FILM2120 Movie Notes
8/19 - Speed
Bomber immediately kills someone
4th scene - camera following both in front of and behind characters as they ascend the stairs
Cool and warm contrasting color palettes inside vs outside elevator?
POV switching from omniscent to Travin
Downward and upward angles between elevator and officers above
Guy detonates early
Ascents and descents
Venus statue?
tvs and surveillance
“Moeny isn’t everything” “yeah right”
Please terrorist and prove himself
TIME WATCHES TIME TIME
Crossing bridge?
Intuition and being one step ahead
Climax NOTICING THE CAMERA
turns against terrorist’s will and complying with his wants
stopping bomb from becoming
just a watch without the bomb
Chasing vehicles again trying to keep up
8/21 Discussion
Speed is both to their detriment and their solution
Three narrative arcs - elevator, phone booth + buses, Annie getting captured
Environmental narration - set design
Howard’s house is eccentrically decorated despite its purpose to be blown up
Jack is always able to get outside resources
Someone would die and something would come up, wouldn’t give time to process
Flipping emotions quickly
Jack and Annie bonding through trauma
8/26 Casablanca
As you did with Speed, pay special attention to Casablanca's first 5-10 minutes. Specifically, note how
the narrative is designed to make us curious about how the story will play out. What information are we
provided via exposition? What enigmas are established?
• Repeated and varied motifs provide the backbone of classical Hollywood narratives. Identify as many
motifs in Casablanca as you can, everything from props to characters to lines of dialogue. What is the
function of these motifs? How do they help structure the narrative? Which ones develop greater
meaning as they are used across the film?
• How are Rick's traits developed over the course of the film? What are his goals and how are these
established and motivated? Are there any details related to Rick (or any other major character) that you
feel are not well motivated?
• What is the difference between "plot" and "story"—and how are both terms different from "narrative"?
What is the first plot event in Casablanca? The first story event? The final plot and story events?
During wwii, large mix of people; refugees
trust?
the big light
Rick is intuitive and suspicious of people
“I stick my neck out for nobody”
Rick rebutts everything
everyone’s moving around ALL THE TIME
being rusty on an old song from the same era as the woman knowing Rick
FLASHBACKKK
Here’s lookin at you, kid
She spilled her drink when they last kissed… he spilled his in frustration
They didnt know each other very well
SHE DOESNT WEAR A RING
Laszlo’s secret would be safe w her but not Rick’s.. yeah ok
Casablanca is an in-between for many people leaving for America
SHE WAS MARRIED WHEN SHE KNEW HIM
Keeps employees on salary even when forcibly closed; helped the Bulgarian couple with their fare to America
What this is just like Arthur and Mary in RDR2 wow
“i’m the only cause i’m interested in”
One woman is hurt and you take your revenge on the rest of the world
Destiny?
Escaping from self
Get Lazslo to be thrown into a concentration camp and escape with Ilsa
Changed his mind???
She cant follow where he goes and what he does for work
Last words to him were the same as in the note when he left Paris from being occupied all those uears before
Disappearing for a while from Casablanca
8/28 Discussion
Exposition - we get context for what Casablanca is, where it is, and when we are in in time. Voiceover map montage and radio announcement
Enigmas - Who Rick is? Where letters of transit are, and who ends up with them?
Casablanca was a neutral occupation area, everyone stayed there
Rick parallels America’s stance in WWII before Pearl Harbor
If we learned everything right away, the movie would not be interesting
Bulgarian couple mirrors Rick’s own love triangle
Rick lets her husband win roulette, showing his cynical shell is just that
9/2 - Cleo from 5 to 7
• Think about how Cleo from 5 to 7's narrative compares to classical Hollywood narrative (like
Casablanca). What conventions of classical Hollywood narrative does this movie break, with regard to:
openings, causality, motivation, protagonists, and endings? What conventions of classical Hollywood
narrative does it uphold?
• As David Bordwell points out, defenders of European art cinema say that life isn't as neat and tidy as
films (especially Hollywood films) typically portray it, and European art cinema actually makes a
concerted effort to show life as it really is. What might it mean to show "life as it really is" in a fiction
film? Can you connect this up with anything you see/hear in Cleo from 5 to 7? In what sense is this film
"realistic"—either "objectively" or "subjectively"?
• European art cinema is known for letting the hand of the director come forth in obvious ways (in other
words, these films force you to think about the fact that a director has put the film together). At what
moments do you sense the hand of Agnès Varda? When does she make authorial "marks"?
Fortune teller scene - no large cuts, we don’t see Cleo or the fortune teller until the second reading
Doors opening closing
As long as im beautiful, im even more than the rest
temporal ellipsis on stairs
chapter 1 just navigating the city
partitioned screen, multiple conversations
everything suits me
cars and people passing by
mirrors
wedding dresses and accessories even if her reading said she was unlikely to get married
unlucky
overlapping conversations and sounds
superstitious
man this is the LIFE i want my sensory swing and a ton of cats
music matching actions
sweeping camera to match music
we finally hear her sing towards the middle of the movie
curtain transition is clean
changing attitudes of self
pov camera shots
BROKEN MIRROR
she always feels bad in the car
halfway in love with the other man
oh i can just call the doctor later
fear disappears when actually saw the doctor and when she got closer to Antoine
9/4 Discussion
Objective Realism - Cafe scene; conversations going on around her.
Subjective Realism - Cleo walking on the street, thinking everyone is perceiving her in a certain way
Episodic structure with plot divided into chapters
Little to no closure at the end
Coloring in beginning doesn’t serve a plot purpose, just for expression’s sake
Temporal overlap - cleo walking down the stairs in rapid succession
9/9 - Do the Right Thing
Study/discussion questions
• What are the types of relations that can exist between shots? Specifically, how is the illusion of continuous space constructed across consecutive shots in a standard Hollywood film?
In what ways does Sergei Eisenstein subvert those editing conventions in the Odessa Steps sequence of
The Battleship Potemkin, and for what larger purpose?
Does Do the Right Thing also contain instances of "discontinuity" editing? If so, why, do you think?
• Usually in Hollywood-produced films, dramatic conflict arises when the protagonist's goals clash with
secondary characters' goals. But in Do the Right Thing, not only is there no defined protagonist, most
characters seem to have no goals. So what is creating the conflict in this film?
Why do characters act as they do—and why do some act in ambiguous or seemingly self-destructive ways? Are there "heroes" and "villains" in the film, or are they all morally flawed? And is there closure at the end? Why or why not?
In short, how does Do the Right Thing complicate traditional classical norms?
Entire dance sequence interchanging between a boxer outfit and other regular outfits
WARM COLORS
Many different characters’ povs all over the city
is it wrong am i doing something wrong - restaurant owner
Seems discontinuous at first but moves through the places
camera roll and 180 to show ‘competition’
Stagnant camera otherwise
Follows the girl and her mother through the house where she closes the door on her
Camera follows out of the door of restaurant
Cut from inside stairs to outdoor stairs
looking down, looking up
Upwards angles and pans with the boombox guy
cut from loud scene to quiet calm scene
calm aerial angles
We love radio
Love and hate rings
Both son and dad rage at different times and calm the other
the right address
9/11 - Discussion
Objective realism examples in movie - Bed-Stuy community interactions, authentic dialogue and setting
Stylistic/subjective realism examples - DJ serving as an omniscient presence narrating the happenings of the neighborhood
Shades of gray rather than stark black/white moral boundaries
Soviet montage + Sergei Eisenstein (1920s); montage was a rejection of seamless Hollywood continuity and the editing was used to shock and revolutionize ideology
Violations of continuity
Vs. Do the Right Thing: individual characters vs masses, discontinuity, rejects ambiguity and makes its political position clear
9/15 - Back to the Future (independent for essay)
SCENES
1.) Inside home
2.) a. Riding to school
b. audition
3.) on town
4.) a. Home with supervisor and wrecked car
b. family meal
c. waking up and phone call
5.) a.) mall and unveiling of modded delorian
b.) plutonium + attack of Libyans
6.) a.) 1955
b.) lyon estates
7.) a.) hill valley diner
b.) george’s house
8.) Mom’s house
9.) a.) Doc’s house
b.) woods then garage
10.) School
a.) hallway
b.) cafeteria
11.) George’s house
b.) diner
c.) chase
12.) Doc’s house - discuss plan
b.) Lorraine arrival
13.) George and Marty
14.) a.) Doc and Marty
b.) diner
c.) Doc with wire
15.) Enchantment under the Sea dance
a.) car
b.) parking lot
c.) dance
16.) Outside with wire
17.) back in 1985
b.) inside house
c.) doc comes back!
Clocks and time
Principal’s schpiel
Progress
save the clock tower CLOCK
cars
we get to know the family and their dynamic
McFlys were good for nothing
turning things up to 11 (not literally)
flux capacitor
progress is his middle name
9/16 In the Mood for Love
•
In the Mood for Love's narrative and style are decidedly not in the classical Hollywood mode; what
characteristics typical of art cinema does it exhibit instead? How does this art cinema version of a love
story compare to classical Hollywood versions? Do the film's unconventional traits confound your ability
to become emotionally involved in the plot, or is this alternative form of storytelling engaging in a
different way?
• As you watch
In the Mood for Love, look for how the four aspects of mise-en-scene (lighting, setting,
costume and makeup, staging/figure behavior) are used by the filmmakers to portray characters,
environments and themes. Consider the layout of settings, the use of light and color, the way people
physically behave and interact, the clothes they wear, the décor of the settings, key props, etc. What are
the functions of these various mise-en-scene elements?
• What do you take to be the important themes of
In the Mood for Love; i.e., what does this film
ultimately seem to be "about"? How do aspects of mise-en-scene in the film serve these themes? Keep
track of some motifs in the mise-en-scene that help you to understand the film's themes.
looking outside in for the dinner. Quick snappy shots
Lots of outside in
dinners are from outside
Imitating each other’s partners
cant make eye contact at the same time nor touch really
Rain when they meet or go by each other
Wears green when around him
lots of red
the two are matching colors?
red jacket red curtain
practicing talking to her husband somewhat reflects their relationship too
OH HI RED CURTAIN
She is hesitant to make the first move all the time… and be firm
SHTORRRMMS
mirrors
greeeeeen wrapping paper
speaking his secret into a hole in cambodia… far far away
How does narration function in this film? Note especially the role of subjective depth of narration. How
is our view of Kane affected by whose flashback we experience? What conclusions do you come to by
the end about what kind of man Charles Foster Kane was?
• Think about why Welles manipulates the story order.
Citizen Kane's plot could have been arranged in
chronological order like the story, starting with the beginning of Kane's life and ending at his death.
What is gained by the drastic rearrangement of these events?
• Look for uses of long takes, deep focus, and camera movement. Why do you think Welles continually
uses these rather ostentatious techniques? In what ways do these devices reflect or reinforce the film's
narrational strategies? Listen also for the use of sound—what sound techniques stand out to you, and
what larger purpose do they serve?
rosebud
we start out in a biography draft of his life
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
morals change as he grows in the business
statues
puzzles
mirrors and camera angles
a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle…
SO MUCH STUFF
no trespassing ending and beginning (at xanadu)
-
Long take → continuous spatial/temporal elipsis → objective reality
9/30 - The Conversation
Note examples of the following in
The Conversation: subjective (or internal) sound, non-diegetic sound,
and non-simultaneous sound. Note especially any sound motifs that don't seem to fit neatly into any of
these categories. Do these motifs ever change in status over the course of the film? Why do you think
Francis Ford Coppola made the status of certain sounds ambiguous? Does this serve any larger
function(s), or does it influence our understanding of the Harry Caul character?
• Now that you're knowledgeable about all elements of style, look for how cinematography, editing, and
mise-en-scene play a role in this film as well. Do you see and hear a connection between the use of
sound and the visual patterns in the film?
-piano/song/sound transitions between scenes/overlap
-questions
-piano music usually matches the mood
-AAAAAAAAAAA
-saxophone + piano??