Choose 3 of the films we watched in class and answer the following questions. Answer all questions for each film to create at least 3 hearty paragraphs.
Le Retour a la Raison
Entr'acte
Le Ballet Mecanique
Un Chien Andalou
Meshes of the Afternoon (this is the one with the Maya Deren interview)
What do you notice about the film's presentation of cinematic space?
What do you see on screen? For example, lots of landscapes or closeups?
Moving or statics camera?
How does the director's use of lighting help to create meaning?
Do you identify with the camera's lens? What does the director compel
you to see? What is left to your imagination? What does the director
leave out altogether? Describe the mise-en-scene and how it helps to
create meaning in the film.
What implicit meaning do you find in the film?
If you can't get enough of the avante garde cinema, check out this site: http://www.ubu.com/film/.
If you want to look more into Jonas Mekas, go here: http://jonasmekas.com/diary/
AVANT GARDE!
ReplyDeleteMeshes of the Afternoon: probably the most nightmarish of the three films, and reminds you of one of those repetitive nightmares that you can't escape. Shot wise, the film is very slow-paced and the shots are longer and switch between static and moving. The shot is usually moving when it represents the point of view of the woman. In fact, there are mostly point of view shots in this film, putting us right inside of the mesh itself, and in fact makes it feel more like a dream. The lighting used in this film is very faded and well blended into the shots and the face of the woman. This made the atmosphere even more dreary. However, the natural lighting outside was very harsh and it was easy to see the shadows of different things such as the woman moving about or the flower. The mise-en-scene, especially within the household, was attention specific to certain objects that I took note of as I was watching the film: the telephone, the record player, the table, and even things such as the key, knife, and flower were of heightened significance when put into the frame. Using these objects, the director tries to form a cycle of events in which the woman continues to experience, and the fact that different versions of her keep coming from the same scenario/chain of events is proof of that.
AVANT GARDE! (part deux)
DeleteLe Retour a la Raison: The presentation of cinematic space, or lack there of, is quite noticeable in this film. All of the shots in the film are extremely close up. With the exception of the shot of the carousel. The camera is stationary. Although the screen is always moving, due to the objects on screen and not the camera. The directors use of lighting is apparent throughout the film. The shot with the carousel is extremely dark, to the point where the viewer can only see the bulbs of the carousel, acting as almost a light at the end of the darkness. Another scene where lighting is prominent is the scene with the square based wind chime is spinning. The object is shadowed directly onto the wall behind it, this repetition highlights the windchime and makes it seem more significant than it is. In the final scene the naked woman is always turning, but will not turn out into the shadows, instead the woman’s breasts are always in the light. Keeping the viewers attention on them, objectifying them in a way. The director compels us to see pretty much nothing, by showing us an incoherent blur of footage that has been cut together, he achieves his goal. Which is to say that there is in fact no reason. I believe that by titling it “the return of reason” he was just poking fun at the fact that there is in fact no reason to the world. So yes, in that way i do identify with the camera lens.
Le Ballet Mechanique: In Le Ballet Mecanique several aspects of film language are twisted in order to create an original output into the making of this film. The cinematic space in the film is dominated by close ups. Pretty much everything portrayed in the film is shown in close up, either close ups of a woman’s face, or close ups of several different kinds of machines. This contributes to the overall meaning of the film because the director only wants you to notice the things in the foreground, the things that are moving spinning, or directly in your face taking up the entirety of the screen. The camera is always pretty much stationary, making the viewer focus on the kinesis of the objects on the screen rather than call attention to the movement of the camera itself. The mise-en-scene of the film, therefore, is how we can draw the most meaning when the director wants us to concentrate on the mise-en-scene with these previous cinematic choices. Throughout the entire film we see the comparison of the woman and several different machines and mechanical objects moving. We see a woman on a swing, turning her head, blinking, and smiling, noting the intense difference of her dark makeup to her white face. This dark to light difference is seen between the white shapes in the dark background that we see from time to time. Also the movements of the woman are contrasted to balls on swings swinging around in front and towards the camera, we see engines and factory like machines turning and working, and we see blinking numbers and lights throughout the film as well. These comparisons can come together at times like when a man rises from between mechanical like things, and when we get a quick shot of kids on rides in an amusement park.