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
