Thoughts on Film Masterclass

I thought Barney Elliot’s films were very good. They are not the kind of film I enjoy watching or my favorite genre of film but his films really gave a message within the short length. I could get a message from them and it was not implied in the film. On true colors I felt very sad about the main character because everybody was misjudging him and from the movie I do not think he did anything wrong. On The Last Resort I felt very frustrated and I could relate with the woman’s situation and what she was feeling at that time. I liked the end though, because in my opinion the man feels guilty and goes back to help her.

I think it was interesting to know that although you may study film and graduate, not necessarily you’ll end up making films right away since you’ll be able to do other things and also other things related to the film making process. I found it interest that Barney Elliot told us where he got the inspiration for his films from because I think it is a very important part of the film making process. 

Production Journal Entry 1

Today we shoot the entire interview. We shot with two cameras, one shooting Cristina who was being the interviewee and another one shooting at me, the interviewer. Then we shot an establishing shot in which it seemed as if we were having a conversation. It was very difficult to get the establishing shot because we had to pretend we were talking but without any actual talking and it was almost impossible because it was too funny. There were parts where we did not follow the script and a little bit of mistakes but we could not stop because we would have to start everything all over again. I think it was a lot of fun because it is the first time we are actually shooting something and making our own film. 

Formalist and Realist Style

	Formalist-style film (expressionism/auteurism)	Realist-style film (cinema verité)
Mise-en-scene/mise-en-shot techniques associated with this style of film-making	Heavily Edited – ‘jump-cuts’ Montage Fast and/or slow motion Low/high camera angles, Transformation of 3D world onto a 2D surface Stylised/symbolic images Artificial setting Artificial lighting No attempt at verisimilitude Stylised dialogue/diagetic Lots of non-diagetic sound Sub-titles or other captions	Long takes, deep focus No special effects/montage Subjective viewpoint – uses camera  lens to reproduce way we look at world ‘Documentary’-style Natural/non-intrusive Realistic/ authentic setting Naturalistic lighting Naturalistic dialogue Lots of diagetic sound Minimal non-diagetic No reliance on external narrators or devices
Definition/aims of this style of film-making	Stylized of auteur Enphasize on the director’s own style Exaggerates the action Formalist film theory is a theory that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film A formalist might study how standard Hollywood "continuity editing" creates a more comforting effect, while the formalist-style of non-continuity or jump-cut editing might be more disconcerting or volatile.	Life as it is in reality Real events in the impression of real time Cinematic realism refers to the verisimilitude of a film to the believability of its characters and events. Cinematic realism takes as its starting point the camera's mechanical reproduction of reality
Directors associated with style	Sergei Eisenstein Jean-Luc Godard	Roberto Rossellini (Italian neorealist) Jean Renoir Rodrigo Garcia
Films associated with style	October (1927) dir. Eisenstein	Nine Lives (2005)

The studio system and the golden age of Hollywood

Lasted from 1920-1950

Known as the golden age of Hollywood

Some of the greatest films were made at this period

How did the studio system work?

Each studio made their own film

Actors and filmmakers were under a contract to a certain system

8 studios operating

Five big studios

Created, produced, distributed and showed movies

They owned all the movie making process and had their own theatres

Made a lot of money

• Fox film corporation (20 century fox)
• Metro Goldwyn Meyer
• Paramount
• RKO Radio Pictures
• Warner Brothers

Little three

Limited number of movie theatres

Produced many movies but couldn’t show so many movies

• Universal Pictures
• Columbia pictures
• United artists

Why did the studio system end?

US federal laws changed

Studios were did not have control to show their theatres

Independent film makers could begin to compete

Warner Brother’s Studio

• When and whom was the studio set up

Warner Brothers Studio was set up in 1923 by for brothers, Jack, Sam, Harry and Albert Warner

• What were some of the best films by the studio

The Jazz Singer (1927) with Al Jolson, first movie to used Vitaphone sound system

Casablanca (1942), one of the most famous films by Warner Bros

Yankee Doodle Dandy, Musical form 1942 with James Cagney

• Who were major stars and film-makers on the studio

Humphrey Borgart (Maltese Facon 1942)

Bette Davis (Dark Victory 1939)

James Cagney (The public enemy 1921)

Edward G, Robinson (Little Caesar 1930)

Olivia de Haviland (Gone with the wind 1939)

Michael Curtis

• Was there a particular genre and type of films the studio did

Film noire, dramas, gangster films, some musicals though cynical and black and white

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS CHECKLIST – MICHAEL GONDRY LEVI’S COMMERCIAL

What do you need to think about when you look at a still photo?

Overall composition – framing of shot

Camera angle

Lighting, shade, and colour

Location – where was it shot

Target audience

What would other elements would you add to your list for a moving film sequence?

Camera shots, movement (mise-en-shot)

Editing and sequencing (mise-en-shot)

Location and set design (mise-en-scene)

Features determining film genre

For longer sequences:

Representation of character and issues

Context:

Construction according to narrative and other formal organising principles

Possible historical, economic socio-cultural and institutional factors

Sequence of tasks for any textual analysis of a film:

Levi’s commercial – Michael Gondry

What is being seen and heard?

A boy drives into a store and buys condoms and then drives to his girlfriend’s house and her father is the salesman from the store.

Non-diagetic sound

Why was it made that way?

• Linear chronology
• A lot of editing
• Many camera angles
• Focus on facial expressions
• Quality of the film (blurred, jogging), black and white à show it is old
• P.O.V. shot and movement
• Track shot
• Long drive à time passes (father is in the house before he is)
• Music à electronic, modern ideology, heart pumping, builds up tension, connects old and new
• Focus on the salesman’s face and then when he sees the dad gives a flashback

How are things such as character mood and ideas constructed?

• Historical period à show this is set in the past, traditional jeans, old cars, disapproval of the boy buying condoms
• Social context à poor, rural southern area,
• Age group à 18 -25 young people
• Place à Levi’s – USA, English writing, train (industrialization)
• Facial expressions à
• Woman in the store show disapproval that the boy is buying condoms
• Boy’s expression when he remembers the salesman shows surprise and worried
• Father’s expression when he opens the door is normal but when he remembers shows he is worried about her daughter going our with the boy 

Long Take and Deep Focus

Long Take:

Anything significantly longer than the norm (for its time and place)

In some places the norm takes longer e.g. 1940’s anything over 9 seconds was considered a long take

Example ‘Rope’ and ‘9 lives’ compared to ‘Jurassic Park’

Deep focus photography:

Three elements focused (background, middleground, foreground)

Audience sees all three planes at the same time

Definition: keeps several planes of shot in focus at the same time

Positives:

• Used in combination with long takes à less editing
• Establishing shot informative
• Many things at the same time
• Dramatically things can be going on at the same time
• Audience feels in the movie
• Little camera movement
• Imprisoned by the scene
• Real time

Negatives:

• Can get lost or confused
• Audience does not know what to look at
• Lack of action
• Feel you have to pause, too much at the same time
• Can make the audience feel less involved

Deep-focus in Citizen Kane

We know he has no idea and is innocent because he is playing in the snow (white – pure)

Father standing up because he is against it

Mother and lawyer signing 

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS – THE SCRIPT-WRITING PROCESS

1. What extra elements are there in the film?

• Non-diagetic sound specially music and sound effects
• Facial expressions, body language, non-dialogue acting
• Props + set design (mise en scène)
• Camera movement + scope (mise en shot)
• Type of diagetic sound (voices)
• Extras
• Lighting M-E-SC
• Costumes M-E-SC
• Time of day

2. Does the film’s dialogue + action deviate from the script?
• YES
• Expletives removed
• Some dialogue shortened
• There are differences in how the scene plays out
• E.g. backing into the corner not trying to escape

3. Why does the final production end up diverging from the script?
• Too much work for only a person. The scriptwriter has only to write the script, they don’t need to talk about the costumes or the lighting etc.
• Extra elements are not a scriptwriter’s job
• Film production is a collaboration + its hierarchical
• Script has to flow and be real
• Not enough time – editing changes it films are sometimes cut
• Rating PG 13 (expletives removed) intended audience maybe language cut
• Some things just don’t work when acted (boring, extra impact, etc)
• Actors interpretation
• Technical limitations (before)
• Budget limitations
• Directorial decisions
4. What extra elements ‘make’ the film?    

·         Camera angles + focused shots on faces (Morpheus’ glasses)

·         Dark, gothic costumes but well designed

·         Mysterious setting, abandoned, ‘putrefying elegant’

·         Storm outside – sound adds mystery, drama

·         Body language + expressions (Morpheus=confident) (Neo=confused)

·         Fraiming of armchair + shadow

·         Colour – filtered to give impression

Think about the role of sound + colour

·         “Amélie”

o        sound: classical music (happy)

o        colour: orange filter (sun rise, beginning of the day)