Screening Notes

Children of Men


After watching movies with an academic mindset for so long, I found it hard to "just describe" one moment that caught my attention. In the beginning of the movie, I wasn't exactly sure what that even meant anymore. Then I began to settle in and just appreciate the movie for entertainment. The moment that I found myself dwelling on was during the scene when Theo discovers that Kee is pregnant. The moment that Theo looks upon Kee's pregnant stomach, he is immediately stunned. He is standing in the barn staring at Kee, speechless. His facial expression reveals his absolute astonishment with the situation. Kee begins to somewhat explain herself but Theo is too overwhelmed to converse. The only words he can muster up is "Jesus Christ". To further explain the scene visually; they were in a barn surrounded by livestock that actually contributed quite a lot to the soundtrack of the scene (i.e. cows mooing). There was dramatic symphony music playing contributing to the importance and emotion of the scene.

Hugo


- The first moment that captured me was the scene of Hugo's initial view of Papa George sitting in his toy store. He was surrounded by toys, in a train station full of people, yet seemed miserably lonely. It was odd to see a man surrounded by something as joyous as toys and in such a vibrant train station and still seem so miserable. Throughout the film many characters are shown in similar scenes where they are surrounding by many yet seem lonely.

- In many instances throughout the film, Scorsese used drastic camera movements without break during intense action scenes. In the beginning of the movie for example, Hugo runs throughout the entire workings of the clock system where he lives. While the camera chases him, it circles him, embracing angles that make you feel as if you are running right long with side. Scorsese is known for the dramatic camera movements which add to the scene's overall impact.

- Something that caught my eye throughout the film was the depiction of the station inspector. I thought of it as Scorsese's comment on law enforcement. First, the inspector had a bum leg from a war injury. This brought out the cliche that the police are always a step behind the criminals. The inspector was always just behind Hugo and his antics. He also displayed other stereotypical physical characteristics of a police officer; i.e. mustache. He also would catch the wrong person in a few instances, something it seems that law enforcement tends to do.


A Single Man


I must admit, discerning the difference between the Formalist Approach and Cinephiliac Criticism was somewhat challenging to me initially. Though, I believe that I was able to successfully move past my confusion. The scene I selected for further examination is the scene where Charley convinces George to dance with her while they are alone. George is reluctant but eventually gives into Charley's will. Once they begin dancing, the cameras begin to cut in and out from different angles. A reoccurring angle that shows both of them dancing together has a mirror in the background. I noticed that despite both actors being present in the scene, the mirror only showed George. The only time that Charley makes it into the mirror's reflection is when she forces herself onto George out of pure excitement for the situation. I believe this reflection portrays the love triangle that the characters have got themselves into. George, despite his friendly affection for Charley, feels that he is alone because the love of his life has passed. Charley wants to force herself into George's heart because she truly cares for him as more than a friend but George does not feel the same. The images that appear in the mirror's reflections are somewhat blurred. The significance of the reflections does not seem to apply to the overall plot development but does assist in furthering the idea of the relationship dynamics of Charley and George.


The Prestige


Unfortunately, I had already had the joy of seeing this film a few times through. On a positive note, since I was able to look past the captivating plot, this time I was able to appreciate more unique aspects of the film. I assumed this perspective would allow me to thoroughly examine the technical aspect of the movie; this was not the case. While watching the movie, I could not help but think of the auteur theory, and its roots of staying true to the text. Although I am unsure of the originality of the film, I do not believe it was a remake of a book, but the film is centered around a well-known cultural practice, magic. I found that Nolan actually "stayed true" to the idea of magic that you believe what you want to believe. Nolan does not establish the typical good-versus-evil competition between the magicians. Instead Nolan, like magicians, uses distraction and confusion to keep the crowd guessing who to root for. He allows the audience to believe what they want about the two magicians and their performances. Although this is not the intention of the auteur theory's application, I could not help but think of the theory because  throughout the movie Nolan does such a good job of distracting and tricking the crowd. The only place where Nolan strays from the typical magician, is that in the end, Nolan does show how he played his magic trick on us.



The Hurt Locker


1. Toward the beginning of the movie, The first solder is killed. The Sgt. was trying to deactivate a bomb that was found when it explodes and kills him. Prior to the explosion, the director creates pressure for the audience by not playing music and switching viewpoints. The lack of music allows the viewer to only hear the wind and faint noises around them. Once the explosion occurs, the film speed slows down to indicate the importance of the scenario. The body is thrown through the air and lands harshly on the ground. Most viewers accept he is dead because the survival rate of such an accident seems low.

2. The second scene that caught my eye was the scene involving the snipers. The director uses small cues in the film to help bring about the emotions of war. The camera angle changes forcing the viewer to assume this is the multiple enemies watching. When someone dies, it takes a minute for the viewer to realize which adds to the anarchy of battle. The enemies are never vividly shown which evokes the feeling that you never really know where your enemies are.

3. The scene near the end of the film where the solider finds a dead child indicates thoughts that the director had on death in time of war. The blood and lack of movement in the body indicate death but there is no dramatic angle changes or light fades to indicate the death. Instead, this scene shows that death is everywhere in war and even the innocent must suffer.


Viaggio in Italia (1954)

For analysis I selected a shot of Katherine in the Museum.

Denotation:
The shot begins with a view from behind a sculpture in which Katherine is observing. The man she is with walks behind her while he explains who the sculpture imitates. The camera then begins to zoom in on Katherine as she examines the sculpture closely. As the camera zooms in, it also begins to turn so the final view of the shot is from above Katherine and the sculpture she is observing, with the man in the background.

Connotation:
Without any knowledge of who the man is, some would assume that he works at the museum. He knows a significant amount of information about the work. He also doesn't walk with the woman in a manor that would suggest they are together. In our culture this indicates he is most likely the curator of the museum or at least an employee. The man is also obviously older than Katherine. Since our culture usually looks down on relationships between younger woman and older man, most would assume they are not in a relationship despite there interactions.The facial expressions that Katherine makes when looking closely at the sculpture indicates she becomes stressed while looking at it. It seems to be a sense of confusion or uncertainty. Her face implies she is uncomfortable with the piece of art. The camera zooming in on her face forces the viewer to appreciate the facial expressions Katherine has towards the art.

Myth Production:
Our society has assigned certain gender roles and attributes. Society has placed women with the burden of having to be sympathetic. While looking at the shot, Katherine seems uncomfortable with the sculpture. The man is informing her of the terrible tragedies that most of the men, who are embodied in the sculptures, went through. I assume her facial expressions are in response to her sympathy. Although it is possible she is just unsatisfied with the art work, it is still assumed she is sympathetic because she is a woman.


Psycho
-Hitchcock often uses the camera to show what he expects the viewer to see. In many scenes he focuses on obscure objects that aren't always the in the for front of the scene; i.e. money, car license plates, shower head, etc.

-Hitchcock's famous Shower scene has a lot of cinematic value. Our readings for today thoroughly explain the value of the camera angles as well as the close ups of the individual characters and where the close ups concentrated on.

-Throughout the movie, the viewer is never allowed to see the mother's face in order to allude to the fact that she is alive, despite her actual condition.



The Grapes of Wrath (Ford, 1940)
-The scene where they all all in a room only lit by candle has multiple dramatic close-ups. These close-ups are purely cinematic.

-Another scene involving cinematic close-ups does not deal with humans but close-ups of the objects Ma is taking out of the box. The close-ups help you analysis the objects she holds near and allow the viewer to experience the emotions with Ma.

-The scene where Tom is ducked down looking through the windshield of the truck. This angle puts the viewer in the car with the characters, an angle theater is unable to create.

-The scene of Government tractors rolling across the field. This not only creates an appealing visual effect, the tractors are now established as the wrong-doers. Their formation and synchronized movement adds a military feel to the tractors.


First Screening Notes
- I noticed that in the opening scene, the camera sat across from the character but that was not actually anyone there.

- Text appears throughout the movie.
- The scenes seem to carry on for an extended period of time.
- He constantly broke from the shot/reverse/shot technique, only showing one of the persons in the conversation.

- Unfortunately, I had trouble noticing when the shot, if at all, broke the 180 degree rule.