This leaves the setting that we were in; in an akward silence. You could feel the uncomfortable tension in the room. As soon as it was over, we regained normalcy, meaning the film started to take on an actual speed of reality. There was a sense of calmness.
Another technique that I notice Lars von Trier, used was the use of a candid camera.
- · It moved when everyone else moved, swaying form one side of the room to the other. The way our heads would actually move when looking at our surrounding
- · I felt it was unnecessary, it made me dizzy and feel sea-sick.
- · I felt that if Von Trier used Godard’s technique, of holding the camera on one characters face at a time, would have translated better in telling his story.
This film, in taking on the speed of reality has, caused me to experience Justine’s depression like it was my own.
- · I felt her frustration, her low times, and the times when she tried very hard to look happy
- · If the film was not simple in effects like Sontag spoke about then the author’s message would not have come across clearly.
- · By the end of this film I was as depressed as Justine, and as hopeless feeling as Claire.
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THE HURT LOCKER:
I must give credit to Kathryn Bigelow, her use of camera styles told her story very well, and for me as an audience member I felt I was there in the desert with them.
There were a few moments where death, war and violence stuck out to me and how they were captured.
The first moment: The beginning of the film starts out with a depiction of war. But what makes it different is the amateur personal camera is incorporated in this scene. Bigelow goes from professional camera to candid camera with this scene. A soldier is seen walking towards a bomb after he is finished he walks away; it turns to candid. The candid camera always moves like we are the ones running with it and capturing the moment. As soon as the bomb explodes a the soldier goes flying, it switches to the other camera, the soldier moves in slow motion, and we know he is dead because of the blood in his helmet.
The Second Moment: Again we witness death in slow motion always when it comes to when bomb explode. This one is with Dr. Cambridge, as he is waving goodbye to the locals (our view is from the hum- ve like the rest of the soldiers), there is an instant explosion under Doc. The speed is picked up once debris hits the vehicle, and we are placed back into reality of how death is really depicted meaning speed wise.
The third Moment: This would have to be a part during the gunfire in the desert. One of the soldiers is left to shoot the enemy across the railroad. This violent moment is speed up during the shooting. It only slows down to show that the enemy is dead. We know he is dead because his arm is limp across the train tracks still clutching the gun.
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In Viaggo in Italia there is a shot where there is a noise heard outside and the main characters the man and women run to the window, open it and look out to see what has happened.
1st Order: The shadow by the window shows that they are not really supposed to see what is happening. The closed space of the window and the sense of no room show that the man and women are joined in their curiosity.
2nd Order: It can be said that when something bad or unusual happens, neighbors and strangers come to see what happening. I think there is a quote that goes like mind your neighbor or something in that form. The news has encouraged being noisy, by informing people of other people’s business. In film when the camera makes a long body shot it means that you are to focus on the characters and to the reaction of what’s happening next.
3rd Order: A myth to this shot would be the need that human beings have and find pleasure in voyeurism. The thought that what they are watching does not know they are being watched. It kind of goes with Laura Mulvey’s Gaze theory.
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Psycho Moments:
§ There is a moment where the camera focuses on the money in the envelope on the bed, then to a suitcase.
Ø The spectator can assume that Marion is planning to runaway with the money, even though in the previous scene she showed no interest in the money at all.
Ø There was also a point where the camera closes up to the newspaper that has the money in it, showing that Norman missed this item.
§ There was another moment where it seems the camera is on the hood of Marion's car as she drives through the streets.Ø Another medium would not be able to show the audience the same perspective the character has. Which I think is something purely cinematic.
§ The use of light in Psycho is very interesting.
Ø There is a moment where Lila and Norman Bates are in his parlor and they are speaking about his mother. On one side of the room Marion has a lamp turned on showing her innocence, while on the other end Norman sits in a dark corner even though there is a candle behind him that can be lit. This shows Normans inner darkness, and how we as the audience should be aware of him.
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Purely Cinematic: The Grapes of Wrath
Hitchcocks definition of purely cinematic is the camera telling the story, so that is what I Kept in mind as I watch The Grapes Of Wrath.
v The preacher takes the alcohol and puts it to his lips, without saying let me have a drink or I am going to take a sip. Which leads us to think maybe the reason he is not a preacher anymore is because he has fallen to alcoholism
v Camera cuts to the house of Tommy’s family with all the wind and debris flying around, then cuts to the men looking at each other. This lets the audience infer their thoughts by the camera showing the story.
v The camera focuses on the men’s faces in the abandoned house with only a candle as light. The camera lets you feel the gloominess of the moment.
v There is a moment where it is a flashback of Mule and how his farm was run over by the tractor. After it was done the camera moves from the three people standing there watching their house be destroyed, then follows to their shadows, showing that is all that is left.
v There is a long-shot of Tommy and the preacher walking to a house on a farm, which we can infer from previous notions that this may be Uncle Joes’ house.
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| Ma by The Fire |
v Last but not least there is a moment where Tommy’s mother is sitting in empty Uncle Joes’ house by a fire and she is looking at letters and postcards old memories and you can put together just from the cameras placement that she is going to burn something.
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| In Tommy's family's abandon house |
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Midnight In Paris:
v In the beginning at the lunch with Inez’s parents, Allen does the traditional shot/ reverse/ shot, but there is a moment where you see the back of the fathers head in a mirror behind her parents, in it you can see the loving expression of Inez towards her parents speaking.
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| Luncheon with Inez's Parents |
Film can capture moving emotions that other mediums cannot. The fact that as a spectator you are showed clearly the emotion the director wants you to see, other mediums don’t do that.
v Another recurring moment in the film is the actor’s talk about movies and how Hollywood is, and isn’t, while they are in a film.
That is another thing other mediums cannot do, show their medium in their medium, if that makes sense.
v Another moment is basically the whole film, but the power of movement. Gil walks a lot and the fact that walking takes him into another point in time is amazing. Movement is the mode to switch lives and thinking, this is what I think Allen was trying to portray.
Other mediums cannot do that take movement and use it in a way to blur reality and fantasy.
Ø Side note: In the film the character Gertrude stein said to Picasso, it is more like a still life than a portrait. Both are very close mediums but I leave everyone to think about this; Is there a difference between still life vs. a portrait?
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These are the ways Godard broke from the IMR:
- He does not use the shot/reverse/shot at all really in this film
- Ex. The moment in the beginning focuses on the Madeline, while the Paul the main Character speaks to her. It shows only her reaction to their conversation. Another moment is when he grabs his bag in the laundromat and starts speaking to his friend we never see the friends reaction. It feels that he is talking to himself and having one of those Hamlet moments.
- There is no climax or fall, or much of a plot.
- ex. Bathroom clip of Paul's face as he speaks to Madeline they are not getting anywhere in their conversation. It is very slow, especially if you are looking for a lot of action.
- Godard does not do dissolving from one scene to the next.
- One moment would be Day writing on the police car, next night on the train.
- Another thing is he relates moments to unrelated things.
- ex: clip of Paul's friend and another girl in the kitchen then clips to people walking in a shopping area, and back to them.
One line that did stick out to me in the film and Paul was the one who said he said : "put yourself in his shoes its pointless".
