“The Artist” (2011), directed by Michel Hazanavicius, is a black and white silent film. This French romantic comedy-drama takes place in Hollywood during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. George Valentine (Jean Dujardin) is a star in Hollywood that is on top of the world. He is doing very successful and is very famous. He then meets a young aspiring actress, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), who he helps move up in industry. Then follows the new era of talkies, where Valentine gets pushed out and new faces are brought in, Miller’s being one of them. Valentine then sinks all his money into one last silent film. His new movie and Miller’s get released on the same day. Barely anyone shows to his movie therefore George is bankrupt. While Miller …show more content…
It is dark but the stage is lightly lite up from the film rolling. This draws the audience’s attention directly to the screen. Then it cuts a wide shot of the back of the room where Valentine is standing, leaning on the edge of the door with his head lowered, still a lot of empty seats in the view. Then cuts to a medium shot of Valentine in the same position with his shadow casted on the door. Then cuts back to the movie screen in a high angle shot showing it from Miller’s view from the terrace. This is not only showing her positioning but that she is the one on top of the world now. Whereas looking at the scene from Valentine’s point of view it was ground level showing his position but also showing he is below her in the world. Cuts to a wide shot of her sitting on the Terrance, the only light is from behind her. Then cuts to medium shot of her watching the film with a serious face. Cuts back to the film screen from Miller’s point of view and she watches Valentine sink in the quick sand. Cuts back to medium shot of her still watching. Cuts to close up of the screen while Valentine is almost fully taken over by the sand. Back to Valentine again with shadows casted looking sad. Back to a close up of the girl on screen crying because of the man disappearing in the sand. Then to a close-up of the man actually disappearing. Then cuts to close up of Miller
The lighting there is much darker than outside without any light. There is a medium shot from low angle facing the cellar door. Then, Lila opens the door and slowly walks down the stairs and proceeds to another basement room. The scene of walking steps from the door down into the room generates a mysterious mood and it symbolizes that Lila is going deeper into the hidden secrets. The shot then edited to another brighter room with lights on and a worn out setting continues with Lila opens the door producing a creaking noise. Then, it shows a medium shot of a back of a woman sitting on a chair with her hair-tied in a bun. Lila then walks closer to the woman and call Mrs. Bates. When she is walking, the camera is constantly stay and Lila is getting closer and the focus point changes from the hanging light bulb to her face. Her facial expression shows that she is curious about the appearance of Mrs. Bates in the cellar. She taps on the right shoulder of the woman and the body of the woman slowly jiggles back and turns over. There is still medium shot when she taps on her shoulder and audience can see the shadow of the woman reflected on the wall behind. Then, the shot is cut to a close-up shot with the skeletal of the woman’s corpse with empty eye
Within the excerpt, the directors began with a medium shot. I understood the importance of making the viewer feel a part of the trio, therefore the condensed shot caused this; also, it allowed the musical announcement to have a greater emphasis on joy by beginning at a medium shot then zooming outwards as the characters spread apart. Once
The picture then merges in to show a black and white long shot of a landscape. The camera pans rounds and the audience see a shot of two lines of prisoners doing hard labour, then a low angle shot shows them chained together. This could explain to the audience why none of the prisoners are trying escape. When the audience has seen the prisoners the camera goes into a wide-angle shot and shows three men running across a field and then jumping down. This can be quite comical as they are being very obvious and could easily be seen but never do.
The camera follows the elders of the block, Da’ Mayor and Mother Sister, as they talk in her bedroom. For a rare moment in the film Da’ Mayor’s and Mother Sister’s eyes are at exactly the same level, showing that as different as the two may have seemed, they are very much the same. Then the camera slowly pulls out as the two stand and sluggishly walk down a hallway toward a window. Now, where a director would typically have to cut and setup a new shot, Lee pulls the camera straight out of the window as Mother Sister and Da’ Mayor survey the block. The audience would expect to see next exactly what Da’ Mayor and Mother Sister are looking at, but instead Lee quickly pans over in the opposite direction to reveal Mookie standing in the street bellow. By doing this Lee makes a connection that both the elders and Mookie are, in the words of Mother Sister, “still standing.” The shot is not particularly tight but still has a cramped feel due to the clutter of things in the background, the heavy shadowing, and the red tint on the lighting. The red lighting gives sense of volatility to the shot, which is contrasted by the slow camera and character movements. These slow movements are analogous to the block as, regardless of how slowly, it too will go on and life will continue. This shot is in the tradition of mise en scene advocates like Bazin in that,
In a film, the producer or director has many opportunities to use a variety of camera angles. In film A, even before any words are spoken, the camera shows a medium shot of the country house, followed by shots of activity, tables being laid, and food being prepared, then, the camera goes into close-up mode and it picks out various items of food, and then theseus. Then, the camera pans across the landscape. This gives you an idea of where the play is set and what is
In addition to camera movements, he uses camera distances and framing to create images that make the audience feel cheerful. When he frames a shot, if it takes place outside, there is ample amount of bountiful nature within the frame. The most prominent example of this is toward the end of the film when the narrator is describing the after effects of the massive storm. It is a medium close up but the narrator is only in a small portion of the frame, the rest if a
Another interesting use of camera cutting can be found in the in between scene where Cleo is roaming the streets of Paris. She is now becoming the one watching other people rather than being the one watched as she was in the beginning (probably because of her beauty and famous singer status). While she is watching the camera cuts between other people’s conversations and then while she is walking the camera is in essence her point of view. However during this walk, the people passing are watching her as well, thus proving that this is the transition time. The use of cutting between shots of her and shots of all these people passing her not only show this change in who is watching who, but also allows for a sense of time passing. Interspersed with these shots are images of people we have already met, the widow, the boyfriend, the piano player, as well as the images of a monkey resting on a clock and her wig resting on the mirror, these things conveying how the people who know her see her and how she sees herself. This is a genius montage because these two things represent the same thing, how people see her, how she sees people, and how she sees herself, and by interspersing them we see
The first song that serves as a musical tribute is “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi. This song accurately describes the personality of one of the main characters in State of Fear, George Morton. Morton is a well known millionaire and an avid supporter of an organization known as the National Environmental Research Fund, also known as NERF. When one of Morton’s friends, NERF founder Nicholas Drake, calls Morton’s lawyer and asks about the state of his mental health and whether or not he will be attending an important fundraiser, the true colors of George Morton begin to show: “”I want you to promise me you’ll deliver him.” “Nick,” Evans said. “George does what he wants.” “That’s what I’m afraid of.”” (Crichton 134). This shows that George Morton may
A variety of camera techniques are used throughout the beginning sequence to enhance the mood and involve the audience. Camera techniques are harmonized with lighting effects to culminate this dramatic scene. I will begin by discussing examples of this. In the village, many close-ups and long shots are used to enhance facial expression and to set the sombre mood.
The director mainly used eye level shots, to leave it up to the audience to judge the two main characters of the movie, although certain power struggles in the film are shown from high angles to illustrate someone dominating a conversation or argument. Figgis also uses some point of view shots to show the imbalance during Ben’s drunken periods where the camera is placed at an oblique angle to show tension and approaching movements. The images in the film are in high contrast with streaks of blackness and harsh shafts of light to underline the dramatic events that occur.
George Fredrickson argues as his main point that the fervor and delusion of classifying and implementing racist ideology intensified in the 19th century after emancipation, nationalism, and imperialism. Social Darwinism was eventually what caused the caste system to be replaced with the motto “survival of the fittest,” and with this motto came increasingly found in policies which were extremely discriminatory. Cox, argue that the at the height of racist ideology occurring during Imperialism. As many people in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo being forced to work as slaves as many disregarded the health and safety of another human being because they were not line with their monetary gain from cheap labor. Audrey Smedley points
Everything in the frame is in focus, which in a cinema viewing is a lot to take in, especially considering the films aspect ratio of 1.85:1. However, the audiences’ eyes are cleverly guided around the frame by almost unnaturally loud sounds, some of which are accentuated in post-production by Tati. The sounds against the floors create a reverbing echo, highlighting the absurd impracticality of the building. A man and a woman sit in the bottom left hand corner of the frame in what appears to be a waiting area. They are dressed identically in their monotonous grey colours, as if they are enslaved to the colours surrounding them. During the shot’s beginning, the audience is drawn to the nuns and their rhythmic footsteps as they enter the frame. Then, through a combination of actor gestures and dialogue, this gaze shifts to the two characters anchored in the foreground of the image. The rattling of a table being wheeled out by a man in white into the frame moves our eyes, as well as the couples own attention, to
generate moods, and have great psychological affect. This is just as true for the very first series of shots for the film, and perhaps more important since these first shots will give the audience the initial feeling of the film, and set a tone for the picture. The first shot is highly dramatic in its lighting method, and the audience is drawn in immediately to one single detail. A man begins revealing the details of a tragic incident that befell his daughter. We don’t see who he is talking to. There is a spotlight directly above the man, and this is pretty much
The camera moved in a slow pace while in circulation motion. This is a general term for all the manipulations of the film strip by the camera in the movie. This happened when Neo dodged the bullets by bending backwards before smith shoot him in the side of the leg. The blue colour represent “the real world” of Zion and also symbolise the body. The yellow colour appear in the matrix world and represent the spirit and even Heaven. The green colour that appear which is the colour of the matrix and it also indicate the mind. In this new axis-switched medium close-up, we see more of Neo's face and less of Trinity's face. We see that in terms of profile and as well as the darkness. Neo was now more on-axis with the camera and is lit brighter. The display features of special frame that allows the skirt of the coat to flare a little just as it does on screen. In these film, they used mise-en-scene dominantly to build mystery within the pill scene. Regular cinematography, editing, and dramatic sound effects were also used, to captivate the audience and build tension. Morpheus is gave Neo an opportunity to view reality from another perspective, and forget the world he once knew. The act began with a close-up, an important shot used to create confusion as the viewers is unaware of the setting. The act itself contains leading of close-ups and reverse
The camerawork emphasizes the sense of detachment between the characters, and Billy’s inability with connecting with others. In addition, the film has a contrasty, bleak look to it, like a faded photograph. Gallo shot the movie on reversal film stock to capture that contrast and grain, in attempt to reproduce the same look of football games from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.