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.
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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.
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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.
2. The Navigator and the Road Movie: Composition. Unlike a tradition road movie, which stresses the environment, The Navigator is set mostly on the vehicle – the ship. The framing of the shots show how trapped they are on the boat. The sea around them is not emphasized because it does not matter besides not providing any escape for the characters. The music is mostly piano, like the music played at a bar. It is mostly comical, which is the tone of the film.
3. The Navigator: The Shots. The main purpose of the shots is to be humorous. As a result, the long shot is mostly used because it provides the right distance from the characters so that the audience will feel comfortable laughing. The long shots also emphasize the emotional distance between the Rollo and Kathryn. In one scene, Rollo gets in a car to visit his love right across the street. In another scene, Rollo and Kathryn are running to find each other on the boat and run around in circles. Long shots emphasize the space between them and also make the scene funnier.
4. The Navigator: Scenes. The journey that the characters take is to go from spoiled rich people who cannot do the most basic tasks to support themselves to learning to survive and become more self-sufficient. The scene in which Rollo and Kathryn fail to make one edible thing to eat in the kitchen is not only funny, but also shows how a life of being served has made them useless. This same scene is repeated towards the end and shows them having everything under control
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June 07, 2009
Movies and Meaning Ch. 3-4; Jackie
I thought the discussions about digital editing and effects was particularly interesting. The textbook author raised the question of whether digital effects and editing undermines the actor's skill and imposes a sterile artificiality in films that rely heavily these digital processes. It has always seemed to me that people become overly excited about films that have great special effects, such as I, Robot, newer Star Wars movies, or other films with a fantasy or outer space setting. When I saw these movies, my immediate reaction was positive. But these films were not memorable. Looking back on these movies months after seeing them for the first time, I think of them now as mediocre. When I read the insert in chapter 3 about The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the quote from the film's visual effects cinematographer Alex Funke, which read, "At some subconscious level, viewers can tell when they're seeing real photography," made me realize that perhaps this was what made these films less memorable to me than others. In contrast, I found the films in The Lord of the Rings trilogy to be very memorable and inspiring - their sets were convincing and epic, the acting and characters were memorable, and the films did not possess the sterile quality of many other fantasy movies.
While reading chapter 4, I was surprised at the lack of rehearsal actors have time to do.
I also found the difference between method and technical acting interesting. I always thought that actors connected emotionally with their roles as characters in a film, and that was what made their acting convincing. I wonder about the legitimacy of James Cagney's claim that his scene in White Heat was not due to empathy for his character's feelings but to his ability to switch into his character's highly emotional role in such an automatic and emotionless fashion.
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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
reads, along with what they would be wearing, and the type of furniture that is in the home of the characters. The production designer also works hand-in-hand with the cinematographer.
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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?
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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?
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June 03, 2009
Navigator - Questions by Barbara
I was wondering what was done to get the hats that Rollo put on his
head to fly off so fast.
In the beginning of the film when a group of men were talking about
the ship, it looked like they were using a sort of sign language
with their hands. Why were they using these gestures? It wasn't
used anywhere else in the film.
Wasn't it dangerous to use the Roman candles? If the Roman candles
were not real, then how were the sparks displayed without anyone
getting hurt?
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Navigator - Comments by Barbara
I did not think that I would like this film because there would be
no talking. I was surprised that I really enjoyed it. There were
moments when I thought that it seemed to take longer in some
situations, but you also wonder how the couple will get out of an
almost impossible situation. The screenwriter came up with a good
surprise ending. Certain situations were very humorous. It is nice
to laugh when you want to laugh and it isn't dubbed in the film so that you laugh even when it isn't funny because you hear laughter.
I liked it when the screen would show only the words for you to read and then it went back to the film.
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The navigator discussion question
1. What would happen if the movie was not black and white film? How will it affect the entire movie?
2. Buster Keaton used wide-angle lenses in many scenes. What would happen if he used long focal lenses and tracking for a camera movement in the scene where the cannibals chased the main characters?
Would tension of the scene be heightened?
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Ross Wasserstrom's questions for the Navigator
The setup for The Navigator's plot is very thin at best; it relies on the convergence between a bumbling fool (Buster Keaton) and an international espionage plot. In fact, the characters are not even given names. Does the lack of a "plot" play out positively or negatively in the movie? Would it be better if there was a traditional 'story arc' as such we are more accustomed to?
The comedy of the film is obviously visual, but relies heavily on understanding of social class and American society: in the beginning, Buster Keaton (privy to extroadinary wealth of ambiguous providence) has his driver literally drive him across the street. Is this comedic device used today? How has it changed?
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The Navigator - The Comedic Camera
My favorite gag was when Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) drives to Betsy O'Brien's (Kathryn McGuire) house. The success of it lies within the camera's movement: a subtle pan that follows the car from one side to the other.
Another gag relied greatly upon the camera being still. We watch from a distance as Rollo and Betsy run all about the ship looking for each other. Because of the careful framing the audience is aware of each character's relative positions and the separation that is always present between them.
-Richard Lee
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Cory's Discussion Questions - The Navigator
1. What did you think of the very distant camera shots (i.e., the ones shown when Keaton was pulling The Navigator with the rowboat)? Were they successful in spite of the actors being so small in the frame or could they have been done better with today's technology?
2. The comedy of the film is very physical. Why do you think that movies made today do not have as much physical comedy in them? What causes the decrease in physicality?
-Cory Hershberger
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The Navigator - Discussion Questions
1. Keaton uses a few unique camera angles to produce different effects, but the film consists mostly still-camera wide-angle shots. How does the camera placement compliment the film’s absurd comedic narrative?
2. How does Keaton use lighting to invoke certain moods? Do you think this would have been a more effective technique if the film were done in color?
3. Unlike in modern films, The Navigator's storyline is not the focal point of the film. What makes this film so famous? When faced with the creative challenge of telling a story without sound, is Keaton’s action-oriented approach more effective than would be a subtitle-narrated or dialogue-heavy film with a more complicated plot?
Jackie
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Navigator Comments
For me, what really stood out in Buster Keaton's work is his persistence in hopeless endeavors. He maintains such politeness and formality while trying to do things like shuffling cards with wet hands that it becomes funny through absurdity. His gives off this feeling that would make anyone want to reach through the screen and grab him by the shoulders and spin him in the right direction and show him how to do whatever hes doing. But at the same time you know that if you grabbed him and spun him he would just end up spinning like a top making the whole situation even funnier.
My question is how did he not manage to make the transition from silent films to talkies? Many actors gained huge fame without ever talking such as Harpo Marxx, or Teller from Penn and Teller.
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The Navigator2
Being that I have never seen a black and white film, or a silent film, my expectations for seeing a film that had both of these qualities was low. I thought that the movie would be boring and difficult to understand; however, it was comical and suspensful. Especially when the main characters ran into the tribe (aside from the racism). The way the camera is used at different angles to create different moods in the audience is very intriguing.
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The Navigator
Do you think this film would be less or more comical with spoken words, and why? Also, how does this silent comedy compare to the modern comedies of today?
How effective was the canted angle when it was used to make the boat seem as if it were shifting from right to left? Did it seem realistic?
Donisha
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June 02, 2009
Chapter 1 reading discussion
In chapter one of the Movies and Meaning, it was very interesting that the different techniques in the same scenes would give totally different feelings. Especially, it was a surprise that the tension of the scene would be heightened by using camera, tracking, and wide-angle lenses, and that the long-focal lenses would affect the speed of the objects. But I am kind of confused that the speed can feel fast by using wide-angle lenses and by the long-focal lenses in different situations. What would be the examples of these situations?
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An American in Paris: Characteristics
In the movie An American in Paris, Jerry Mulligan, the main character dreams about an unrealistic world in Paris, and there are many scenes that display his characteristics and state of mind. His demeanor in the imaginary world is very active. He dances and gets along with everyone including soldiers, nobles, other gentlemen, and the girls. The brightly colored scenes and the lilting background music is associated with his characteristics. The scene when he dances and kissed a girl who looks like an exalted woman shows that he is very gentle and charismatic. However, back to reality, Mulligan realizes that there is no one. The dark scene in which he is standing alone and picking up the flower on the ground giving an impression of loneliness. Everyone who dances with him is not a real connection, and he becomes desperate. Mulligan is basically nothing like he is in his imaginary world, and he cannot get along with strangers in the real world
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An American in Paris: Camera/Frame
The ballet sequence in Vincente Minelli's An American in Paris is remarkable for many reasons, not the least of which is the active participation of the camera filming the scene. There are many techniques employed by Minelli and lead actor Gene Kelly (playing Jerry Mulligan) to increase the interaction between the dancing characters and the camera (vicariously, the viewers), but most important is the positioning of the actors from shot to shot. The most active dancers, usually Kelly and his counterpart Leslie Caron (playing Lise Bouvier) are almost always right in the center of the screen, but at some points, notably when the shot fades from Kelly and Caron dancing in a fountain to Kelly alone in a Parisian street, the lead moves aside, creating an expectation of new characters entering the frame.
This is important because it allows for longer shots. Instead of cutting to a new shot, the lead character can stand aside and continue his or her routine, while the viewer is alerted to the fact that something new is about to happen. Given Kelly’s adamancy for full-length and extended ballet sequences, this allows the director to advance the story predictably without compromising the integrity of the ballet.
Minelli uses the frame to enhance the scene in two other important ways: maintaining a large area in focus and positioning the camera alternately as an observer and a participant. Shots with several, sometimes dozens, of dancers require a large area to be filmed at once, which necessitates a large area of focus, but Minelli is able to accommodate large numbers of people dancing, while allowing room for characters to enter and exit through visible paths. This is critical to the viewers’ belief that this scene is not imaginary but possible and active in the characters lives.
The camera is usually positioned in “front” of the action in An American in Paris, which is to say that there is usually nothing outside the field of view. At times, however, Minelli moves the camera into the crowd of actors to make the camera participate in the scene. The alternation serves the purpose of showing the dance sequences while engaging the viewer in new ways to aid in the interpretation of the scene. The participatory shots are during some of the most active scenes, fraught with tension and commotion.
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Response: Movies and Meaning Chapter 1
When watching films in the past, I never really noticed the elements such as camera position, angle, movement, shot length, or lens type. The usage of such elements in films seems natural, as if it is the logical way to shoot the scene. For example, when I, as a viewer, am experiencing a character's emotional response, I expect to be able to have an intimate relationship with that character, so a close-up seems natural. When reading this chapter I realized the role of these cinematographic elements in allowing the viewer to see the situation from a desired point of view. Cinema seamlessly creates a mood or conveys information about a person or situation by combining narrative, light, sound, music, dialogue, and cinematography in such a way that the viewer hardly notices them nor realizes the director or cinematographer's deliberate employment of them. However, if an inappropriate camera angle, camera position, or shot length were used, the viewer would not experience the intended drama and the effect would be unnatural.
Jackie
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Music in An American in Paris
The original An American in Paris was an orchestral score written by famous American composer George Gershwin in 1928. Somewhat autobiographical in nature, this piece was inspired by Gershwin’s time spent in Paris. Director Vincente Minnelli’s film adaptation of An American in Paris was not created until 1951. Gershwin deliberately and effectively portrayed romance, lust, despair, and the busy streets of Paris in his composition, and director Minnelli told a narrative from Jerry Mulligan’s (Gene Kelly) perspective based on the emotional ups and downs depicted in Gershwin’s original composition.
Although there is no dialogue in the ballet, Director Minnelli uses the different elements of cinematography such as lighting, color, set, costume, editing, and camera placement to create imagery that goes along with the emotions illustrated by the music. Light, happy music accompanies a scene of a peaceful daytime street filled with barrels of flowers for sale. Later, the viewer sees the silhouette of Jerry carrying Lise against a background of orange smoke and the seductive jazz begins to play. A romantic scene follows in which Jerry and Lise dance affectionately atop a fountain. Tracking shots and camera angle changes follow their movements. The music changes from romantic to jazzy as the lighting changes from a calm blue tint to a deep, passionate red.
The music in An American in Paris is heavy with influences of jazz and the Broadway musical, two musical genres especially popular during the “Roaring Twenties” during which Gershwin composed the original score. Minnelli enhances the interpretation of the energy and romanticism of Paris from the perspective of a young American man living in the 1920s by adding tap-dancing and Broadway-style choreography to Gershwin’s music. The main character, Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), is portrayed at times as a sophisticated Parisian girl and at others carries herself in the manner of a seductive 1920s flapper. The musical style shifts abruptly from this American-influenced style to one reminiscent of traditional French ballet, and Minnelli uses these abrupt shifts to narrate the nonexistent dialogue between Jerry and Lise. The periods of French-influenced music serve to elevate his view of Lise as a lovely, dainty, and sophisticated foreigner. Minnelli so seamlessly blends choreography and narrative with Gershwin’s original score that one does not even consider the possibility that the film and its accompanying soundtrack were created 23 years apart by two different people.
Jackie
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An American in Paris.
There were different styles of dancing throughout this film.
Everyone in the film danced. Gene Kelly would dance throughout
the movie and would stop a few times to walk.
He and Leslie Caron would dance ballet whenever she appeared. She wore ballet shoes.
When he danced with other people, it would be a different style.
One part he danced a tap dance solo.
Whenever he danced in other movies, he would do a tap dance solo.
He would add steps into his dance that was not tap dancing to mix
it up a little. In his movie career he did dance musicals and was a
great dancer.
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Cory's Reading Discussion - Chapter 1, Movies and Meaning
Chapter 1 of "Movies and Meaning" was a really interesting read for me. Like I mentioned in class, I have never studied film before, so to read about all the camera techniques and things was fascinating. I guess the strongest impression that I was left with in hindsight after reading the chapter was that I sorely underestimated how technically difficult film and cinema is. I knew that there were different types of lenses and shots and cuts, and things of that nature, but I had no clue that quite that much work went into a film from a creative standpoint. Directors like Hitchcock thought out literally everything, which must take an inordinate amount of time. And the decisions carry more weight than I thought as well; just seemingly simple camera angles can carry totally different connotations when used. All in all, I feel like I need to go back and watch some of my favorite movies again, keeping some of these technical aspects in mind to see how my opinions of them change.
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Cory's "An American In Paris" Screening Report
An American in Paris: Story and Narrative.
The movie is primarily a love story between Gene Kelly's character (Jerry Mulligan) and Leslie Caron's character (Lise Bouvier), and the story is expertly recounted through the choreography of the 17-minute ballet sequence we viewed in class. Since it is a dance sequence, the narrative is related through the aforementioned choreography: Kelly is an American in the city of Paris, and he feels noticeably out of place. When Bouvier appears, after a series of emotional ups and downs, they fall in love, but in the end, she is gone. The dance follows this narrative arc.
An interestig addition to the sequence is the emergence of Paris as a character in the main couple's love story. When the two fall in love, their dancing brings the people around them to life, and in the beginning of the dance, the other dancers almost overwhelm Kelly by sheer number, representing the sheer size of the city itself. The city even seems to give them their blessing during one scene in the park, where first Kelly does a specific dance step, then Bouvier begins to dance along. After a short time, the entire company is dancing, following Kelly's lead.
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An American In Paris - Editing
In the 17 minute ballet from An American in Paris there are approximately twenty seven cuts and eight dissolves. In addition for allowing quick costume and scenery changes, these cuts and dissolves generated some special effects including clothing disappearing off mannequins and superimposed images.
For the most part, the cuts are used to join a series of long shots. Absent are the quick cuts one may see in more recent dance films. This difference in editing may indicate an audience's perception of reality changes over time. Which editing style most realistically depicts dance, quick cuts or long shots? Cases could be made for either one.
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June 01, 2009
Test entry
Text body
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