February 16, 2009

In today's class, we reviewed what we learnt last class which was "Continuity Editing". After looking at the different key techniques(e.g. Point of View Cutting, Directional continuity) listed in the PowerPoint, I thought I have to be more familiar with them as I will have to use the techniques throughout the course. In order to exercise our new found knowledge, we looked at an example, a movie - "Momento". We counted how many cuts there were in that very short scene and there were 22 cuts. It was a lot which made me realize the effort required to create a movie. I thought the cuts did not make the movie seem too out of focus and they were appropriate for the mood in the movie. Next, we looked at another part of "Momento", this time we had to identify the key techniques used. We spotted out Directional continuity, Match on action, and Point of View cutting. I thought they were all used nicely and contributes to the flow of the movie. In this small task, we strived to be "Thinkers" as we apply what we have learnt earlier to recognize what was required to be found in the task.

After the revision on Continuity editing, we looked at a new unit - FILM NOIR. As I have learnt about a small part of it last year, I have always found Film Noir a very interesting and significant part of Hollywood filmmaking, therefore, I was very excited when I found out we were to learn about this genre. We explored themes found in this genre and they usually possess similiar characteristics. They have a protagonist, an antagonist (usually Femme Fatale), and the Good Woman. The protagonist appears to be a "hero" who is in control in the beginning of the plot, however, there is the Femme Fatale, who seduces the protagonist, creating conflicts and violence in the protagonist's world. Most importantly, the film brings out the message that "things are not what they seem". In Film Noir, there are two categories, External and Internal. The External is the setting, such as dark streets, haunts, to depict the mood of the scene. As for Internal, it involves the disturbance of the protagonist's mind. The cinematography of the genre also has a unique style. It has many night scenes and they are usually exaggerated, the dutch angles suggest disorientation. Film Noir has significant iconography such as telephones, newspapers, water and alcohol, this presents the city or atmosphere as dangerous. The general principles of this genre is that the protagonist is not as in control as he thought he could be, and it usually has a meaningless ending which causes the audience to feel a kind of depression. The plot structure is very cliche as the films which belong to this genre usually has a set up of the protagonist being in control of the situation, then drawn to the femme fatale, thus, leads to a defeat in the end.

We were shown an example of film noir. It demonstrates first-person narration and the dialogue happened in a dark room which is dusty and closed blinds. I thought the woman's sitting position also suggested seduction to the protagonist, therefore, foreshadows the protagonist's fail to control himself. Next, we looked at a part of another movie example, "Heat", with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. I thought the dialogue was fantastic and it shows ambiguity. The shots in the small part suggest that each of the characters are isolated because only one of the characters appear in each shot. Then we were shown another example, "Internal Affairs". I thought the clear skies daylight setting created a contrast with the "dark" characters, which created a very interesting dimension. The dialogue was simple yet there was ambiguity again. Both examples' characters were cop and robber which created tension. After some shot discussions, we were introduced to our next task.

We have to create a 3-5 minutes film which involves two-people dialogue and apply the unerstanding of Film Noir and its characteristics, continuity editing, planning and pre-production skills, time management and collaboration as a team. I was with Medora, Henry and Andy. We assigned roles immediately, Henry is the writer, I took up the role as Cameraperson, Medora is Sound Director and Andy is the Editor. Firstly, we discussed the plot. Henry suggested since Medora and I are twins, it will be interesting if we evolve our "identities". However, as it will be difficult to show a "manipulative" woman antagonist, and a good woman, we decided to change the theme to just protagonist (male) and antagonist (female). As we only had 10 minutes, we did not have time to continue our discussion. However, the writer will have a basic summary next class so the other members of the group will be able to visualize or plan what their next goal is.

In today's session, I strived to be a "Thinker" when I think about the skillls I have learnt; a "Communicator" when I was involved in discussions within my group; "Open-minded" to new ideas within the group. It was a useful class and the knowledge I have gained today is important for the course later.