A link for the slides referred to in this class and over the next few weeks.
Films featured in class this week included Solaris, Pride and Prejudice, 2046, Fallen Angels, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tokyo Story, Stalker, Vertigo, Mr Turner, Once Upon a Time in the West, Collateral, The Insider, Paris Texas, Planet Earth, Remains of the Day, Citizen Kane, Beyond the Hills, In the Mood for Love, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Manhattan. (Yes, a lot today.)
Opening vs Closing Images
There are so many films that you could have included here, but those Jacob Swinney selected tell a story. Similarity and dissimilarity can serve equally well when choosing the opening and closing images of your film. It depends what you most want to put in our minds.
Take the last two in the montage. John Ford's The Searchers (the empty doorway) explicitly recalls its opening with its finale - the ways in which the world and the characters have changed is effectively brought to mind. (Good image motif.)
Brian Singer's The Usual Suspects works the other way. Those frames couldn't be more different. The first is as small a detail in that scene as they could find - Kayser Soze is concealed. The last shows Soze unmasked, for all to see.
People will Read Again
The two books I sent around the room today (actually, only in Monday's class) were Gustavo Mercado's Filmmaker's Eye, and Christopher Kenworthy's Master Shots. Joel asked about Werner Herzog's superb memoir, which is called A Guide for the Perplexed.
Visual Arcs: Discovering the Face
I referred to a film of my own which utilised the 'arc of unveiling', moving from viewing a character from behind to look them full in the face, and exploiting the mystery inherent in that journey. The film was Go Quickly, and the character was the father. He initially seems to be the film's antagonist, but as we come to see him more clearly for who he is, our feelings about what is going on should be shifting.
People will Read Again
The two books I sent around the room today (actually, only in Monday's class) were Gustavo Mercado's Filmmaker's Eye, and Christopher Kenworthy's Master Shots. Joel asked about Werner Herzog's superb memoir, which is called A Guide for the Perplexed.
Visual Arcs: Discovering the Face
I referred to a film of my own which utilised the 'arc of unveiling', moving from viewing a character from behind to look them full in the face, and exploiting the mystery inherent in that journey. The film was Go Quickly, and the character was the father. He initially seems to be the film's antagonist, but as we come to see him more clearly for who he is, our feelings about what is going on should be shifting.
Depth of Field
The Illusion of Intention. A focus bump in a recent documentary is interpreted as a character's evasiveness.
Aspect Ratio
On the pitfalls of an aspect ratio too wide for your subject matter, consider this recent piece.
On the peculiarities of 4:3 and how Wes Anderson uses it in Grand Budapest Hotel.
On the 'infamous' (?) 1:1 aspect ratio of Xavier Dolan's Mommy.
Colour Palettes
A great recent video essay on the use of colour in Kimmy Schmidt.
To see a lot of colour palettes on regular basis, sign up to the RSS feed of Movies in Color.
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