Stanford Theatre Trip

Cabin in the Sky (May 19-21)

Trouble in Paradise (May 15-18)

She's Done Him Wrong (April 24-27)

Eisenstein and Hitchcock

• MONTAGE SCENE IN BATTLESHIP POTEMPKYN
• things coming at the camera quickly (the umbrella, the woman's face going toward her child)
• people falling down slowly
• the music is very intense
• the woman is going in the opposite way.
• violence- child being stepped on
• close up on the belt buckle. swan. swan song?
• jump cut
• SHOWER SCENE IN PSYCHO
• close up of the hand
• shot reverse shot of the killer and the victim
• the close up of the shower head
• close up of the drain
• close up of the shower curtain falling
• close up of the her eye- it looks like she's dying

Norman Bates cleaning up the murder scene makes it a bit more suspenseful, I keep wondering if he's going to be caught in the act, or if he's just going to get away with it.

The absence of sound while the car stopped sinking was amazing, it just added suspense. Norman looked so nervous, then the car continued to sink, and everything seemed to work out fine.

The Showdown Analysis

Analyze the film techniques Sergio Leone uses in the final shootout among Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes. Think of the camera angles, music, and camera movement especially. How does he reinvent this typical Western device?

quick cuts from person to person

pan

extreme close ups on faces, hands, eyes

wide angle shot

long shot

medium shot

establishing shot (before the showdown, in the graveyard, with the three men in a circle .)

birds cawing

tense music- bells, flamenco clappers, drums, cymbal

Leone's use of quick camera movements and switches between angles allowed the intensity to grow before the first shot was fired.

Film Festival Reflection

What did you think of the film Cost of a Soul? Can you connect the film to anything we've studied in class? What improvements would you make in the film?

I really loved the movie and I think that the director has a bright future. I can not believe he wrote, cast, and directed the whole film. His dedication to his work is amazing; I hope he doesn't get lazy with his craft because his work ethic is probably what made this movie so good. I noticed the lighting was pretty phenomenal in the movie. I liked that he used the lamp swinging in a few scenes (with fighting) to give the film almost a film noir feel to it. The director also chose to use the main character's affinity for saxophone in order to convey a mood. Every time the character played, the camera would move away, off to another place. It would create a montage effect, and we saw things happening elsewhere while the character played on. It was a genius use of sound. I would have changed is the main African American actor. His performance was not very convincing, and it took me out of the film. Also, the main actor's improvisation could have been a little better. But over all, I LOVED Cost of a Soul.

Film Project Reviews

Inglorious Basterds

3/4

I really liked their film techniques. The shots that constantly changed kept my eyes interested. The acting was good and the sound quality was a little bad, but over all it was really good!

21

4/4

The music was really fun. The voices should have been a little higher when explaining the +16 = sweet abbreviations. The acting was good. I really liked this one.

Keynote Questions 12/8/09

Film Techniques

1.What film techniques did Alfred Hitchcock use in Rear Window?

panning shot of the neighborhood

1. What film techniques does Orson Welles use in Touch of Evil?

Zoom-in

1. If there’s a scene that a character is listening to the radio, what kind of sound is that?

Digetic.

Film Timeline

1. Contribution of the French to Cinema

The Lumiere brothers and Melies were the first film makers.

1. What was the contribution of the Germans to cinema?

German Expressionism- Metropolis, The Triumph of Will, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

1. What happened in the 1950s in cinema?

New film techniques- widescreen, 3D, etc.

1. How are the official and outlaw hero used in Casablanca and Angels With Dirty Faces?

In Casablanca, Laslow is the official hero and Rick is the outlaw hero.

In Angels With Dirty Faces, Rocky is the outlaw hero that everyone looks up to, and that the official hero, Father Connely, wants everyone to stop admiring.

Gangster Movies

Why do you think Americans like Gangster movies so much? Does the popularity of these movies say anything about who we are as people? Does it say anything about our culture? What are some of your favorite...

I think people like to know about the mysterious life of Gangsters. They want to imagine what the gangster life is like, and what the gangsters do. Also, the people of this country love violence, and the gangsters satisfy the craving.

I loved American Gangster with Denzel Washington.

Pulip Fiction with Uma Thurman, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.