Summary: The Cinema Of Errol Morris

The Tall Man is the type of documentary film that allows viewers to formulate their own opinion on the situation. With no narrator present to force personal viewpoints down viewer’s throats or acted dramatization to possibly exaggerate what really occurred, the film relies on archival

During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that,

Through revealing that actors had in fact portrayed Polley’s family, the film sets out to emphasise the reliability and truthfulness of the documentary as well as the recounts. Without notifying the audience that such archival footage was fake and placing this revelation at the end of the film allows the audience to really consider what the “truth” is. When asked about the making of the film, Harry Gulkin, Polley’s biological father, states that the truth is a subjective narrative, that these “narratives are shaped in part by their relationship to the person who told it to them, and by the events” (Stories We Tell 2012). Additionally, Polley states, “the way her mother’s story changed depended on who was going the telling” (Vulture, 2013). This point is what resonates from the film and its purpose – that the there are different sides to the truth; one truth to one person is false to another.

In “A Century of Cinema”, Susan Sontag explains how cinema was cherished by those who enjoyed what cinema offered. Cinema was unlike anything else, it was entertainment that had the audience feeling apart of the film. However, as the years went by, the special feeling regarding cinema went away as those who admired cinema wanted to help expand the experience.

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.

1960s cinema reflected the good and the bad of the decade. 1960s cinema influenced many of the films we have today. 1960s cinema brought attention to movie musicals, which were movies that had many song and dance numbers along with dialogue and blocking. Three of the biggest hits of the decade were movie musicals. Some of the decade’s biggest hits, including the movie musicals, are still popular today. In the 1960s, there were many popular movies, both in theaters and on television, which were produced with money and lots of work. However, 1960s cinema also had a downfall.

Article Three – Author: David Bordwell / Title of Article: The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film

The movie was set in 1939 at Hamburg, Germany in Bismarck. Peter , Thomas , and Arvid, three innocent teenagers interested in the music as a common interest and became friends. There was a swing club, where Peter and Thomas enjoy dancing. Peter goes home and found his mother in an argument with a Nazi officer. Herr Knopp,head of the local Gestapo comes in and dismisses the officer. One day, at Arvid’s house, Thomas accidently scraped Arvid’s record, getting mad, Arvid told them to get out. Then, Peter and Thomas felt bad for Arvid so they decided to steal a radio from a bakery. The owner yelled and the HJ caught Peter and Thomas escaped. Herr Knopp, who likes Peter’s mother, sends him home but in return, Peter must join the HJ.Thomas, as a

Bart Layton uses a wide variety of techniques and devices to convey the emotional tone of the documentary. The constant change of character’s perceptions and slow unraveling of mysteries caused inpatient viewers wanting more. The documentary was designed to reflect on the antihero, Frédéric Bourdin’s past. “The Imposter” uses reenactments and interviews to unfold a murky feel, where truth and fiction morph in an enchanting double helix. Bart Layton highlights Bourdin’s life rather than focusing on Nicholas Barclay. With so many different feelings flooding the audience at once, Layton allows time for the audience to reflect and find conclusions for the unsolved mystery.

The thriller film ‘Witness’, directed by Peter Weir in 1985, tells about cultural conflicts between the Amish of Western Pennsylvania and Modern American corruption and violence. Philadelphia Police officer, John Book was obligated to hide from the three brutally and corrupt police officers as they were looking for a little Amish boy, Samuel Lapp. The boy witnessed the brutal killings and identified the killer as the three police officers. The ‘Witness’ strongly displayed many images of people and incorporated several techniques and images in various scenes to portray the contrast between two different worlds.

In The Thin Blue Line, directed and written by Errol Morris, he challenges our preconceptions and expectations of documentary films by showing viewers a series of lies by using cinéma vérité interviews that are in medium shot, eye level to allow the audience to make a connection to each person who is being interviewed regardless if their statements are untrue. In fact, with Errol Morris filmmaking skills in the opening credits with the text of the word “Blue” is actually in red and the non-diegetic sound score by Philip Glass creates a setting of pending action. The transitions of black screen to a medium shot of Randall Adams dress in white to illustrate his innocence cutting to visual flashing red siren lights to medium shot of David Harris

Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that that journey is not the same for every individual. For Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), the main character of Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, the path towards riches and a fulfilled life is being well liked. He serves to please others. He strives for that attention. This view cost him his happiness in the end. In this man’s rise and fall through prosperity, Welles shows the futility of striving solely for likeability.

The film is about a group of 5 people fighting to find and keep the

The film Witness(underline witness), Directed by Peter Weir was famous in 1984. This film is about two cultures clashing with each other the Amish and The Western Society and a story line of a murder crime. “A big city cop who knows too much...His only evidence: A small boy who’s seen too much”. The main character of this film is Harrison Ford as John Book. Today I will be talking about two of the themes Peter Weir uses in the film ‘Witness’. They are the clash of two worlds and power.

Consequently, because of dealing the with public at large, throughout her film, Saladoff continuously demonstrates how the ‘average American media consumer’ possesses a very low level of agency when dealing with the media. Her documentary style sets interwoven segments of street interviews with ‘average people’ and segments of the ‘talking heads’ of specialists against each other with spectacular force. During the street interview segments, the average media consumers are asked questions concerning their specific topical knowledge about the major points of the work; such as the details of the Liebeck case. Indeed, many of the interviewees did possess general knowledge of the case; a few even chortling while offering up jokes about Liebeck and the case. Nevertheless, the interviewees’ knowledge, as demonstrated in short sections of interviewees mentioning the frivolous nature of the case, is continually presented in the film to derive from the dominate media narrative of the case; not from the familiarity with the sheath itself. Once confronted with the specific details of the case and graphic nature of Liebeck’s sustained injuries, the interviewees dramatically change their minds; almost entirely dismissing their presumptions of Liebeck and the