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European
Cinema, 2nd Summer Session 2001 Minutes
from Monday, July 2, 2001
*Someone
asked if Ricki Lake was in Baby Cakes, and Dr. Reimer said that
she was. 2.
Dr. Reimer stated, “We want to look at various elements that
tell us how films communicate to us.”
Before showing the film clips, Dr. Reimer posed the question,
“How do films communicate to us?” Of course, films communicate by
their form and content. Dr.
Reimer put an outline on the overhead that gave different aspects of
filmmaking that would be looking at in the class period today.
As he began to go over the outline, he recalled the film clips
that we had seen from yesterday’s class: from The Gay Divorcee
(1934) featuring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, from Flashdance
(1983) with Jennifer Beals, and from Tango Lesson (1987),
directed by Sally Potter. He
posed the question, “How is the director presenting visually to his
audience through the camera?” He
stated that he had purposefully selected clips with dances in an effort
to make us aware of the director’s positioning of the camera and the
movements of the dancers and how these elements would develop the
movies. Dr. Reimer
encouraged the class to react to the film clips by reviewing what we had
briefly touched on in class yesterday.
He reminded us of the following ideas that had been discussed in
class the first day. ·
He pointed
out that the camera in the Gay Divorcee usually showed the
full-body shot with some of the stage, thus allowing the viewer to know
that a performance is going on. One
notes that there are 2 expert dancers giving us a performance, and very
little editing is done. Though
the dance is not quite one take, the cuts are often used to shorten the
time element of a performance, or at times used to draw the viewer
attention to another element. When the cut is made to take the viewer behind a set of
venetian blinds, the viewer is made aware that he/she is viewing a
private performance that he/she may not suppose to be viewing; thus, one
feels the element of a secret affair that will occur. ·
In Flashdance,
the camera gets close enough to get the expressions on the faces, or
allows one to feel the nervousness of the dancer.
The camera is placed in many positions to provoke different
responses of the viewer. Though
the camera focuses on the dancer, it also cuts away to the judges as we
hear the dance in the background, but the viewer observes the reaction
of the judges. The viewer
notes that the camera moves in and out and around the characters in the
movie in this scene, allowing the camera to play a role, not just
recording the dance, but also creating the dance.
The cuts allow for stand-ins to take over in the more difficult
parts of the dance. Also, at the camera is positioned lower, to get the lift in
the dance, the succession of cuts that depict the leap allows one to get
a feeling of time elapsing. Thus,
cuts are crucial to the intention of the director. ·
In the Tango
Lesson, the camera brings in a more cultural focus.
The set, as opposed to created staging, is local, showing a
street in Paris along the Seine. The camera shows more close-ups of the bodies, especially
from the waist up, to display the connection of the actors as they
explore each other (through the eyes) during the dance.
The viewer becomes a participant with the dancers through the
shots. Fantasy is indicated
with the unexpected magical snowfall as the camera moves to close-ups of
the dancers as they watch the snow.
This adds to the magical moment, giving it an aspect of romance.
After discussing the film clips from yesterday, Dr. Reimer
re-directed the class to the overhead and the elements we would be
looking at before viewing today’s planned clips that he had written on
the board (Zuckerbaby and
Baby Cakes). The
following is a recap of the outline and the ideas that he presented
while going over the elements. (Overhead
tittle) HOW DO
FILMS COMMUNICATE TO US? 1.
VISUALLY
& AURALLY:
The work of the camera and the angles of the shots presents the film
story visually; the voices, sound effects and music present the film
story to the ear. A.
DISTANCE: Angles are used to
diminish or enhance the people, whether
by low (to enhance or empower), or by high (to diminish or
overpower the character.) Distorted
angles are often used to program
the views which one does not want to be taken so
literally, lest the viewer misunderstand. *Here
Dr. Reimer inserted that the viewer must recognize the convention
employed to understand what is being conveyed. B.
MISE-EN-SCENE:
This refers to the placement of people or objects in front of the
camera. It relates to how
the visual is structured by how
the director chooses to position the elements
in front of the camera. (Ex.
Flashdance: dropping the needle on the record.)
C.
MOVEMENT:
Not only do people move, but so does the camera.
Movements are often purposefully choreographed to establish a
mood or idea. (Ex.,
walking, but in an ordered beat to establish a feeling of rhythm or
dance.) D.
FRAMING: How something appears within the frame or how it is contained
within or extended beyond the borders, whether the element/character is
presents to the left or right.
E.
DEPTH OF FIELD: Since
film is two-dimensional, the camera is used to establish a feeling of
depth or closeness to the subjects.
The director may choose to shoot deeply into a room or just a
flat scene (objects at hand). He
may choose to include a window
in a shot to expose to the viewer what is also beyond the current scene.
The camera becomes a part of the story, revealing what the
director wants the viewer to see and know. E.
LIGHTING:
Lighting is meant to enhance or obscure the view, allowing for
the mood to be established as well.
Backlighting, where the
principal characters are in front of the light and only shadowy figures
are presented often depict mystery.
A shoot through a mist gives a romantic feeling.
Often a director uses natural lighting, as in Tango Lesson,
to give a natural feeling, changing to special lighting or filters as in
the snowfall in that same movie, creating a change in the mood. F. EDITING: Editing is important in Flashdance, as it is in a lot of films. Editing also forms what is presented visually. Often a director will put two images together in such a way to comment on what is before and after, or what happens outside a building and then inside a building. A movie with many cuts without a soundtrack often does not have the full impact that the soundtracks brings to it. Otherwise, it seems disconnected and choppy. The soundtrack lets us know that the film story is connected. Editing also allows the feeling of a short time to be lengthened, as in the leap through the air in Flashdance, or as in the long spin that may be the same shot repeated over and over. Editing is especially necessary to produce transitional scenes. At the same time, the director uses the edited soundtrack, as in dubbing the fading out of voices over one scene to another, to produce transition. At this time, Dr. Reimer said that what we had just discussed was how information was given to us, but that we had to have something to record, and this is the information that we see and hear, the content. The director chooses to present the content in the following ways. This covered the second part of his outline. 2. CONTENT: The information we see and hear on the film. a. Graphic violence: Forms of violence have always been depicted on film from the very beginning to the present. b. Faces: The actors chosen to play the parts. The well-known actor often brings information to the screen already. If we don’t know the actor, we might not get the same feeling that someone else would get that someone else would get who knows him/her. Ex. Frenchmen receive information differently with a French actor, etc. c. Images of evil/goodness: In symbols or color imagery, or lighting used. d. Clothes: Tell us something about the genre or timepiece. Clothes are often used to characterize or provide insight into the character. The clothing used colors our perceptions of the character. e. Actors: Again, points out that our perception of the actor will color our perception of the story. f.
Emotion g.
History h. Icons: Ideas are often borrowed and transferred from one movie to another by the director. Ex. From the Seven Year Itch with Marilyn Monroe, when her dress is lifted over the air vent in the street by updrafts of air. This image has been used in the French film Diva to conjure up the same reaction as it got in Monroe’s case. i.
Language j. Nudity: reactions are different according to the cultures k.
Objects l. Music: Used to create atmosphere or tone. m. Cultural references: Setting, ethnic references
At 2:30 we began looking at the first film clip, the German one called Sugar Baby. Dr. Reimer told us that this film was aimed at an educated, art house audience and would not have played to a packed house. He told us to be looking for elements in the film that would tell us something about the German society. He reminded us that we would also see Baby Cakes, a U.S. remake of the movie with the same storyline, but that we would be able to notice the cultural differences quite clearly as the second one was made to appeal to a TV audience and delves into other clichés that makes it recognizable to other types of people. · After watching Sugar Baby, a brief discussion followed with different members of the class giving opinions. Death was certainly an element discussed, as the woman, Mariana, worked at a mortuary. Her life seemed humdrum and monotonous. One student, I think Duran, commented that the character seemed to be going through the inevitable monotony of her life. Students pointed out certain scenes that were communicative. The shot of the lone woman in the pool doing the dead man’s float was another image that depicted loneliness and emptiness. The ending showed no resolution, which some students did not like and others did. Dr. Reimer told us that the movie allowed for discussion, often afterwards, in a German cinema bar. We then watched Baby Cakes. We discussed it afterwards briefly. He asked if we noted any cultural differences. The storyline of the second clip has the conflict with a man who is engaged, not married, as in Sugar Baby. Dr. Reimer asked us what cultural information did the director give us in order to appeal to a different audience. Some of the following were given: a. Hollywood films usually end with resolution. Our society likes to know what happens and does not like to reflect. b. The female heroine is interactive with her surroundings. She has friends. We are a very active society. c. The female heroine, Grace, is sentimental and outgoing. We tend to be a society that is more emotional. d. Maggie is younger and the male character is more physically built. Our society appreciates youth and beauty.
Dr. Reimer told us that we would be going over examples of essays that he had on file tomorrow in class and that he would talk more about our writing assignments at that time. He asked us to jot down or make some notes on the cultural information that the director gave in each movie in order to show what type of society we were looking at in each film. He said that we would get into groups tomorrow and discuss our small group findings in a large group. That was the end of the class. We left promptly at 3:15 p.m.
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