Response to Arin's Post/Eisenstein Readings

I agree with Arin when it comes to aspects like tempo and color within films. Throughout my film watching career, I thought the most interesting and important parts of the film were changes in speed, color, or lighting. Each time there is a change in one of these aspects, I knew for sure that something plot changing would happen.

Tempo, as I would notice it, is incredibly important in depicting an action scene. It doesn't matter what exactly the action is, whether it is a fist fight, car chase, or a shootout, the way the camera moves (speed-wise) will change. One of my favorite instances of this is shown a lot in the film Fight Club. Whenever Edward Norton or Brad Pitt would be fighting one of the members, the camera often shakes, indicating a new sense of urgency or speed. The camera's movement reflects the intensity of the fight scene and really improves it.

Changes in lighting and color is just as important. In Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, the last scenes take place during a thunderstorm. Just before these scenes, the group of main characters are relatively peaceful, and of course, it is intensely light out. The thunderstorm indicates the arrival of death (who is in human form throughout the film), and his ambition to take the lives of the group of main characters.

This is precisely why the aspects to film that Arin listed are so interesting. They may seem simplistic to execute, but that just makes the meanings implied by them so much more magnificent.