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Your Looking at Movies textbook has a nice quote about Vertov and his film on page 428.
Vertov shows us how to frame reality and movement: through the human eye and the camera eye, or through windows and shutters. But to confound us, he also shows us--through such devices as the freeze-frame, split screen, stop-action, slow motion, and fast motion--how the cinematographer and editor can transform the movements of life into something that is unpredictable. He not only proves that the camera has a life of its own, but also reminds us of the editor, who is putting all of this footage together. Reality may be in the control of the artist, his camera, and its tricks, but it also finds definition within the editor's presentation and, ultimately, the viewer's perception.
In your first well-developed paragraph, please discuss this quote in relation to a five minute piece of Man With a Movie Camera. Be sure to describe shots cinematically, as if I've never seen the film before. Discuss elements of editing, such as the juxtaposition of shots, rhythm, montage, etc.
In your second well-developed paragraph, discuss this quote in relation to a film of your choice. Try to be as specific as possible in your descriptions and speak cinematically when you discuss the film.
In the film "Man With a Movie Camera" the editor uses various techniques to give the normal, everyday actions featured throughout the film a deeper cinematic meaning. As the quote states, "the cinematographer and editor can transform the movements of life into something unpredictable." One such example can be found in the sequence in the film which features several athletes competing in events such as discus throwing and hurtling. To give the scene a deeper meaning however, the editor plays the actions in slow motion. This gives the actions of the athletes a much more smooth and amazing quality. While at the same time after every action, the editor cuts to the reaction of the audience, which is played at regular speed. Thus the editor has transformed this seemingly normal action of everyday life into something much more profound, which is up to the viewers interpretation as to what it all means.
ReplyDeleteThe quote however, can be easily applied to all films that use editing techniques to raise certain scenes above the sum of their actions. One such example would be in the film "Mad Max: Fury Road." There are several sequences in the film in which the editor slightly speeds up the action by leaving out frames. This is done in order to give the action on screen a more frantic tone and to help the audience get into the head of the desperate protagonists. Once again it is an example of how the camera creates a meaning of its own, along with the editing that is done on the shots made by the camera.
The film "Man With a Movie Camera" uses various editing techniques to give otherwise ordinary actions, a deeper cinematic meaning. This can be seen in the sequence of shot depicted a vehicle driving to pick someone up. This sequence does not end with the vehicle itself, rather it continues on to show multiple shots of a moving train. These shots are cut with shots of birds, and a woman who appears to be having a nightmare. The vehicle rarely appears to be moving at a constant speed, starting slow and speeding up or starting fast and slowing down from the beginning to the end of the shot. The lack of consistency in the beginning paired with the Dutch angle, fast paced shots of the train moving highlight the distress of the woman. As the fast motion of the train increases so does the distress of the woman who eventually wakes up and gets ready to leave her home. The shots become less frantic after the woman wakes up and calms down. The fast paced movement and cuts highlight the frenzied tone of the sequence, and just as quickly as the frenzy was introduced, it was replaced by the calmness of the routine morning regimen of the very same woman who had been panic stricken moments before.
ReplyDeleteThis technique can be seen in many films, including animated ones, such as Persepolis. Through the use of slow motion and the pace of the cuts, the editor expanded on how Marji felt when meeting Marcus. The sequence of shots after they had met had been played in what appeared to be slow motion, and the shots were not cut very often. This emphasized the budding “puppy love” between Marji and Marcus, however after she caught Marcus cheating the shots were sped up, and the cuts were more frequent. This highlighted the anger and betrayal Marji felt as she threw the croissants she had brought Marcus, storming out in a rage.
Man With a Movie Camera explicitly shows us a film editor working at certain points in the film. Apart from this explicit onscreen representation, there are also points in the film that do not show us an editor but remind us of the editor’s work in the same way. There is a sequence of consecutive shots showing a couple finalizing a divorce, a couple getting married, a death, and a birth. This presentation of contrasting elements of human life in such a way that clearly juxtaposes them would not be in the film without the editor’s conscious decision to do so. They could have been represented as completely separate ideas, but it is the editor that makes the connections. The audience is given the editor’s representation of reality in this sequence, and the editing itself becomes more important than the individual shots. This sequence is a reminder of how important the editor’s role is in creating meaning in a film.
ReplyDeleteThis same presentation of opposite ideas through editing can be seen with the birth/death juxtaposition in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Anakin essentially “dies” as he becomes Darth Vader and crosscutting compares this instance to Padme in labor, about to give birth to Luke and Leia. Alone, these shots are two powerful moments but when edited together, the combination becomes even more powerful. The juxtaposition between the two is emphasized by the fact that Anakin and Padme are oriented in opposite ways in the frame (Anakin towards the right and Padme flipped, towards the left) and the colors and lighting are conflicting as well. The editor very much shapes the importance of this scene.
In Man With a Movie Camera there is a sequence about halfway through the film where the editor’s presentation of the shots affects the audience’s perception. As with most of the film, it depicts everyday life and the actions it involves. This sequence, however, is full of shots of a woman getting a haircut. There are shots of other actions, such as someone getting their shoes shined, but the haircut is constantly cut back to. Going along with this ever-growing idea of cutting (of both hair and footage), it then cuts to the editor cutting up the film reel. After making the cut, there is a shot of the editor gluing the footage together. After this, it cuts back to a woman sewing. So, there are two ideas, of cutting things up and also stitching things together, that are presented in two different ways. There is the initial depiction, of haircutting and sewing. When the shots of the editor are edited into this established juxtaposition, there is the presentation of a new comparison between cutting and stitching objects and cutting and stitching footage.
ReplyDeleteThe Looking at Movies quote also applies to Titanic. There is a scene in which the lower-class passengers are having a party in steerage. This cuts between an elegant dinner with the upper-class passengers. The crosscutting between the rowdy party and calm dinner creates a comparison between the classes. The lower-class passengers are shown as being and having much more fun. The color is warm, there are many handheld shots, and the characters are all dancing and moving around. The rich passengers, on the other hand, are shown to be composed and, quite frankly, boring. The color is cool, the camera is still, and most of the characters are seated. The cutting between the two settings indicates the class differences and also what the filmmaker and editor thinks of them.
Man With a Movie Camera strays from more hidden editing techniques in favor of drawing the audience's attention to the editing to create meaning. An example of this is the scene where a woman wakes up from sleep and begins to get ready for her day. We are shown a 5 second medium shot of the woman washing her face, then a cut to lamp posts being hosed down for about equally as long. The woman is shown again, now washing her arms, and there is then a cut to a mailbox being hosed off. When we cut back to the woman, she has finished, and she wipes off her face and arms. There is a cut to a different woman wiping down a window, and a cut back to the first woman, a closeup of her wiping down her face. After, we are shown a few various quick cuts of window blinds opening, a camera lens zooming in, and a patch of flowers coming into focus. There are then multiple rapid cuts between the woman, blinking, and the window blinds, opening and closing. In this sequence, Vertov edits the shots to continually switch between the woman and various objects that mirror what she is doing. In this way, though the woman is not on screen, we understand what she is doing while she is offscreen by following the actions that are being presented. As such, we understand that, when we are shown the camera lens focusing on the flowers, the woman is opening her eyes and focusing on something as well.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there is an editing pattern established with the alternating cuts, Vertov does not allow viewers to become too comfortable with that pattern. The lengths of the shots unpredictably vary from a second to 6 seconds, and there are often cuts between shots that have primarily dark colors and shots that have primarily light colors. These juxtapositions keep the audience alert and guessing at what may happen next.
This editing technique has been adopted in reality shows, such as the Bachelor, where, in order to avoid revealing too much "plot" at once, shots of nature or something similar are used to imply how the end of a date went. This technique is used in films, as well -for example, in the Great Gatsby (2013), there is a scene where Nick goes to a small party with Tom and a few of Tom's friends. While they are at this party, they get progressively drunker, and Nick begins to focus on events outside the room. There are multiple cuts between the party guests and the hotel room opposite theirs'. Though the actions in the other rooms do not directly mirror the party, the chaos of the multiple shots metaphorically mirrors the chaos inside their room. This is emphasized when, during the crescendo of the sequence, when Tom slaps Myrtle, there is a cut to a man outside, on the street, playing a trumpet. Though the trumpet seems unrelated, it really emphasizes the loudness and intensity of the slap - both indicating that the slap is more important than the rest of the scene, and imitating the volume of Tom and Myrtle's screams.
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ReplyDeleteThe film “Man With A Movie Camera” uses a plethora of various editing techniques to alter the traditional narrative into that with a deeper cinematic significance. In one scene, a woman is cutting and reviewing developed film strips in what is most likely a dark room. As she focuses on each frame of the film strip, the photographed image on the strip begins to move as if what was happening when the picture was originally taken. This sequence is repeated three times with distinctly different shots linking them together. The editor uses the mixture of freeze frame and moving image to indicate the beauty of photography and film, how a single seemingly insignificant moment can be captured and stand alone as significant. As the textbook quote nicely puts it, “He [Vertov] not only proves that the camera has a life of it’s own, but also reminds us of the editor, who is putting all of this footage together.”
ReplyDeleteThis editing style can be seen in loads of films from all genres. A very recent example of this technique is in the 2017 release “Ladybird” (dir. Greta Gerwig). A turning point in the movie is when the main character rekindles with her best friend after a falling out and the two take each other to prom as a testimony of their friendship. When shown at the prom, the girls dance and have their photos taken in slow motion, as a result translating the carelessness to everything outside of the moment and the effortlessness of the two’s friendship. Slow motion is also utilized when Ladybird recalls driving around her hometown of Sacramento for the first time. The landscapes are vivid and practically frozen, much unlike the speed of cars coasting down the highway in real time. This visual shows Ladybird’s intense relationship with the city, and how these images of her town will be frozen in her memory when she leaves for college by the end of the film.
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ReplyDeleteDuring “The Man with the Movie Camera” (Vertov, 1929), there is a sequence about a third of the way through in which the the cameraman is on a car riding alongside a horse drawn carriage. We have already seen the cameraman before, but this time it is ar more intimate. We see the cameraman setting up for a shot, and then we see the shot. However, during this pattern of set up shot set up shot, there is an interrupt with a freeze frame in which shots are now displayed as still images and not shots. This film does a great job of showing the aspects of what goes into filmmaking in the actual making of this film. We have been seeing the cameraman get the shots and all of a sudden we see something different. Now we see the editor doing the work. Before, we were seeing what the camera lens saw as the cameraman created the shots. During these freeze frames we are experiences the point of view of the editor. The pacing of the editing between the still shots is long enough to study the image and get a feel for it before looking at the next one and then the next one. Then we actually see the editor, doing exactly what we were just doing, looking at the still images to see where they should be cut, what’s good about them, bad about them etc. I am going to stray from this scene momentarily to discuss another point in the film in which this happens. At the very beginning, there are 15 shots in which the orchestra is patiently waiting to play. I wouldn’t say that this is to make us feel as though that we are waiting, but the pacing makes us really notice that they are ready to play, perhaps highlighting the importance of the score in a film. This isn’t really 4th wall breaking, but it does have some degree of self awareness to it. This self awareness is present through most of the film and not just in the scenes that I brought up.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of viewer perception is very key to this film as it is to others. Take the AMAZING film “The Ring” (Verbinski, 2002). This film relies heavily on viewer awareness and perception of the film. *SPOILERS* At the very end of the film, the main characters are talking about what will happen the the person that they show the tape to. Then all of a sudden, a quick succession of images from the tape are displayed as a strange sound plays, similar to a camera shutter. After the quick succession of images, static appears, as static does after one watches the tape. This sequence is incredibly powerful, because we as viewers disassociate from the camera, and associate what we see as ourselves seeing it. We know that we have seen the tape in the film and therefore are probably going to die in a week. When we watch film, sure we identify with the camera, but we also perceive the film however the filmmaker intended for us to perceive the film. In “The Man with the Movie Camera”, the filmmaker intended for us to identify with the eyes of the editor in addition to just the camera, just as in “The Ring”, we identify with the camera, but we also are forced to identify with ourselves as viewers of the film.
The five minutes I will be discussing is around the nine minute mark of the film. There is a train which heads towards the cameraman, and right before there is a collision there is a series of rapid cuts of the train from multiple angles as well as sped up footage of the train passing overhead, as well as shots of the camera swaying around as the train passes, creating this chaotic atmosphere. The rapid camera movements and sped up footage work together to create this atmosphere, which illustrates what can be done when the cinematographer and editor work together closely. We get a shot reverse shot of a lens focus being adjusted to what the camera is filming which gives the illusion that the camera is alive and is adjusting itself.
ReplyDeleteA film that I believe encapsulates the quote is that of Saving Private Ryan. During the opening battle sequence of the D Day landings, there is a section where Tom Hanks’ character reaches the beach and suddenly the film moves into slow motion, but it is obvious that it wasn't shot at 60 fps, instead filmed at 24 fps and was slowed down by in post production. The subsequence shots of horrific warfare linger on the screen and the camera has an added shake effect due to the slow motion technique utilized. The audience is placed into a state of shell shock through the use of choppy slow motion and the shots linger for some time and forces us to view the horror that is war with the intention of complete immersion, to put the audience through the D Day landing.
The five minutes i will analyze of man with a movie camera are the first 5 minutes of the film. The camera shows its human like nature by framing nature and human beings in the film to connect the camera as if it is a human. The camera shows a rhythm of switching between shots of nature then to shots of human beings in the film. This is a juxtaposition as human beings are a live and moving and nature is static and non living.
ReplyDeleteThis quote reminds me of the film the Life of Pi as the nature and human aspect are creatively shown as if the camera is a living thing that sees what the viewers see. In the Life of Pi the scenes of the tiger and whale show the beauty of the unknown parts of the world and the indoor shots of the protagonist getting interviewed is a juxtaposition of this and creatively shows that this camera framing of two different types of shots are dynamically involved with each other.
“The Man With a Movie Camera” is primarily impactful through its editing style, which creates complexity and meaning within everyday actions and routines. In fact, this film attempts to accentuate the role of the editor as well as manipulate viewer perception, thus creating a challenging viewing experience all the while allowing the editor to express their art form. As the textbook puts it, “Reality may be in the control of the artist, his camera, and its tricks, but it also finds definition within the editor's presentation and, ultimately, the viewer's perception.” To achieve this beauty through normality, Vertov’s film employs a variety of cinematic techniques such as playing film in reverse and discontinuity editing. A prominent example of this comes in a sequence beginning at the six minute mark, in which various photos of landscapes, towns, and objects such as a typewriter are placed in succession. While separately, these images may create no thought or effect on the audience, but when played together they create a context which impacts the viewer. A beauty is also created through this discontinuous editing, as although it is disorienting, it creates a world full of character and personality. This is accentuated through a depiction of pigeons flying in reverse, as a normal everyday sight is given individuality.
ReplyDeleteThis focus on the art of editing is apparent in a large variety of films, with one of the most obvious being that of “Memento” (2000) by Christopher Nolan. The entirety of the film features a discontinuity editing of sorts, as it constantly switches between playing in reverse and playing in normal forward speed. As such, the viewer is unable to fully piece together the narrative, creating suspense and challenging the viewer’s perception of what is truly going on. Much like “The Man With a Movie Camera”, “Memento” aims to create deeper meaning from a somewhat ordinary narrative by developing complexity through the use of editing.