Film Studies
Films have been something that has been part of man’s society ever since they were created. In this course there have been many films that were watched and assessed. Some stood out more than other and some were even worse or better than other. Many things were learned such as the art that goes into these movies and not to mention other elements such the dialogue, cinematography and sound. Of course, the actors cannot be overlooked because without them, there is not movie. With that said, the researches have picked three films to raise questions, trace motifs, and point out problem areas. Also In addition to considering the issues raised, included will be the analysis consideration of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound design. All of this will involve the following three movies: Psycho, The Shining and Alien.
With Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho of 1960, which was a film where he himself desired to stop filming for the reason that of his own sadness with its growth, has industrialized one of the greatest iconic films that were made during the 20th century. The motion picture has been examined, evaluated, and respected by instructors, students, opponents, and fans similar; “it is perhaps the most carefully and most extremely inspected film ever made,” (Fenimore) Psycho is a motion picture in which numerous individuals hold in their range if not for its total, at least for the acclaimed coarsely 50 minutes into the movie, typically mentioned to as “The Shower Scene”. The music and the sound in the movie were unforgettable.
Deprived of music, the influence of the “Shower Scene” would be hugely pointed if in being at all. Herrmann’s odd yet, influential score is what made Psycho the success that it is now. The sequence accompaniment of music utilized in the section left inconceivable terror that was in the minds of those that were watching through its irritating and irritating screechy sound. The temperament Herrmann’s score set is one of that brings forth fear and anguish that when combined with all of the visual images that were shot by Hitchcock can bring chills down the spine of even the most appropriate moviegoer (Fenimore).
When it came to the cinematography, it was said that Hitchcock that basically used it in order to manipulate the audience. Normally, cinematographers, in a lot of films, are using a lot of selection of lenses as they are shooting a film, from wide and long lenses. Psycho was shot completely on 50mm lenses and these lenses are close to human revelation (Fenimore). Even more that is reason to involve the audience, as if they were listen in on the story, causing the suspense to be huge. Cinematographers, in so many different films, use a diversity of lenses when they shoot a feature, from long lenses to wide lenses. Psycho was shot entirely on 50mm lenses which are close to human vision (Fenimore). That involves the audience even more, as if they were eavesdropping on the story, increasing suspense.
When it comes to editing Psych was not the most easiest to edit. When the movie was finished, the editing became revolutionized on account of the use of numerous procedures of editing in that specific movie. When it comes to rhythm, the movie utilizes the movement in time very professionally. For example, it is obvious that the movie begins during afternoon, as we are converted from outside of the apartment into the all the way to the apartment utilizing using smart editing. On the other hand, when Leigh goes out the room, we start to figure out that the day has not changed. Leigh goes to work, the she gets some money that she is needs to put into the bank and then goes right back home. In one particular afternoon, all that happens and when she decides to run away with the money, the editing in terms of rhythm becomes more and more interesting (Fenimore). Hitchcock then does things like uses a close up of all of the main characters, such as Marion Crane, as she leaves from her hometown. In this shot it shows her face, a little bit of the steering wheel, and also the background, which contains the sky. The shots obviously changes from that specific close up shot to what could be observed as an eye-line corresponding shot, where as we as the audience observe the highway that is in front of the character (Fenimore).
The Shining
The Shining which is a classic horror film, from Stanley Kubrick manages to use a lot of various elements of editing to make distinctive and frightening scenes. Kubrick trusts on editing to help with the overall terrifying and perturbing feel made in the movie. Editing in the movie produces numerous diverse effects, nonetheless the most distinguished effects shaped add to the endurance of the film in addition to the sense of terror and fear. In his common horror film, The Shining utilizes numerous dissimilar elements that keep the movie looking crisp and easy to watch (Naremore). Kubrick depends on editing to make sure that the scenes are shot right and that all of the characters are shown in the right places. Editing in the Shining was responsible for one thing and that was to make sure that the movie was creating scenes that were horrifying and added a sense of humor to the film since it did not have many characters.
For instance in one scene that stands out as a masterfully edited part in the movie. Was when Wendy and Danny Torrance go outside from the hotel to play in the snow and then explore the huge hedge maze. Danny and Danny each run around in the snow acting very excited and then get lost in the weird maze. The scene then cuts to a shot of Jack bouncing a ball around the lobby of the hotel out of boredom. He then leaps up to a three-dimensional model of the maze sitting on a huge table behind him (Naremore).
When it comes to cinematography the Shining uses some symmetry and verticals during the course of the film with endless amounts of ceiling lights and also long hallways and maybe representing a long voyage that has no end. The utilization of bold primary colors is startling with blue, yellow and red being the most recurrent. The red in the movie was supposed to symbolize both blood and passion. The color Red is utilized so stubbornly with the Red jacket (Jack), Red tuxedo of the bar tender, Red carpet, Red walls, Red clothes (Danny and Wendy) and obviously RED RUM, which was written in Red crayon (Christine Lee Gengaro). By exhausting primary colors to this degree it offers constancy inside the cinematography nonetheless is likewise extremely symbolic.
Kubrick uses color in other ways as well and light to highlight that emotion is the pale blue over exposed colors which are all used in order to show cold manifestation or sentiment and to offer a sense of cold blood and to take hold of the audience. This is mentioning to the close-up of Nicholson looking out over the snow-enclosed orchard through the window with the evil beam on his expression (Christine Lee Gengaro).
When it comes to the sound, the level of synchronicity among these problematic portions and all of the action that is seen screen turned out to be unprecedented in its time, and no movie has matched it yet. Scenes increase and develop in tension as the tension starts to build up, and moods start changing precisely as the mood of the music alters. Even highpoint peaks and sudden outbreaks in the film are matched exactly by the score.
After this is coupled with the fact that for the most part the scores were undamaged, and we have parts that the music appears to have been transcribed for, or music that the different scenes were created around. One of the most frightening scenes in the film utilizes the Bartók piece to great effect to highlight some justly forthright dialogue. Jack is holding his son close to him, making the point that he would “never ever hurt him” Wendy or Danny, and that he desires they would be able to stay in the hotel “for always and always”. Nicholson’s previously creepy performance is augmented by the portion, timpani deep like a reserved storm. The subsequent effect is of a unique recording by the utmost creators of the twentieth century.
Conversations in The Shining continuously look as if they take place over some type of gulf. The enormous echoes of the empty hotel generate distance among the characters talking. Even though the characters are right beside each other, talking to one another, these bare resonances generate a huge emotional space. This space could be from the early scenes of the movie, for the duration of the doctor’s discussion with Wendy, every line among the characters is interspersed by an extended silence (Christine Lee Gengaro). All the more so the story which Wendy tells here is uneven every few seconds by these pauses which appear long. Nearly every one of the characters talk in this passive, indeterminate tones, and these tenors appear to echo and die in the unfilled halls of the hotel.
Alien
P-production and editing work on Alien took unevenly twenty weeks to finish (Chion). It turned out that the editing in the film took so long because it was not the easiest movie to make. Those who made the film obviously edited a lot of the film in order to make sure that everything was moving at a pace that was slow. This managed to work in the movie because it was used to build suspense for the tenser and terrifying instants. As said by Rawlings: "I believe the way we did get it right was by making sure thing were moving slow, and then being funny enough, which is totally dissimilar from what they do today. And the researcher believes the sluggishness of it made the movie to appear to be much scarier than what it may have seenthen at that point they could start speeding it back up again because at that point the audience has already been hooked, so to speak. And I think that's how it worked." (Chion)
The first cut of the film took about three hours long; additional excision clipped the final version to make it no longer than two hours one scene taken from the film happened throughout Ripley's final get away from the planet: she meets Brett and Dallas who have been partly protected by the Extraterrestrial. O'Bannon had envisioned the scene to specify that Brett was turning into an Alien egg whereas Dallas was held close to be entrenched by the subsequent facehugger. (Chion)Production Designer Michael Seymour later on made the statement that Dallas had "turned in some food for the extraterrestrial creature", (Code) whereas Ivor Powell recommended that "Dallas is discovered in the ship as an egg, still alive (Chion) Scott remarked that "they're morphing, metamorphosing, they are changing intobeing consumed, I guess, by whatever the Alien's organism isinto an egg." (Chion)The scene was cut partly because it did not look realistic enough and partly for the reason that it slowed the pace of the escape arrangement. (Chion)Tom Skerritt commented that "The picture had to have that pace. Her trying to get away from the alien, we're all rooting for her to get out of there, and for her to slow up and have a conversation with Dallas was not appropriate." (Chion)
Alien One was a movie that was made in the late seventies by Ridley Scott and the editing at that time appeared to be a little cheap. The Science fiction based movie was one of those that actually had the best type of editing at that time because as mentioned earlier was able to slow down the film to make sit scarier. One of the main reasons for this is that the cinematography has been tremendously well thought out and planned all the way down to fine detail. The cinematography was done in a way that was superb with quality that was superior. Even today they are not many films that could match its cinematography. Most of it was centered on the alien and the main character Ripley however it was very effective and one that was watching the movie was able to see these things clearly. One of the main reasons for this is that the cinematography has been tremendously well thought out and planned down to fine.
The mise en scene of this movie has a few dissimilar arrangements. The chief setting is basically that of the spacecraft Nostromo, which was a claustrophobic space tug that was able to go traveling across space to its final destination which would be called earth. The secondary and third settings for the film are of an extraterrestrial planet and a dilapidated spacelab giving off a “suffering” sign in which the crew of the Nostromo have to go in and then investigate whatever was going on. For the duration of the motion picture, it sets up a realistic existence with each of the seven crew members appearing to previously know each other and a hierarchy has been recognized.
Even in the initial arrangement we are well presented to the numerous cinematic devices used. The Atmosphere is extraordinarily unnerving and separation plays a key part. All of the sets are very dark and the camera shots make limited corners with precise close imageries of the characters as they link and travel all through the ship itself. Captain Dallas transfers from one narrowed zone to another at the same time as being confined. The utilization of a blow torch for lighting generates an intellect of danger and severity to the scene. This is the single light that is away from the chief crew. Even this bright light does not draw-out the eerie and black color arrangement of the set.
When it came down to the sound development was not limited to apparatuses. Gershin expressed into a diversity of vocal processors, as well as the Native Instruments Vokator (Chion). Numerous of the spaceship sounds, for example, are vocalizations. Then another difference on the subject was to take portions of hip-hop beats and recordings, persuading the low incidences out of them and using those sounds as auditory opaqueness on the ship and weaponries sounds.
In conclusion, all three movies represented their distinctiveness in all areas. Not one of them was better than the other but every one of them were different in their sound, editing, acting and cinematography. It appears that there is a great art that goes into making movies, an art that only those that understand the mechanics behind it can master.
Works Cited
Chion, Michel. "The Aesthetic of Imprecision, By Design." New York: Columbia University Pres, 2010. 123-145.
Christine Lee Gengaro. "Midnight, the Stars, and You: The Shining,"?? Listening to Stanley Kubrick: The Music in His Film." New York: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2010. 179-218.
Code, David J. "Rehearing The Shining: Musical Undercurrents in the Overlook Hotel." New York : Routledge, 2010. 133-51.
Fenimore, Ross J. "Voices That Lie Within: The Heard and Unheard in Psycho." New York: Routledge, 2010. 80-97.
Naremore, James. "Horrorshow On Kubrick ." New York: British Film Institute, 2009. 187-207 .
