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Viewing Response 14: The last one

Owan Evan’s paper explores the aspects of the film Run Lola Run that had possibly contributed to its worldwide success, especially those aspects that are post-modern and trans-human. He goes into depth about things like how the movie is structured like a video game in that Lola has three lives, and she has the various options of what to do, and that selection is like a video game weapon select screen. He also mentions the blending of different mediums such as the use of animation to clearly introduce the character. The post-modern aspect of the film that is the most subtle, yet interesting is the “seamless fusion of the various visual modes” that blend every single genre and every mode of art into the movie. When discussing the film, it can be seen as an action thriller movie with drama and romance. It also uses animation, music, film, and even polaroid pictures to send its message across. The whole film is a mix of all of these different genres and forms of art. This can be seen especially in the bank scenes, where romance and drama take place, followed by action, with the intermission of polaroid pictures.

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Viewing Response 13: Cinematic Style

Both Butler’s text and Simmond’s text investigate a movie and then discuss an issue that can stem from that movie. In Butler’s text she takes a look at the movie Paris is Burning, and discusses sexuality and gender in regards to subjects like homosexuality, and transgenderism. She discusses how performing based on the gender you are born with is considered normal in heterosexual society, and how movies such as Paris is Burning places being lesbian, or being gay on failed heterosexual love rather than on personal choice. Simmond’s text investigates the movie She’s Gotta Have It and how black female sexuality is portrayed throughout the film. Simmond notes how in the movie, black female sexuality is defined by the need of male sexuality, and how it is portrayed through the male lens as opposed to the female one. Pariah by Dee Rees works oppositely to these films. It shows female homosexuality from the point of view from the female. Also, the film portrays the struggles that the lead character faces while maintaining her humanity and individualism.

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Viewing Response 12: Trinh T. Minh-ha and 20 FEET FROM STARDOM

Trinh T. Mahn-ha discusses the meaning of Documentary in her paper, and decides that it should not be defined in order to avoid reducing film theory to specialization and expertise. She does, however, include loose definitions of documentary in her film, that the film 20 Feet from Stardom does follow. A documentary has material that is actual, and if it is invented, then it isn’t a documentary. Stating that a documentary is not narrative does not work as a clear definition, because some documentaries, such as 20 Feet from Stardom, have a narrative, and draw the audience in with a story. Mahn-ha proceeds to discuss the conventions of a documentary that directors use to evoke the feeling that what is being watched is truly authentic. One such convention that is used in the film is interviewing. This convention though is mixed with montage of pictures, and video, as well as the songs that are sung by the main subject of the sequence. This merges the conventions of authenticity, while using techniques of narrative that provide an artistic feel to the subject. This shows how the film manages to be a narrative, but also a documentary.

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Viewing Response 11: Linda Williams and BLADE RUNNER

Linda Williams notes how three genres of film, pornography, horror, and melodrama, use the body, and its many actions and reactions, to evoke emotions and response in what is called “body genre.” This paper, “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender, and Excess,” also discusses how these actions and reactions are mostly seen in the women in film. Pornography uses female pleasure to induce a response. Melodrama enlists female weeping to help evoke sadness. Horror takes the screams and pain of the female to induce the same reaction in the audience. These techniques can be seen throughout Blade Runner by Ridley Scott. The horror of death is exemplified when Pris is dying while convulsing and screaming. It creates a disturbed feeling in those watching, one that emulates the thoughts of death that each Replicant has. The sadness that Roy feels is shown when the audience sees him crying in the rain. Although the audience does not see this, his words reveal that he truly is weeping, and that sorrowful acceptance of death that Roy feels is felt by the audience through these tears.

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Viewing Response 10: Rick Altman and IMITATION OF LIFE

Rick Altman discusses in his paper titled “ A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre “ that film genre can have two forms of description and discussion: the semantic approach, which describes a genre based off of the subjects of the movie, and the syntactic approach, which looks at the relationships between the movies’ subjects and events. In light of this, one can look at Imitation of Life by Douglass Sirk, and how it fits into the genre of “melodrama” in both a semantic way and a syntactic way. Semantically, a melodrama features a struggling protagonist, usually female, that faces social pressures, threats, fears, and other difficulties; and, they work through them throughout the plot. Imitation of Life features each of these things, as the four main characters are all women facing challenges relating to ambition, romance, and race. The syntactic definition of melodrama is a plot that appeals to human emotion, and uses stereotyped character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. Imitation of Life also fits into this description as the plot relies on emotional reactions, and uses the stereotypes of the distant mother, the bubbly teen, the rebellious daughter, and the righteous mother. Thus making Imitation of Life a perfect model for the genre in terms of Altman’s thesis.

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Viewing Response 9: bell hooks and DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST

In her essay “ The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators” hooks discusses the history of film narrative through a series of gazes, and how the black female gaze has neglected; for the white male gaze dominated, and when the black gaze was appearing in film, it was male, and geared towards white women. Daughters of the Dust, however, opposes this and creates a prominently black female gaze as the most important characters of the movie are black women that aren’t simply objects to be looked at, or hags to be hated on. It featured black women with real character, and layers to their character. This pushed the narrative to be about each woman’s conflict, while embracing its African heritage. This is done by having the conflict be told to the audience, just like an oral history that is often found in African cultures. This is then backed up by showing the audience the effects of this conflict on the family. This is most prominent in the climax of the movie where Eula is giving her monologue on moving on, and letting go of the scars that is their past. 

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Viewing Response 8: Christian Metz and DO THE RIGHT THING

Christian Metz compares the creation of narrative film to language in his paper. In particular, he mentions the denotative and connotative aspects of narrative film, stating that the denotation must come first, with connotation being supplemental through the other aspects of film, such as cinematography, and mise-en-scene. Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing incorporates this ideology excellently, especially in the scene in Sal’s Pizzeria shown below. The denotative part of the narrative is that a fight unleashes between two parties as they each argue over their demands. However, a connotative aspect is added with the quick cuts and the heavy use of dutch angles. These create the connotation that there is a disturbing root in the argument that stems from racial and social tensions. This connotation, and denotation, combine to form the narrative idea that this argument is about race, and can lead to something more dangerous, which it does. 

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0:00-0:51 Action 0:00-0:51

0:51-1:34 Slapstick 0:01-0:44

1:35-2:13 Noir 0:35-1:13

2:13-2:48 Action 0:15-0:50

3:03-end Western 0:00-0:44

Part 2

0:00-0:34 Discovery 1:50-2:24

0:34-1:34 Romance 0:00-1:00

1:34-2:19 Western 0:00-0:45

2:22-3:24 Science Fiction 0:00-1:02

3:42-4:32 Hero 0:00-0:50

4:32-end Discovery 0:00-0:25

Part 3

0:00-0:28 Mystery 0:01-0:29

0:28-1:00 Horror 0:51-1:22

1:00-1:36 Noir 0:35-1:11

1:36-2:41 Action 0:51-1:56

0:49-end Slapstick 0:00-1:19

*****Due to restrictions of Tumblr I can’t upload video for parts 2 and 3

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Viewing Response 7: Mary Ann Doane and SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

Marry Ann Doane discusses many aspects of editing and mixing sound within a movie in her thesis. One such topic that she discusses is the conflict of realism and intelligibility through sound perspective. This conflict appears often in _Singin’ in the Rain, _especially in the title musical number, as the scene may call for a long shot in order to capture the scope of the choreography, however, because the singing is key to the movie, the voice of the singer stays the same. Also, in this particular scene, the rain and other sounds in the setting should be louder than Gene Kelly’s singing, and tap dancing. The position of the sound gets altered, and it sounds as if the audience was next to Kelly, with only a light rain. However, even with this alteration of reality, and the non-diegetic instrumentals that Kelly is singing to, the ideological response of the audience is not negative, and the viewer still stays absorbed into the realism of the world. This is because the intelligibility stays in focus, allowing the viewer to actually hear the music, and make the assumption that in this world, that is exactly what should be happening.

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Viewing Response 6: Sergei Eisenstein and MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA

Sergei Eisenstein discusses the usage of montage in film to invoke ideas and messages through conflicting images. Vertov puts this theory to the test in his film A Man With a Movie Camera by editing film so that two images that are cut on top of each other invoke an idea in the audiences mind. One recurring example of this that takes place throughout the movie is the image of the movie camera with an eye over it. Just as how the Japanese hieroglyphs in Eisenstein’s paper combine to create an idea, these two images do the same. These two images invoke the idea that the camera is the eye of the viewer. It captures images, and processes them, just like a normal human eye would. The later image of the camera moving and dancing on its own, when thought of in the previous context, also implies the idea that we go through huge lengths, even dancing, to see things such as landmarks, events, and most importantly, movies; and looking at this image on its own adds the idea that the movie make goes to great lengths just to create the shots that the audience so desperately wants to see.

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Viewing Response 5: VSEVOLOD PUDOVKIN and NORTH BY NORTHWEST

In “On Editing” Pudovkin discusses how “editing is in actual fact a compulsory and deliberate guidance of the thoughts and associations of the spectator” and continues “if it be coordinated […] it will either excite or soothe the spectator”, an idea that can be seen in a scene near the end of North by Northwest.

This scene places Roger in the position of spy. Through editing, whenever we see Roger react to the conversation, an eyeline match reveals what he reacts to; and, when that conversation mentions something important, the editing puts focus on that item, like the statue, or shows Roger’s reaction. This guides the spectator to key elements, as Pudovkin states. Roger also notices Eve and tries to get her attention, making our focus on that action. Meanwhile, the men still have their conversation, which is kept in the back of the audience’s mind, causing the audience to wonder what is happening while Roger is distracted. Then, the film cuts back to the two men just in time to realize that they have heard Roger, and that he needs to hide, placing a mix of thrill and relief in the audience’s emotional state only with the editing.

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Viewing Response 4: Laura Mulvey and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” is a thesis on how the camera in cinema takes on a primarily male gaze, making women an object to be looked at, and other men a subject to be identified with. Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love displays this kind of cinematography in the way it frames characters throughout the film. In the scene shown below, Wong Kar Wai frames the scene in such a way that the body of Mrs. Chang, minus her head for most of it, is in full focus due to lighting and the constricting corridor, placing focus on the most sexual parts of her body. This also applies to Mrs. Chow when she walks in. Once both are in the room, the faces of those two and Mr. Chang are never shown, and the frame still puts emphasis on their body. That is until Mr. Chow shows up and leaves. When he is in focus, you can see his face; allowing you to see his emotions and identify with him. Thus making him a subject that can be related to, rather than just a simple object to look at and desire.

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Viewing Response 3: Jean Luis  Baudry, and M

Jean Luis Baudry, in his thesis, expresses how the camera as a mechanical apparatus taps into our ideology and makes us believe we are truly in the movie of which we are seeing. The camera itself acts as an eye, and the viewer, through the projection accepts everything that the camera sees as being what the viewer is truly seeing: we believe we are watching the events of a story, instead of a screen displaying the events. Fritz Lang in his movie M shows this by his use of the camera. Every now and then the film gives a POV shot, of which we are watching a conversation from the point of view of one of the people, switching back and forth. 

Other times, the camera will act as a third person, following the characters. This is especially present in the scene of which the killer is on streets following a little girl, and we don’t see him, but we hear the tune that he is known to whistle. The audience is just there, watching and waiting, following the little girl and on the lookout for a killer.

This sort of “screen mirror” is solidified when the killer looks back.

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Viewing Response 2: Elena Lombardi, and LADRI DI BICICLETTE

In “Of Bikes and Men” Elena Lombardi presents the idea that the movie follows through with three different types of narratives--the quest, alienation, and fetishism--which she argues by presenting examples of scenes and discussing them further. With this in mind, the restaurant scene is a perfect intersection of the three narratives.

This scene is in the standard restaurant dining, but it is also very clear that the restaurant is meant for a richer crowd as there is live music, people with more expensive clothes, and waiters. The two main characters enter this scene after quitting on finding the bike, likening to when the hero momentarily gives up in a quest narrative, and they decide to relax a little. Antonio is doing it to give his son a good time, showing that he can still be the father he should be, and buying his son what he wants. This ties to the fetishism that the bike is his manhood, and in this moment, he is simply trying to make it up. Also, after a few shots with the rich boy, it is made clear that money, and capitalism, are the only thing stopping Bruno and his father from eating like the rich; even though they have worked hard, they are unable to live the dream that Antonio tries to explain to his son as he goes over his would-be wage. This scene, and its mise-en-scene create a perfect intersection of the three narratives set up by Elena Lombardi.

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André Bazin’s “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema” and the Mise-en-Scène in Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE

In André Bazin’s thesis, he mentions how new film creators are using deep focus shots to create a more personal experience for the audience, which is exemplified in a scene from Citizen Kane of which Kane is speaking to his longtime friend Leland. Throughout the scene of which a drunk Leland confronts Kane on his life choices, only a few cuts are used, as opposed to a series of shot-reverse-shot style cuts that are usually used for conversation. Instead, Welles uses long shots of deep focus that place the camera low, on the ground and looks up toward the characters, meticulously moving themselves into and out of view of the camera.

As Bazin states, this action brings the viewer into the scene, making it feel as if they are watching the two from inside the room; and, by placing the camera low, the viewer is forced to look up at the two friends arguing in private, as if they were watch their parents fight as a child. The use of deep focus shots by Orson Welles makes this scene more realistic so that the viewer can relate, maybe not to the characters, but to the act of witnessing this moment

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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Youtube video of the cinematographer for the movie discussing lens choice of this film and other films he has worked on.

Twitter Post of the Director of the movie, Guy Ritchie, at a Q&A for "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."

#applesoho #themanfromuncle pic.twitter.com/tGaQ3hCCwB

— Guy Ritchie (@realguyritchie)

August 15, 2015

Henry Cavill, the actor for Napoleon Solo in the movie, and his day of work on a photoshoot for Bentley

The composer for the film, Daniel Pemberton, discusses what it was like to create the score.

This is an instagram post of Armie Hammer, the actor who plays as Illya Kuryakin, with his family

This is our family. My wife, who is so strong and fierce she not only tried to walk herself out of the hospital room on her own two feet, but made that hallway look like a runway on the way out-- I love you and am so impressed with you, wife. Harper, our perfect daughter who already tries to comfort and smother her younger brother with love and kisses. And the newest addition: our Son (future world heavyweight champ) #TheHammily

A post shared by Armie Hammer (@armiehammer) on Jan 18, 2017 at 5:13pm PST

This is the costume of Illya Kuryakin in the movie.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/530158187362434933/