Monday, December 14, 2009

Response to the Laura Mulvey book

I've seen Citizen Kane a few times, and each time it never fails to compel me, especially the shots taken of Welles at extreme low angles within the newspaper office. It is extraordinary to me that this film, after half a century, is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. Thus I was interested in reading Laura Mulvey's interpretation of the metaphors present within the film. One thing that she acknowledges is the absence of a typical Hollywood female lead. Although it is obvious that the film is centered around Kane, it never occurred to me that the film is constructed to avoid the accommodation of a glamorous tone. This construction also creates confusion surrounding the characterization of Kane. It is difficult to determine whether he is good or bad, as the circumstances of his childhood, can be credited to his personality disorder, yet the construction of the narrative also (through the interpretations of many) fluctuates and distorts balance. Ultimately, I do not believe the film can be defined nor placed within the boundaries of a metaphor or two. Rather, the nature of the film itself requires multiple viewings and interpretations, similar to the way one mans life cannot be summed up in a sentence. It is the unique construction of the film and the lack of the glamor effect which forces the viewer to consciously ponder the material and reach their own conclusions as to its meaning.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

WIlder Interview

The interview with Billy Wilder was very entertaining and interesting. He was incredibly frank and honest when discussing behind the scenes aspects of films he had made. He seems like a character from this interview and like he has a very big personality—as I’m sure most talented directors do. A lot of what he says in the interview reminds me of the documentary short we watched in class which talked about Hitchcock and his tactics in terms of film production. Both Wilder and Hitchcock seemed to have very personal relationships with the actors who participated in their films, whether positive or negative and sometimes even both at the same time.

Auteur Theory

Wollen’s article about the Auteur theory was interesting in the way that it addressed how different European directors have been recognized and analyzed differently in accordance to their work in either Europe or the U.S. I really wasn’t aware of this phenomenon at all and was surprised when I read this. I also liked the idea that the director is not the sole author of a film. The Auteur theory seemingly opens of possibilities in terms of aspects of production.

Make up Blogs

Christie Formalism and Neoformalism


When I first read this Christie reading and when we first talked about the history of formalism and neoformalism in class, I was pretty confused. It was hard for me to think about these ideas in relation to Russian cinema. It was only after watching various movies and realizing that we always attain meaning through formal elements of film that I began to realize that this concept was simpler and more accessible than I had previously thought. One of the most important lines in Christie’s essay is that “Formalism, they believe, unlike some structuralist and psychoanalytic methodologies, crucially implies an active spectator…(Christie 62).” Christie further illustrates this point about the active spectator by talking about schemata that organizes our perceptions. These ideas allow us as viewers to watch films and simultaneously look for the elements that influence and guide our understanding. Once we find these elements in one film, it becomes easier to do the same thing with other films.


Einstein


In Einstein’s “The Cinematographic Principle and the Ideogram,” he talks about hieroglyphics as a way to introduce the reader to the idea of montage and how combining certain shots or images creates a new meaning. Einstein says that when we combine two hieroglyphs we read the combination not as their sum but as their product. He claims that “by the combination of two depictables is achieved that representation of something that is undepictable.” He says that this is montage and this is what we do in film. When we apply the film Potemkin to this same idea, we can clearly see that the juxtaposition does create a new concept of meaning, sometimes so instinctively and so seamlessly that we do not even realize that our brain is in fact drawing these connections. This reading was interesting because of the highly scientific and objective basis that Einstein assigns to a seemingly simple idea. He goes on to explain why we understand what we understand when we see what we see on film.


Schrader and Film Noir


Schrader’s work on film Noir starts by giving a brief historical background of the genre. He says that darkness and cynicism had become a major part of American films during the war but that by 1949 movies had become incredibly dark portraying American life in a negative way and in a way that they never had in the past. His article from 1972 discusses the interest in Film Noir at the time because of this renewal of themes of darkness in American films. Schrader cites four catalysts responsible for this genre’s creation and popularity. First, Schrader talks about war and post-war disillusionment, post war realism—which related to disillusionment in that now audiences wanted a more honest look at American life, The German influence, responsible for the “chiaroscuro” or shades of contrast in film noir, and the hard-boiled tradition—a way of thinking and acting that did not sugar coat or romanticize. In looking at Double Indemnity, we can clearly see evidence of Schrader’s point that film noir id not about conflict resolution but a certain mood. In Double Indemnity, we do not get the happy ending or the conflict resolved, but instead are left with a dark and brooding feeling and an almost complete lack of resolution. This film which is stylistically and substantially film noir, presents a cynical view of American life seemingly making the point that there is no way out of misery beside inevitable death.

Psychoanalysis

This excerpt talks about the ways in which psychoanalytic film theory from is expanded upon and changed used in different ways than it was in the past and applied to different, more specific fields. The article discusses the use of Freud’s castration theory and fetishism as it is applied to race relations and colonization. The article also discusses queer writings and theory and the way that psychoanalytic theory is used for “against the grain readings.” Although psychoanalytic film theory of the 1970’s focused somewhat exclusively on the gaze and in Mulvey’s work, on the gaze that men enact upon women, these theories have been rearranged and reconstructed in order to apply to more distinct and selective categories and areas of academic study.

Citizen Kane is such an astonishing portrait of a man. What is so interesting about this portrait is that our protagonist, the main character, who is described as larger than life in the reading, is almost villified. His behavior is reprehensible throughout the film, especially his behavior toward his wives. It is interesting how the author points out that there is no glamorous female in the film, she mentions that this may be because the cinematographer was not a "glamour" shooter. Still, by making the wives seem almost plain it makes Kane seem even still larger. No one can subvert him, no one can make him love... he is an untouchable figure.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Citizen Kane

I also read Chapter One, like Melissa. I think that her last line is specifically interesting, as this is what i was thinking throughout the reading. When if first started it, I was confused as to why I was reading it. I actually went back to double check that I was doing the correct reading since there was no mention of Citizen Kane until the end. It is pretty shocking that Kane came out of an urgent need to make some quick money in order to fund a different project. It seems almost impossible that one of American Film History's most famous films was born in such haste.
I also thought that the description of Welles new technique for filming Heart of Darkness. I have personally never seen the film, but I think that the continuous first person shot would get annoying. When reading I was thinking of some of the filming in Blair Witch project, where it is almost entirely done through a first person shot. I think that for character development, it is important for the audience to at least sometimes see the character from a third person perspective. Through that perspective, the viewer can understand their mannerisms and behaviors. I am curious to see the film and if the entire thing was actually filmed this way.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Interesting! (though irrelevant)

While writing my final paper on "The Royal Tenenbaums", I found something interesting. I remember while discussing the movie in class, someone pointed out that it is Owen Wilson's voice that gives the commentary during Richie's tennis match. However, during some research, I found out that it is actually Andrew Wilson, Owen and Luke's brother, who does the voice over. But considering their voices do sound a lot alike, it is strange that Wes Anderson decided to use him for the role. Woohoo, trivia.

Psychoanalysis in film

I found it interesting how the psychoanalytic theory was placed on film to address overarching cultural themes. It considered film as another form of societal discourse, and thus a platform to study how certain members of society reacted to other members of society. This was applied to such topics as race and sexuality, and how to understand the actions taken by people who mimic or go against the grain of societal hegemony. The application of Freudian theory offers some serious weight to the arguments on such ideas as the mimicking of cultures that are seen to be dominant. One of the most fascinating elements of this article was when it talked about the representation of the body in horror films. Psychoanalysis can be applied to how we depict and perceive the body of the villain or monster; the elements that make this character particularly repulsive or “monstrous.” Psychoanalysis can be applied to virtually every element of cinema, because it is an art form that can be perceived on many levels, and brings out a certain purpose of reaction on the part of both the artist and the audience.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Post Production and Release of Citizen Kane

Seeing as how the first chapter in The Making of Citizen Kane, is already taken, I'll discuss the post production chapter. However, the most interesting thing about this chapter, was the discussion of special effects. Special effects nowadays seem to go hand in hand with any film. No matter what movie is released, be it sci-fi, comedy, etc. it's bound to contain special effects. This was no different from Citizen Kane, despite the fact that films made during that period hardly contained such sophisticated effects. I digress, for what I found truly fascinating is that Kane contained special effects in the first place. Many of the shots portrayed in the book that contained such effects were surprising. For example, the way that the surrounding image blends with the beach that was shot (during Kane and his guests' travels to the Everglades) is deceptively realistic. I had no clue that a majority of the shot was simply a special effect. Then again, if Citizen Kane was made now, I'm sure the level of high definition in which movies are shot would make the special effects sequences far more obvious. Still, you have to commend Welles on a terrific job relating to the special effects.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Birth of Citizen Kane

For this post, I decided to write on the Carringer chapter entitled, Heart of Darkness. I chose this one because I thought the events leading up to the making of Citizen Kane are of particular interest because, in essence, one of the most popular films in movie history was only a result of some extreme extenuating circumstances. Let's backtrack a bit: RKO studio head George Schaefer approaches Welles and gets him to agree to sign a contract to start production on the film (Heart of Darkness) the summer of 1939. The contract entitled Welles to a whole lot of leeway concerning his degree of control of the film- something unheard of for the time. Schaefer, however, had other plans in mind-- he did not want to disrupt the creative vision of his director.

"To get him (Welles), Schaefer violated one of the most sacred canons of the industry. In granting Welles the right of final cut, he allowed creative considerations to take priority over the studio's means of protecting its financial investment."

What was so interesting to me was how much Scheafer believed in Welles when no one else did. While the team worked tirelessly on production, they were receiving complete bombardments of criticism and "lack of confidence" votes from critics and other industry officials alike. When Welles's budget outlook turned out to be more than double the terms as outlined in his contract, coupled with the fact that RKO was in the middle of a financial crisis, Heart of Darkness took a backseat. It was during this stressful period and time of urgency for Welles and Schaefer that the birth of Citizen Kane could be formulated. I guess this classic film is proof that the best ideas often come from the most perplexing of times.