It's a Wrap

Pan's Labyrinth

Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and Pan (Doug Jones) discussing plans in the real world.

This movie feeds into my fairy tale persona, with a lost princess as the heroine, mythical creatures to contend with and all trying to make sense of a reality that is not understood by a young child.  I enjoyed the costumes and the narrative so much that I showed my children the second task that Ofelia has to do, yes the scene of the Pale Man.  I told them, this is the scariest part, so if you can handle this, you can watch the rest of the movie. Pan's Labyrinth (dir. Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) shows off excellent cinematography, costume, set and lighting designs.  The costumes worn by the mythical creatures are so well developed and displayed that one simply feels they are in the mythical world with Sophia.  Filming in Spain as the real setting for the movie helped create the distinct sights and sounds for the movie.  And most films are not filmed in the real location where the movie is set. Del Toro's use of color tone to distinguish between the real (blue tones) and mythical (red and gold tones) world is so beautifully done, that I didn't notice it when I first watched this movie when it was released.  The low key lighting in the real world is a stark contrast to the high key lighting of the mythical world.  In 2007, this movie won several Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (Guillermo Navarro), Best Production Design (Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta), and Best Make-up and Hairstyle (Montse Ribe, David Marti).

Sophia on a timed mission to open the correct lock box behind her without eating the feast sprawled in front of her. 

Pulp Fiction

Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), two hitmen, preparing for the worst at a job they are told to take care of by their employer.   Example of a worm's eye camera angle.


I choose this movie because when I saw it for the first time when I was a teenager I thought it was dumb and illogical because I didn't understand why anyone would create a story with the plot all twisted.  Well, the plot of Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994) takes the audience on a journey that is confusing until the end.  The editing, camera angles, diagetic sound are all done so well, that we don't know what to expect next from the characters.  The rising action, climax and finally the resolution of the story all end in a surprising and peaceful mood.  After watching this movie at least a dozen times, I have grown to love this film and can not wait to show my children this gruesome narrative.  I absolutely applaud Tarantino for his creative plot schema and story twists.

Unfolding drama of a dirty drug dealers house, notice the lighting, how it looks drab and dark, most of the light is focused on Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman).  Mia is about to get an injection of epinephrine into her heart, not realistic, but great for the movie.

Raging Bull

Great low angle view of  the fight as seen from an onlooker point of view.  The sounds added with this angle make you feel like you are ringside.

I'm glad I was able to see this movie for the first time ever last week.  I knew of it, but never experienced a movie quite like this.  I wasn't expecting the whole movie to be in black and white, but I think it added to the ellipsis montage in the middle of the film.  Raging Bull (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1980) showed the dirty side of boxing, but done with incredible editing with the CU's, match on action cuts, steadicam use, sound mixing and Foley sounds.  The camera moves with the punches, pans, tilts, I was glad it wasn't like Rocky, I think that's what I was expecting, but instead I had an emotional connection with all the characters.  You want Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) to succeed and become this great boxer from New York, but then, sadly he ends up getting in trouble with the law while in Florida.  This movie won the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Film Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker).

Master shot from the opening scene.  This scene was filmed in slow motion with calming music to break the tension and brutality that is to come.

Toy Story

When Buzz Lightyear meets Woody and the rest of Andy's toys.

I choose this film as a must watch for any film buff because this movie is heartwarming, saddening and makes you feel for your toys that got tossed out when they were old and broken.  Who doesn't want to relive their youth and appreciate their toys in a whole new light, especially if they really do come to life. Toy Story (dir. John Lasseter,1995) was the first of it's kind.  Disney and Pixer joined forces to create a full CGI animated movie. However, it's not just the CGI that was jaw-dropping for its time, but the emotional connection we have to our innocence in childhood.  The sound design helps us really feel involved with Woody and the whole gang, and inherently, into our playful moods as children.  The depth of field feels so lifelike that we can easily understand the story with the help of the Foley sounds and the rack focus.  I guess moving is a scary transition for toys and humans alike.

Chicago

"The name on everybody's lips is gonna be Roxie."

The reinvention of the modern day musical was a huge success with me in Chicago (dir. Rob Marshall, 2002).   With the use of spot and back lighting we are given different perspectives of a Broadway production in film.  The costumes, framing and editing enthrall the viewer visually, captivating the audience with the catchy soundtrack, and because of this, Chicago won numerous Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Best Costume Design (Colleen Atwood), Best Film Editing (Martin Walsh), Best Production Design (John Myhre and Gordon Slim) and Best Sound Mixing (Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella, David Lee) for 2003.  The mood of the movie is energetic, vengeful, but also pleasing to those who love a good song and dance routine.  I have never seen the Broadway musical, but it's on my To-Do List.  I love the theater and when I saw this film in the movie theater, I immediately wanted to know what kind of cinematography style this was, Rob Fosse created this stylistic dance for the stage. I enjoyed all the dance numbers, except maybe Cell Block Tango and sometimes criminals still get to make an honest and decent living, even after serving time.

The Revenant

Opening scene from The Revenant.  Native Americans attacking the intruders from using and abusing their land.

I fell in love with this movie so much that I saw it twice in the movie theaters. The sweeping wild, high trees, bitter cold and rushing river sold me on this narrative. I feel, this was a very realistic fight for survival story. Revenge is key in this story, and like any good parent, a son's murder, is a good reason to avenge his death and die after the murderer is killed.  I imagine this is what life would have been like in the 1800's, struggling to make a living and struggling to stay alive.  The Revenant (dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2016) illustrates Murch's approach to the Rule of Six exquisitely.  Captivated by the location setting and the all around mis-en-scene, one can not help be feel like they are also scrambling to survive.  With the worm's eye view of the trees, the establishing shots of the wilderness, and the panning/tilting of the camera during the opening scene, it's no wonder why this movie won the Academy Award for Best Director, Best Cinematographer (Emmanuel Lubezki) and Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) in 2016.

Analysis of Cinematography in The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

OVERALL LOOK

The movie The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (dir. Julian Schnabel, 2007) had Janusz Kaminski as the cinematographer.  Kaminski was nominated for an Academy Award for cinematography and won the Satellite Award for best cinematography in 2008.  Kaminiski was able to give the perspective of a first person point of view with his pans, tilts and Dutch camera angles.  The camera was the eye of the protagonist Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) who was only able to see and communicate out of one eye.  The narrative is simple, yet the mis-en-scene is anything unlike anything I have seen before.  The setting is mainly in the hospital where we first are Bauby, but then progresses to see the outside world through his eyes and then we finally see him as he really looks to the audience.  We learn through the narrative that he writes his memoir in this incapacitated state. 

First person point of view, Bauby seeing his doctors for the first time. Dutch angle and rack focus

The audience finally gets to see Bauby

Establishing shot of the family during a beach picnic.  The Dutch angle shows the disorientation to life that Bauby must now live through.

IMAGES

This film takes place in present time, but what Bauby really sees, feels and imagines is all part of his psyche trying to cope with his life altering diagnosis.

Bauby trying to get a fly off his nose, but he is helpless.  Lighting to highlight the fly's power over Bauby.

Bauby and his therapist learning to communicate through his alphabet board.  High key

Bauby explains that he feels like a diver in a bell suit that can not come up, the weight of his body is so heavy that he can not come to the surface.  He also has this utter despair, a failure to thrive causing him to give up on himself.

Bauby imagines what the Naval hospital, that he is receiving treatment in, looked like in the past with many children suffering from Tuberculosis. Example of a LS

Even though Bauby feels alone and isolated, stuck on a platform in the middle of the ocean, away from the life that he knew, he actually has family that loves, cares and tries to support him during this trying time. This is an example of EWS.

SHOT LENGTHS

When we see the diver being pulled down with the diving bell, we can't help but feel hopeless with Bauby.  We sink with him, surrounded by nothingness and the will to survive is non-existent.  The length of these scenes starts off long and slowly decreases in length. From this we can deduce that his willingness to thrive is returning and he is growing, metaphorically, wings to be able to free himself from his quadriplegia.  Scenes with his nurse when she is dictating his memoir are short takes are short.  However, scenes with his family are longer to express the time he wants to be with them and remember the happy times in life.

Bauby drifting off into his imagination of the Naval hospital.

Talking with his father and how they are both trapped.

Time with his wife and he knows he treated her and the children horribly.

SHOT TYPES

When Bauby finds himself in the hospital the shots are of short duration using ellipsis editing.  When he is outside with his family or friends, they are long duration.  These shots create a sense of importance to Bauby.  We are becoming connected to these vital characters since they are vital to Bauby’s life.  In the early parts of the movie, everything is ECU of people, as the movie progresses the ECU’s become CUs with the doctors and nurses.  Jump cuts and Dutch angles were used to add to the disorientation of Bauby and time.  With the therapist we see her as a MCU then to a MS.  As the movie progresses we start to see more detail of his room and surroundings with MLS and then we see him interact with this friends and family through LS and ELS.  The only WS is when him and his family are at the beach enjoying their time together.  Most LS and ELS were very balanced and very scenic, they follow the thirds rule in cinematography.  I noticed moderate mood colors and tonality.  The whole movie did not try to unnerve the audience, but rather bring about a calming, positive mood to the movie.  The only time you feel distressed is in the very beginning and end of the movie.  With these two scenes you feel hopelessness with Bauby.

Example of an ECU with Bauby's therapist.

CAMERA ANGLES

In the beginning of the movie it is mostly high angle views showing Bauby as confused and powerless to his locked-in syndrome, the antagonist.  There is discontinuity editing and rack focus to further disorient the viewer.  As the movie progresses we see with eye neutral views, master shots and continuity editing.   Eventually we see him first in a mirror, then as himself with eye level shots.  There are numerous eye-line match cuts in order to understand what Bauby's point of view is at a particular moment.

Primary doctor the situation to Bauby's wife while she sees him for the first time in the wheelchair. Bauby's neutral point of view, Dutch angle with a MLS. 

High angle and over the shoulder shot of therapist and Bauby in his hospital bed. Example of a MS.

Dutch angle and the dreary mood of Bauby's surroundings.

Worms's eye view of him enjoying his drive with his son just before tragedy strikes.  As if Kaminiski wanted us to feel his superiority to everything around him.

COMPOSITION

There are flashbacks and a backstory of his life to give meaning and narrative as to why he feels like he is in this situation.  We see him dreaming of a hospital where there are sick children and he finds himself lost amongst them needing help.  We see photo shoots of models when he was normal, he goes through marital strife, and family issues with his father.  Ellipsis editing is brought in when he remembers his father and then we meet his father in the present.  We have a very restricted first person narration.  Initially, we meet Bauby, a flat character, and slowly as the narrative continues, we relate to a rounded character who has gone through life with common peaks and valleys.  There is low key lighting when Bauby first realizes he is in the hospital and then gradually the lighting becomes high key to soften the overall mood of the movie.  The open frames allow for characters to come in and out of plane and at different depths of field using the offscreen and onscreen space.  Often there were two and three shot point of view.  Deep space composition was utilized in Bauby’s hospital room.  

Flashback to a photo shoot with a lighting ratio that shows Bauby with minimal contrast, but the foreground model and background people are shadowed to show less importance.  All three planes are in focus 

When the family is out for a beach picnic you never get a CU of the children, but rather only his wife when they converse.  As if the children in his life are not as important to him.  It is a gloomy day accentuating the gloomy state of the family and situation.

Another flackback and backstroy with Bauby shaving his father with low key lighting, giving superiority to the father over Bauby and his life decisions.

CAMERA MOVEMENT

At first we see the camera of panning and tilting of the camera was used for disorientation of Bauby situation with rack focus.  Eventually we see Bauby through his own eyes with a tracking in and then we see the world through the 180 degree point of view camera and see dolly in and dolly out, crane shots, and at the end of the movie we have the trucking point of view, where we see him have his stroke.  Kaminiski uses onscreen and offscreen space to give a sense of the bigger picture without visually seeing it.

We first meet his therapists, hearing Bauby's reply to their questions and further instilling the fact that they can not hear his answers.  CU's are prevalent in the beginning of the movie.

We meet the Opthmologist who sews Bauby's right eye shut as so to prevent any further damage to the eye.  This stunning point of view during surgery is realism at the highest level.

CINEMATOGRAPHY STYLE

I believe the cinematography form is intentionally done to make the audience feel like they are Bauby.  I feel Schnabel and Kaminiski wanted the viewer to feel what Bauby was going through during each phase of his recuperation, this was not by accident. The rack focus, the panning, the tilting and the plot were all purposeful actions to add to the story, mood and realism of the movie.  I feel Schnabel and Kaminiski wanted the audience to feel an implicit meaning to life, but by also showing it through the explicit catastrophe that Bauby endured through this theme that life must go on.  

The film begins and ends with Bauby's point of view

Christopher Nolan Interviewed on The Treatment

The radio show The Treatment on KCRW hosted by Elvis Mitchell interviewed Christopher Nolan on November 12, 2014.  Nolan is a highly accomplished film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and cinematographer.  Nolan has worked on numerous films, most notably Memento (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014).  Nolan has been nominated for numerous awards for his film adaptations.  Nolan was born in England and started making films early in his childhood.

Christoper Nolan: Director, co-writer and co-producer for Interstellar

Nolan is very concerned with having the audience feel an emotional connection to the characters in his movies.  Nolan is always interested in having the moviegoer feel that sense of childhood enthusiasm and excitement that he felt when he was a child, he also seemed very interested in basic human emotions and how he can have the person watching the film feel what he wants them to feel with editing, symbolism, context, mis-en-scene and cinematography.  He wants the audience to be immersed in a world that they believe is real so that they can feel, smell and relate to all aspects of the film.

Interstellar: Official Trailer # 3

While Nolan is being interviewed about Interstellar and his other film works he states that “I really try to push the idea of immersive cinema, really tried with this film to give the audience an experience.  It’s a very very simple story, that’s sort of the point of it, it’s simple, it has symbolic resonance I think, but ultimately, you have to experience the film in the theater to see what it is.”  This is very true, the way he tries to portray realism in a very literal sense is astounding.  In his narrative, Nolan tries to show that this could happen to our world and the composition of his film further solidifies that theme.  

Movie poster for Interstellar

The protagonist, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), makes one feel like we need to try for not the just the betterment of our family, but for the betterment of the entire human race to survive.  Their only hope is to search for another planet that will sustain their way of life.  “I am really interested in cinemas ability to give you different points of view, and multiple points of views within a single film.  I’ve always been very fascinated by the relationship between storytelling and movies and how it works and the way it aligns you with different characters.” Nolan makes you feel emotionally connected to Cooper as a parent, he is trying to do what any parent would do for their child, sacrificing himself to help his children in any way possible. “I think the idea of yearning, of trying to regain something that’s been lost, I find that idea very powerful, that pathos, I think it’s something that’s very human in its frailty.  The idea that our lives are imperfect and we have ideas on how we can make them better and we can’t quite get there.  I find it moving.”  Nolan gives explicit and implicit meaning in all his movies to have the viewer connect with the movie and the characters on a deeper level.  I think Nolan’s point of view of humanity and life comes out so strongly in this movie, that you can’t help, but need Cooper and mankind to survive and flourish once again. 

How far the crew traveled while searching for new planets

There are several scenes in Interstellar where we see this motif occur between Cooper and his daughter Murph (Jessica Chastaine) about Morse Code and time.  We cannot control time, but we can have it work to our advantage.  Nolan explains that “The antagonism in the story comes from a lot of different places, certainly it comes from humanity and our own flaws, but there is an antagonist and I would consider it to be time.  It’s really the first story where I’ve been able to indulge my obsession with time and how it plays in movies and everything, as a story element, rather than a structural device as a point of view, it’s a character in the film.” To have time as the antagonist and be a significant figure in the movie is done so well that you can only wonder if space and time can be manipulated in such a way as to help mankind in real life.

Time is not bound by space and neither are black holes

I found this interview to be very informative about what Christopher Nolan wants his audience to see and feel.  I thought it was interesting to hear the director’s wants for the movie because I have never heard an in-depth interview like this before.  The host seemed more interested in talking with Nolan about all of his films not just his current film Interstellar, and in doing so I learned the themes that Nolan tries to portray in all of his films that he creates.  I enjoyed this interview and plan to listen to more interviews from this source at a later date. 

My Film Criteria

What Makes Excellent Filmmaking

           What makes a movie not just a movie, but an exceptional piece of art that one wants to return to after viewing it once? There are so many aspects to choose from; the protagonist, realism, setting, composition, point of view, mise-en-scene, and the narrative, just to name a few cinematic categories.  I find, for myself, that the realism, composition and the narrative are big factors for me to want to view a movie over and over again. 

            Realism, as related to film, is defined “as an interest in or concern for the actual or real a tendency to view or represent things as they really are.” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 56)  When I watch movies I enjoy how real it feels, if I can imagine myself there the more I want to watch the movie. 

            The composition of a movie “is the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of stationary objects and figures, as well as of light, shade, line, and color, within the frame.” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 172).  If I can visually see the textures, the lighting, the true to nature composition of the world that is being portrayed, then it allows me to immerse myself deeper into that world that the movie wants me to be in.

            Narrative film also known as “a fiction film.  A movie that tells a story—with characters, places, and events – that is conceived in the mind of the film’s creator.  Stories in narrative films may be wholly imaginary or based on true occurrences, and they may be realistic, unrealistic, or both.” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 122).  To me, as long as the narrative is able to convince me of the story it is trying to depict then I will allow myself to be taken in by the story.

Oscar winners Brian Helgeland, Kim Bassinger and Curtis Hanson

            After watching L.A. Confidential (1997, dir. Curtis Hanson) based on the L.A. Confidential novel by James Ellroy, for the first time I find that this neo-noir film fits my categories for an exceptional film, however, I never really felt like I was part of the movie.  This film won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay to Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland and the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role to Kim Bassinger.  I do not know if it is because I cannot relate to the realism as being part of law enforcement or if the narrative was too far-fetched with multiple twists and turns in the plot.  

Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), Bud White (Russel Crowe), Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey)

               I do not doubt that this kind of inside corruption does not happen on a daily basis, but I have never been interested by who-done-it films.  I understand that the three main characters; Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), Bud White (Russell Crowe) and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) all had restricted views of the narration, but I had figured out that Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) was behind the good cop facade the whole time.  The composition, I believe, was very well done. The homage to 1950s Los Angeles Cinematographer Dante Spinotti and Production Designer Jeannine Oppewall embodied Los Angeles true to the time with the clothing, props, vehicles and spoken language..

The final shootout in classic Film Noir style

            The final shoot-out scene done in classic Film Noir was impeccable, especially with the vertical blinds, darkness, shadow and lighting needed to pull off that final scene were brilliantly shot and framed.

             Two of my most favorite movies to watch over and over and over again are Meet Me in St. Louis (1945, dir. Vincente Minnelli) and Ratatouille (2007, dir. Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava).  These two films hold true to my three main criteria for outstanding films.  

Opening scene from Meet Me in St. Louis

            The narrative of Meet Me in St. Louis was set during the early 1900’s in St. Louis, Missouri leading up the 1904 World’s Fair.  The film does an excellent job of showing a family’s daily life of the time.  Cinematographer George Folsey does a superb job of capturing the time period with his compositions of that time period of the houses, the street views, the costumes, and how people had a great party during that time.

  

Esther Smith (Judy Garland) singing The Boy Next Door while admiring John Truett (Tom Drake)

            All the while director Minnelli moves the camera with angles, dollying in and close ups of Esther Smith (Judy Garland) that help focus the affection she has for her neighbor John Truett (Tom Drake).   I think we can all relate to that special someone we have a crush on in our everyday lives, and I think we can all relate to a time period that has had its time in history as a romantic era when dating someone simply involved casually taking a stroll with them or having an escort follow you to make sure there was no funny business brewing.

Partying the night away in 1904 while singing Under the Bamboo Tree

            The narrative for Ratatouille is set in present day Paris, France about a rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt), who longs to create inspiring dishes for anyone willing to embrace his culinary art.  It just so happens that Remy is accidentally forced to be a chef in a French gourmet restaurant.  Remy is the friendly puppet master behind Alfredo Linguini’s (Lou Romano) success as a pseudo-chef.  France is known as a place to build one's culinary skills and Remy learns to become a master chef through the use of Linguini. 

Remy realizes he is in Paris

             I do not know about other animal lovers, but I know I have always wanted a sure fire way to be able to communicate with my furry friends.  I understand that a rat that can create delicious delicacies is unrealistic, but I have seen elephants that create art, cats that can use a tablet better than an adult and dogs that are trained in things I could never accomplish.

Remy makes Ratatouille for the infamous food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole)

             The composition of the way this animated film immerses you in Paris is breathtaking.  Cinematographers Sharon Calahan and Robert Anderson allow for sweeping backdrops of Paris, the sounds of the gourmet kitchen, the food cooking, the Parisian music that plays in background (Michael Giacchino), details of colors and lighting and how they make you feel that the world is against vermin is so realistic and true to nature and done so well by the Production Designer Harley Jessup and Art Director Dominque Louis.   

Remy (Patton Oswalt) learns how to manipulate Linguini's (Lou Romano) movements