The film 'Circus' was produced in 1936 and it is a Soviet melodramatic comedy musical film. Grigori Aleksandrov and Isidor Simkov created this film after getting inspired by a comedy play. It is the reason that this film has humor and a story with some dramatic scenes. The scene which I am going to talk about in this paper is on the Marion, her husband Ivan and son Jimmy at circus.
It can be analyzed from the particular scene that the camera work is highly innovative and the acting in that scene is highly appreciable. The scene starts when Ivan enters and shout loudly in the circus where Marion was performing. Ivan seems aggressive while holding his son Jimmy he rudely push away Marion from her child and gets busy in conversation with another man in the circus. Meanwhile, Jimmy walks away from Ivan and people sitting in the circus takes him and avoid giving him back to Ivan.
In this scene, the camera work is appreciable in which expressions explain everything. It will not be incorrect to state that cinematic techniques that are used in this film clearly express moods and themes. The body language of Ivan and others from audience of the circus presents clear postures, gestures, and facial expressions. The elements of this scene are perfectly framed according to the camera height, angle and distance. The deep focus technique is also used to show the audience at the circus while presenting close-up of Ivan, Marion and Jimmy.
It is easy to analyze from the scene that racism doesn’t matter when it comes to save a life of a child. It can be said that this scene helps to set the tone for the film. The reason is that this scene fit into the overall scope of the film as it is about the racism. When Jimmy being a victim of racism receives love from friendly soviet people. The circus hall is full of representatives of various Soviet ethnicities but they save the black baby boy from that aggressive man. Soviet people in favor of blacks are never shown in this entire film other than this scene. Therefore, this scene is integral to the plot of the film. The camera angles are also very clear that makes the conversations and dialogues easy to understand or interpret the entire film.
The editing of the film is kinetic editing in which inappropriate humor is injected into the scene where everyone is laughing, whereas Ivan is in anger and shouting. However, the arrangement of the scene and the shot is from several camera angles simultaneously. It is the reason that this scene gives different experience and emotions. The different camera angles have different effects on viewers that make the scene more attractive (Jackson, 2012).
When the army people try to save the child from Ivan the high-angle shot with low-angle shot technique is visibly used. At various points eye-level camera angle and the point of view shot technique can also be analyzed. It will not be incorrect to state that this scene contains several shots that leave psychological effects on the viewers. The interaction with the child in this scene is a touchy scene for all as it shows love and affections to the black baby boy. There are many points where the director has used close up, and medium close up shot (Simkov, 1936).
While focusing on the framing of this scene, it can be said that the aggressiveness of the actor Ivan shows violence. Moreover, the dialogues Ivan exchange with Marion and other people at the circus are interesting, and the camera role makes the expression look even more interesting. Within the two minutes of scene many people are targeted. The editing work is done amazingly because it covers Marion’s condition backstage, Ivan expressions and body language, and black baby boy actions. The way camera angles capture things happening in that circus is incredible.
While concluding the entire discussion on the chosen scene it can be said that in the short span of time different actions and reactions are organized in a logical manner. There are many points in that scene where the director draws the attention to the cinematic apparatus. The technical aspects of the scene make it easy to understanding the scene. Therefore, this will not be incorrect to state that the film successfully delivers the desired message and meanings by using a variety of camera techniques, dialogues, and emotions in two minutes. Moreover, with the right use of camera angles, mise-en-scene, framing, editing, etc. the chosen scene is the perfect example of good direction.
Glossary
"Terminology Utilized"
Deep focus: At the same time camera focuses on close objects as well as objects on distant places .
Kinetic editing: in which inappropriate humor is injected into the scene.
High-angle shot: the camera is placed above the horizon line titled down to view the subject.
Low-angle shot: the camera is tilted up to view the subject.
Eye-level shot: the camera is placed at the average height of an observer. It is also called a neutral shot.
Point of view shot: it is a shot that presents/highlight the specific point of view of the character.
Close up shot: this shot stress on the importance of the particular character on a particular scene.
Medium close up shot: close of two or three people at a time.
Camera angles: there are three angles low, high, tilt at which the camera points out any subject.
mise-en-scene: it highlights the direction of the actors, placement of the camera and selection of the lenses.
Framing: it includes the camera angles and editing to make the picture perfect.
Editing: it assembles the successive shots to make up a film .
References
Jackson, C. (2012). Flash Cinematic Techniques: Enhancing Animated Shorts and Interactive Storytelling. New York: CRC Press.
Simkov, G. A. (Director). (1936). Circus [Motion Picture].
