Friday, December 5, 2014
Stagecoach
In your textbook, Looking at Movies, by Richard Barsam, Barsam goes into a detailed analysis of the construction of Stagecoach's narrative. In your response, pick TWO aspects of narrative that Barsam talks about that you think were particularly effective in the film and discuss cinematically how they worked to make Stagecoach such a successful film. Don't forget to use examples from the film to support your response!!!
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Somehow Stagecoach was able to establish more characters than we are used to and still make them full. This is done with the small, intimate setting of the coach itself. By being cramped inside that small space the viewer is forced to pay attention every little problem of every little character. And by doing that we come to understand a lot about them. The closed framing and close up shots make us feel close to characters, with debatably sketchy pasts. Such as John Wayne’s character. He is an outlaw who is under arrest by the sheriff that is tagging along with the stage coach. But due to our cinematic closeness to him we feel drawn towards him (that alongside John Wayne’s hunky good looks). There is a certain appeal to rooting for a character is could be considered a bad guy in real life.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of the narrative that is creates an interest in the viewer is the multiple plot lines that are occurring at once. Throughout the film we are following many different plots. Including the pregnant woman who is trying to find her soldier husband, the budding romance between Ringo and Dallas and finally the running from the “savages”. With so many plots going on at one time how could one get bored?!
Two of the aspects in "Stagecoach" that are mentioned in the book and those which I found most influential on the success of the film are the aspect of suspense and setting. Both of these aspects are created with cinematic techniques by John Ford in order to create the narrative that became successful.
ReplyDeleteSuspense is used throughout the narrative in order to keep the viewer on their seat but there are several elements that cinematically create this suspense. Generally in the film when there are suspenseful scenes, the editing is drawn out, using long takes in order to draw out the scene and keep the viewer on their feet. Examples of this can be seen in the scenes including not only the scenes leading up to the Indian attack by Geronimo, but the scenes where Dr. Boone needs to sober up quickly in order to deliver a baby. Long takes are used in order to draw out these scenes and make them suspenseful. However in one instance fast edits are used and this makes it suspenseful because it’s used alongside fast paced music. This occurs during the final scenes where the Indians are attacking the stage coach. As the camera cuts quickly from one action to another, never really coming to a conclusion of the action, we build suspense while waiting to see what occurs of that action again. This placed alongside fast paced music in the background of the action creates a feeling of suspense. And all of these feelings of suspense in the film add up as we approach the final climax of the film in this scene building suspense more rapidly until the members of the stage coach can get away from the Indians.
The aspect of setting is important as well. The setting is supposed to take place in the Wild West, with cowboys and Indians running wild and John Ford needed to make this as verisimilar as possible when making this film in order to create a narrative that is very powerful. So in creating this verisimilar setting, John Ford needed to control the mise-en-scene and execute this control properly in order to create a setting for the story that was both believable and yet able to be exploited for the use of his story. In order for a stagecoach to get attacked by Indians in the wild west, the stagecoach has to be in the wild west. John Ford did on location shooting during this process because wouldn’t be able to shoot an opened frame shot spanning the far of distance of the desert if he were to shoot the film on a set. In order to create this verisimilar setting for the narrative he needed this on location shooting and I believe this is one of the aspects that made the narrative extremely successful. This paired along with controlling the props, costume and hair design along with make up-design John Ford was able to create the setting in which these people could get put together in a stage coach and get attacked by a tribe of wild Indians. He controlled the costumes of his characters, making the costumes of the outlaws look like a classic cowboy in order to make his back story about that character more realistic. If the costume design, setting of the shooting, mise-en-scene in general, and the editing and score were not composed in the same fashion that John Ford used to make this film as it is now, I believe it wouldn’t be much of success. Because by controlling the suspense and setting of the narrative he was able to draw the audience in and let them believe in a story they see because Ford made it verisimilar.
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ReplyDeleteOur textbook describes Stagecoach as using the “ship of fools” form of narrative. This is when a large cast of characters who would normally not associate, are forced together for a common reason and overcome their differences with one another. This form or storytelling is still used in modern films, one such being The Breakfast Club (1985). The characters on Stagecoach are forced together in a ride across “Indian” territory where they fear the native americans will kill them. The director makes use of the stagecoach as a way of conveying the “ship of fools” narrative. Most of the film is shot in close ups within the vehicle itself. These shots feel claustrophobic and indeed are, as they are meant to make the viewer feel just as trapped as the characters in the film. The shots within the coach cut back and forth from face to face as the characters’ dialogue defines who they are and progresses their relationships with one another. Despite the cramped feeling that the film gives off initially, the audience eventually gets used to the stagecoach set much like how the characters do. Many stops are made along the way throughout the film, one being when a woman has to give birth, however, the characters continue to find themselves together again in the confines of the wagon. This repetition in the film, interjected with a few stops along the way, forces the audience to pay attention to the characters themselves. The film utilizes a significant amount of closed framing to even further establish the closed setting of the stagecoach and to reinforce the fact that the audience must pay attention to the characters and how they progress rather than how the plot progresses on its own.
ReplyDeleteThe film textbook goes on to say that the fight with the “indians” is what, “audiences expected would be stressed.” This is another narrative strategy that is used well in the film. By going against audience expectations and making the film more about complex psychology of characters rather than a climactic battle with natives, the director is able to surprise the audience with the depth that is explored within its lifelike cast. The moments in which the carriage stops serve as parts of the movie in which a character will undergo a major change before they are all thrown back into the ride together. These also give the audience some time to breath. The viewer is treated to establishing long shots that have been absent in the confines of the wagon. Also, when in the stagecoach, the audience is forced to endure quick cuts and close ups. The director is well aware of this, so, he offers lengthy shots as well as shots that are not so close to the characters’ faces. Because these scenes are so relieving after viewing the closed interior for so long, the audience will want to pay more attention to what might happen now that the characters are out of the coach.
An important aspect of narrative used throughout John Ford’s Stagecoach is setting. The setting of this film is so important to the narrative because the majority of the action in this movie takes place inside of the stagecoach. Because it is such a tight setting with so little privacy, all of the characters are developed further than they might be in a different setting. This lack of privacy is shown with a great deal of close ups, making the characters seem closer to each other and more intimate-which they are, just not by choice. This is conveyed with the close up shots, as they feel almost claustrophobic. Going even further than the stagecoach, the setting of the West also plays a large role in this film. The huge landscapes are shown off with a lot of open shots, which makes the stagecoach and its passengers feel very out in the open and vulnerable to Indian attack.
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