Requiem for a Western?

First off, opening with a repsonse to Mr. Klobachar's comment on "people being locked into a superhero world", I really feel they aren't necessarily locked into a superhero world, but more locked into a new genre era that they are unable to stray away from. New-age cinema progresses each year at finding a new way to impress their audiences, so films are not as much like the "classics" anymore. Though Clint Eastwood's film, Unforgiven, is not as much a classic, I still don't think it can be considered one of thoughs highly developed new-age cinema movies. Though being from a different genre than today's world, I still think it is comparible to confilcts found in today's society.

Thoughout Unforgiven, there is a constant self-conflict of William Munny and himself. He is fixed on the idea he is a reformed man all thanks to his diceased wife. Even though he does seem to be a better man now, and a loving and devoted father, you can tell when the Schofield Kid arrives that there is some thought into his past. As the film continues on after he accepts the job, he seems to constantly have to remind himself why he is the way he is now, becuase of his wife. After a constant internal struggle, he breaks down in the end, killing a massive amount of people, most in which haven't done anything, and drinking. Both things he "wasn't anymore".

In our society this happens everyday, the amounts of people "relapsing" back into a treatment center for addiction, or making it back into prison after already serving a sentence in jail. People these days try and convince themselves they can move on in life and leave certain traits and problems behind, but once something is established in your personality, it is pretty hard to just pick up and move on, leaving that certain thing behind. This same theme can be found in movies such as Requiem For a Dream, Blow, and other more contemporary films. Some of the classics and revisionist films aren't necesarily close to being like any new, contemporary films, but many of the overlying themes are the same.

Babel

Sound is a key element portrayed in director Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu’s 2006, award-winning film, Babel. The absence of sound in this film is just as important as the presence of sound. Both stylistic details present different emotions to the film.
Being a movie about various cultures, much of the time the music chosen was unfamiliar, but recognizably related to the certain culture present in the film. While watching a part of the film based in Tokyo, the music was faster paced, more upbeat, and what you would generally think of when thinking of a classical Japanese piece of music. When the film was set in Morocco, the music is set more at a rapid pace using sitars, and drums. It gives you the feel of traveling on a safari through the African deserts. During the one scene based in Mexico, the music was exciting, music you’d find playing at a fiesta, being the scene is set at a wedding. While in the US not much music is noticeable because of the very few scenes shot in the US. The one scene using music while in the US is when Amelia, the two American kid’s nanny, is trying to find a road, the music here is very dramatic after she finds out the kids are lost. Even though the scenes locations can easily be determined by the setting, you would still be able to tell just by the music that is used throughout the film. Much of the time the music is also a motif. The music doesn’t change for each specific country, while in Morocco, it is the same the next time the film switches back to a scene in Morocco.
Another way music director Gustavo Santaolalla uses sound in the film is the cutting between the presence of sound and the absence of sound. By doing this he can set a certain feeling and make it more dramatic. Though all the film is dramatic, he emphasizes the more dramatic scenes by cutting out the sound. It may seem that it is more dramatic listening to a person screaming rather than watching a person screaming, but it actually had a large affect on the feeling than I would have imagined. For instance, the first time it really became aware to me was when Amelia lost the two American children, Debbie and Mike. After realizing they weren’t where she left them they cut out all the sound and just show her screaming and crying. Crying and screaming to me are extremely annoying, and though it suggests a certain emotion, the annoyance of it could distract the audience. By cutting that out, it gives the audience the ability to imagine what she is feeling and how they would react to the situation. Another time Santaolalla does this is while Chieko, the Japanese Def-Mute girl, is at a rave. It cuts between her perspective, to everyone else’s perspective. While in our perspective, the music is loud and everyone there is yelling. As it cuts to Chieko’s perspective, it is absolutely silent. To me that was extremely impacting because other than those instances as it cuts out, you as an audience member don’t take the time to think about the fact she isn’t able to hear anything. Both these instances are perfect examples of how Santaolalla uses the absence of sound verses using sound in the film, that’s probably how he received 6 awards for “Best Original Score”, “Best Composer”, and “Best Film Music”, in which one was an Academy Award. Without this unique detail of sound in the film, the same feelings and emotions couldn’t have been fulfilled.

John Wayne Y'all

To start out, I've missed a lot of pieces of this film due to leadership meetings and visits to the career center; therefore, there is much of the film I haven't viewed yet. From what I've seen so far in John Ford's Stagecoach, the camera angles in this film intrigue me. I enjoy the fact that cinematographer Bert Glennon broke away from the typical 180 degree rule. During the chase scene it would flip between the characters moving from right to left, then to them moving left to right. Though it may seem to a film critic extremely obvious, to a typical movie-goer like me, it isn't very noticeable. Glennon also uses the authorial and non authorial lens to make certain characters look more dominant or visa-versa. The men are usually the prominent ones while the ladies are viewed as the meeker characters. Another camera angle that drew my attention was when the camera shoots a deep focus shot of the Indians in the foreground and the stagecoach in the background. It depicts the fact that they are far away from each other and the people in the stagecoach have no idea what's coming. Overall, Glennon does a great job with finding the right camera angle, along with the lighting which I didn't touch on. Due to the action in this film, the discontinuity in the editing is not noticeable while watching and doesn’t affect the outcome of the film.

Setting the Scene

While watching Orson Welles' Citizen Kane I was always drawn to the setting of the scene. Cinematographer Gregg Toland really sets a scene incorporating small detailed props. The majority of the film is busy, but not overwhelming. Within the mansion some rooms appeared bare, but if you notice the walls they are very detailed and filled with carvings and sculptures too. During scenes set at Kane's office, the room is always very cramped with desks and people, and papers scattered on top of there desks. There is always people shuffling around, unless the scene is set later in the night, even then it was busy at times. Though Gregg Toland included alot in each of the sets, it didn't distract the audience from what is important and what we, as the audience, should be paying attention to. For instance, when Charles Foster Kane first meets Susan Alexander, he places the snow globe in her room, that is one thing you wouldn't notice the first time viewing the film becuase the attention is on Mr. Kane and Ms. Alexander. He does the same thing with the sled, until after you've already seen the film, the sled would have played no significant part. Overall Gregg Toland does a great job with setting the scene in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.

No Strings Attached

In Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio, the producers Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske create the film using cinematic, literary, and theatrical elements. This amusing plot expands your imagination and allows, even a high school student, to go along on Pinocchio’s immense adventures. Before viewing the film, I was unsure of how the analysis would go. To analyze an animated film seemed obscure to me, but after the viewing I realized the same techniques directors use in Hollywood today are much like the techniques directors Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske used in 1940 to make the now classic, Pinocchio.

Pinocchio is much like every other Disney movie that has been made, heart-warming, enjoyable, and family-friendly. The story is being narrated by Jiminy Cricket, a cricket that later as the story is told, becomes Pinocchio’s conscience. Pinocchio is initially a puppet, and then later becomes a wooden boy after his “father”, Geppetto, wishes for him to become a real boy. Pinocchio receives directions from the Blue Fairy to be a good, honest boy. If he succeeds at this, he may just become a real boy. Through a series of obstacles, Pinocchio finally realizes that he should have listened to his conscience all along.

One of the major elements used to create the warm attitude of this film is the music. The opening credits role with music playing that is believed to be non-diegetic sound, but as the camera fades to the first scene it is revealed that Pinocchio’s conscience, Jiminy Cricket, is singing the song all along. The use of diegetic sound is found throughout other parts of the movie as well. For example, when Pinocchio and the other bad boys go to Pleasure Island, diegetic sound is used then too. As they reach their destination to Pleasure Island, the noise of exciting music is heard that you find out as they exit the boat, is coming from a carnival that is being held. The music really relates to what is going on in the film at the current time and represents the mood being presented.

Another element that really stood out to me was the camera movement. Each scene fades in and out, making it very evident when the scenes are switching from one to the other. Before nearly each and every scene starts, an extreme long shot or long shot is used to depict where the setting is taking place. The camera then will move around either panning or tracking to give us as the audience a broader view of what is around. After establishing where the scene is taking place, the use of close ups is used frequently, especially when Jiminy Cricket is being shown, for he is only the size of a cricket! Most the scenes duration time was fairly long, taking the time to show details and to really elucidate what is going on, we need to remember while watching, it was made for a younger audience.

Overall, Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, along with the help of Walt Disney, create a classic film for the whole family to watch. The integration of themes all relating back to the consistent theme, listen to your conscience, really speak to the audience in an indirect manner. The writer’s decision to include exaggerated lessons subconsciously traces the message into children’s’ heads leaving them with a little more moral than before. No matter how old I get, I know I’ll never be too old to sit back and enjoy a Disney classic.