June 08, 2009
Scribe Reports from Cory and Barbara's Group: The Navigator
Barbara and I mentioned a number of things in our discussion of The Navigator. Some subjects we touched on include:
- How difficult it is to convey conversations in silent movies, resulting in the usage of gestural language, as was seen among the men at the beginning of the film.
- The physical comedy seen in The Navigator was necessary for a successful comedy, because the amount of time it would take to pull off a verbal joke with the movie's intertitles would completely detach the audience from what was happening in the film.
- It was definitely a good thing that there was no canned laughter in the film, because that would have really detracted from the film as a whole.
- The lighting of the film was well-used, helping to create moods (such as the spooky atmosphere in the "Restless Night" scene) and to point out camera focus as well.
- Contemporary comedies just are not made like The Navigator was. There is less physicality in modern comedies, along with an entire host of differences.
cah68 at 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Movies & Meaning 3/4 Discussion
A few things really stuck out at me during the reading.
-The first was the numerous "tricks of the trade" that they revealed in the third chapter on production design. Everything from matte backgrounds in Fight Club to the fake outdoor shots in Amistad and the process of doing them is fascinating. The most interesting part of it all are the miniatures that are finely crafted and painted only to be blown up in the name of special effects. My uncle who works in special effects used to tell me about working with them sometimes in the industry. After having seen some of the films that use miniatures I have to say that I think the miniature special effects come out looking better then the CGI ones.
-The section on improvised acting such as the case study we watched with Marlon Brando not handing back the glove in On the Waterfront. Degrees of ingenuity and thinking outside the box have always fascinated me.
rme12 at 10:01 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)
Screening Report: The Navigator
Screening Report: The Navigator
1. The Navigator as Road Movie: Narrative. Although not on a real road, The Navigator, however, still has the characteristics of a road movie. Rollo Treadway and his love, Kathryn are on a journey without any clear goal. They encounter various random situations and grow closer together by overcoming these obstacles. This movie is also a romantic comedy. Because they realize that being on an abandoned ship together requires relying on each other, they grow to care about each other more and more.
"Screening Report: The Navigator"
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June 07, 2009
Movies and Meaning Ch. 3-4; Jackie
"Movies and Meaning Ch. 3-4; Jackie"
jxp166 at 07:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Production Design
Whenever I think about characters in a film i think about the personality of the characters that are being portrayed. However, I never took into account the significance of the production designer. The production designer sttod out the most to me because I never realized that when this person thinks of the characters not only is their personality taken into account, but the kind of books the person
dnb5 at 06:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
MM 3/4 - Cory Hershberger
During my perusal of chapters 3 and 4 of Movies and Meaning, a few things struck me as particularly interesting or confusing:
- I really liked the profiling of the production design or set building of specific films, such as The Terminal. What I found myself wondering, though, after the description of The Terminal's fully functional airport terminal set, was a little more detail about the actual cost of the set, and what it was like to film on said set. As we were reading, we saw repeated statistics about just how much steel and work went in, but I thought the anecdote could have been taken further (the same for a few other film spotlights throughout the chapters).
- I also liked seeing how many films are constantly paying homage to the films that came before, or taking steps to avoid being categorized like previous films in the same genre, i.e., 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner in comparison to The Fifth Element.
- Finally, I enjoyed the chapter on acting tremendously. The explanation of what it is really like backstage on a film set was enlightening, as was the description of how film acting differed from theater acting. I found myself curious after I finished the chapter about how many directors plan their visual design around one specific actor, similar to Ross's question above. What happens if the actor in mind has a previous commitment? Does the director then rethink his or her entire film?
cah68 at 05:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 06, 2009
MM 3/4: Ross Wasserstrom
In reading Movies and Meaning, I came across several points that I found hard to understand, as well as a ton of new and interesting information.
From chapter 3, Prince discusses in detail the role of digital effects and production design. In mentioning films such as Sin City, Jurrasic Park, and Zodiac, he emphasizes the visual impact (and success) of 3-d matting and effects. Why do some films, then, seem to skimp on the effects at the expense of the film's visual quality? Prince mentions Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow as a film that fails visually, but others such as The Golden Compass have been accused of the same.
From chapter 4, I am wondering to what extent actors are written into screenplays, or at least directors' visualizations of them. For example, how much of Vertigo would have been based upon Hitchcock's intent on using James Stewart as the lead actor? Would the film be different with a different actor, or does that much rely on the director? Is there variation?
wrw6 at 04:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)