Brian De Palma and Blow-Out

After watching Blow-Out, I felt like it was a different experience than watching Sunset Boulevard and Singin' in the Rain. The plot was definitely slower in this movie than the other two, and the climax was not reached until the end of the movie. Although it was more gradual in its plot, I think this movie had more depth in its chosen themes and more to say to its audience.

Two of the movie's main themes were discussed at the end of class: the moviemaking business and a depiction of America. The movie follows a man, played by John Travolta, who works as a sound editor for a company that produces sleezy horror films. The studio and film business is depicted as run-down and unoriginal in its movie production. Travolta is tired of the fake elements of his career; and after being told by his boss to find more realistic sounds, he takes his gear outside to record actuality. Coincidentally, Travolta ends up recording the fatal car accident of a famous politician. But he does save a young girl from the scene and befriends her.

At this point, the audience begins to see Brian De Palma's depiction of America. Once Travolta arrives at the hospital, the police department tries to convince him to forget about the accident and keep things quiet. Rather than pursuing justice, the detectives are satisfied with covering the accident up in order to protect the politician's reputation. Unwilling to go along with the police, Travolta decides to take justice into his own hands. But in the end, the young girl who Travolta befriended gets killed during a liberty parade. This final scene is very striking because it encompasses De Palma's message about America to his audience. There was a murder occurring, yet no one else heard or saw it because they were listening to the music and enjoying the festivities. No one else heard or saw it besides Travolta because they were not looking for the truth. America, according to De Palma, can be corrupt and ignorant when it comes to actuality and the truth in our daily lives. I do not know if I would have picked up on these themes of reality and America had we not discussed them. But I am glad I did simply because it makes the movie more deep and real; rather than just telling a story, the movie taught its audience about truth and reality.

In addition, our discussion focused on the tendency for filmmakers to borrow/steal elements of cinematography from other movies and previous filmmakers. For example, we discussed how Blow-Out was a re-make of the 1966 Blow-Up. Modernly, I have seen many movies that are re-makes of older films. It is interesting to compare the two because they are not always exactly the same. And I do not know if this is notable or not, but I have always liked the original movies better than the re-makes.

Discussing how this film was a homage to Hitchcock's work, in the sense that many of the filming techniques and shots were the same, was interesting to me. It makes sense that borrowing occurs in the film world because there are only so many shots that can be done. And I never realized this until today, but by looking at other movies and the techniques that are used, we can be inspired to use some of them in our own short films. Having the genre of a horror film, this should be interesting, to say the least.

And So it Begins...

After completing these workshops of editing, cinematography, and screenwriting, I definitely feel like I have a better grip on how films work. I was excited this week to meet with my group and discuss our ideas for the short film project. This project consists of getting in a small group of about 4 to 5 people and creating a short film. But, like most projects, we have several requirements to fulfill. The film must be 3-5 minutes long and fit into a certain genre that is assigned to each group. In my group, for example, we have to construct a horror film. In addition, each group must have the items of a cheese grater, a guitar, a skull, and a mime/clown. The line, "Why is this happening to me, today of all days" is also required to be in the film. Knowing these limitations and our specified genre, my group began discussing ideas for a horror film.

I believe that our film is headed in a unique direction regarding the horror genre. I do not think it is going to be your cliche, man with a chainsaw scary movie. We discussed making it more of a psychological horror that toys with the audience's mind. (The less gore- the better, in my opinion!) In addition, we discussed making the movie with less actors. Instead of having numerous people in our movie, we thought it might be better to have fewer characters for our audience to focus on and relate to. We did not come up with many ideas, considering two of our members were not present in the class. But I can see that our group is going in a creative direction, and I am ready to start making more detailed plans!

As the director, I am not fully aware of all my responsibilities just yet, but have several ideas for our film. I think that we should use the camera not only as the audience's eye but as a first person perspective as well. I think it would make the film unique and better engage the audience. I believe that with my group, especially since a couple members are highly tech-savvy, we will be able to accomplish an entertaining and impressive short film. Since we have the technology and the people who know how to use it, our horror film should be an event to be excited about!

I believe that our ambition is to create something that is unique. Often times, I see thrillers or horror movies that are far too predictable. In this film, I want something to stand out to the audience and make them say, "Wow, I have never seen a horror movie like that before!" If a movie is unique and different, people tend to remember it more than the films with cliche plots and endings. That, I believe, is our goal. And to achieve it, I think we just need to be creative in how we approach the film-making process, using the skills taught to us in class with an open mind.

Singing in the Rain!

This fact may disgust some of you, but to be perfectly honest, until last Thursday I had never heard of Gene Kelly or the movie Singing in the Rain. I had heard positive things about this film though, so I was very excited to see it! And I am so glad I did because I enjoyed it tremendously! There are so many different aspects of this film that make it entertaining and enjoyable for the audience. From the sound and theme to the dialogue and plot, I found myself forgetting to take notes because I was so engrossed in the film.

Immediately I noticed a key theme and major element of this movie is the sound, particularly the music and musical numbers performed by the actors. This important aspect of the film is seen within the first few minutes and persists throughout the entire length of the movie. When the musical numbers were shown, the choreography and setting for the different scenes impressed me. This movie was a musical to the fullest extent, and you can see the crew's hard work with the lighting, props, music, and choreography within its musical scenes (especially the Broadway scene).

The primary theme that the film focused on was that of the film making industry and a tug of war between appearance versus reality. It somewhat reminded me of Sunset Boulevard in how its plot was centered around the crew members of Hollywood. Both movies highlight the skewed reality some people tend to have toward movie stars and the lack of glamour that is sometimes present. Yet I enjoyed Singing in the Rain much more, probably due to the fact that it is more upbeat and colorful. It conveyed this message by having the silent films mask the truth, while the introduction of sound to the film business brought in a new element of reality. The sound shattered everyone's perspective of Lina Lamont, the pretty face who became popular on the screens of silent films. It seemed amusing and ironic to me that Lina's agent would never let her speak to the public, keeping her voice from ruining her glamorous image. I see irony in this part of the movie simply because even today, our society is still concerned with the external image above all else; and not much, in this aspect, has changed.

The technical aspects of the movie, such as when sound was introduced into show-business, made me realize how far the film making industry has come. One scene, where Lina keeps forgetting to speak into the "hidden microphone" and the camera is locked in a soundproof room, shows that the cinematography equipment we use today is highly advanced. Compared to this early time period in film's history, we can now swing cameras across the top of fields during football games. It is highly impressive. I guess I just never realized how far the sound technology in films has truly come.

Overall, this movie was spectacular. It definitely goes on my list of favorite movies (which is not an easy task, by the way). I hope that I can find other classics like this film and get a chance to see them. I feel like some of the movies I see today are too predictable and hum-drum. Watching movies like Singing in the Rain entertain me while keeping me on my toes; and I think these two sensations are what crew members should strive to capture in their audience as they produce new films.

Cinematography Insight

Within this week's class session, we discussed everything from lighting to cinematography dynamics. And to be perfectly honest, I am still overwhelmed with the technical terms associated with the camera and lighting of films. All of the different methods and tools cinematographers use to capture the performances we watch every day open up an endless number of options for us rookie film students. It makes me wonder how we will be able to choose which effects to put into our short films. After watching the "Bloody Omaha" short film, which mirrored a scene from Saving Private Ryan and was created by three people, it made me realize that if you understand the dynamics of the camera, lighting, and other special effects, then you can utilize those tools to create an impressive film.

Over the past several weeks, I have noted many different effects that film makers have used and the message they want to send the audience with those effects. Among one of the first effects I was fascinated by, and many other people I am sure, was the transition in Citizen Kane that represented the passing of time. After making my short film with the assigned twenty movie clips, I used different transitions and felt like they truly made the different scenes flow and connect to one another. I feel like a transition such as the one in Citizen Kane would be a tool I would like to use in my group film project. By using such a transition, it seems that it would definitely be possible to do with editing software, but it would also allow our short film to stand out and creatively show the audience an element of the story.

Several other methods that can be used within my group film include differing types of camera shots we have studied. These shots include dolly shots, the close-up, and establishing shots. After studying several elements of photography and understanding the dynamics of the camera, I believe that these different shots could be attainable, making the film more professional. In addition, I would also want to use shots based on symbolism, such as the ones made in Sunset Boulevard. In one scene, there was a deep focus shot into Norma Desmond's house, creating a field of depth. This technique seemed powerful to me. I felt like it was both symbolic to the movie's theme and visually stimulating for the audience. If a shot like this could be made in my short film, then it would be used to symbolize a key theme in the plot or visually enhance the setting.

Other effects that could be made are those involved with the lighting. After learning about the three types of lighting (key, fill, back), it showed me that many different techniques can be made with them in order to set a mood in the movie. Whether my short film has a dark, peaceful, or terrifying mood, the lighting can be used to create the mood by casting shadows on the characters. These effects will allow the audience to experience this mood as well.