Film Form
Pick a movie, any movie, and answer at least one of the following four questions with examples from that movie to support your answer. Think carefully about which movie you select. It should be one that you are very familiar with so that you don't have to rewatch the film in order to answer the question.
1. Select an element from the film. What is the element's function in the overall form?
2. Are elements or patterns repeated throughout the film? If so, how and at what points?
3. How are elements contrasted and differentiated from one another? How are different elements opposed to one another?
4. What principles of progression or development are at work throughout the form of the film? Try comparing the beginning and ending of the film to help answer this question.
(Questions are from page 66 in Film Art: An Introduction, 7th Ed.)
1. Select an element from the film. What is the element's function in the overall form?
2. Are elements or patterns repeated throughout the film? If so, how and at what points?
3. How are elements contrasted and differentiated from one another? How are different elements opposed to one another?
4. What principles of progression or development are at work throughout the form of the film? Try comparing the beginning and ending of the film to help answer this question.
(Questions are from page 66 in Film Art: An Introduction, 7th Ed.)
posted by cmartin at 1/25/2006 10:25:00 AM
31 Comments:
I have recently seen the film Crash. So I am choosing to answer question #1. The most important element of the film is its' use of disunity. The entire film is based around these characters you see which don't seem to have any connection or relationship to each other. Each has a story though. Eventually some of the characters come into contact with each other, each not knowin the others story and how they are actually affecting their lives. At the end of the film you finally see some of the linking relationships that were missing throughout the film. And the viewer has an A-ha moment when it all makes sense. Disunity serves an important function in the film because it serves the overall message the director is trying to get across; about how we are all interconnected in ways we don't even know. So at the end of Crash there is actually a realization of unity, the opposite of the diunity that the viewer sees through the rest of the film.
Pulp Fiction is a film which I have seen countless time and can usually talk word for word right along with the movie as it plays out before me. I'll try an answer the 4th question. This though is somewhat hard to answer for the film jumps around three distinct times to give you a better understanding of the overall story taking place. In the first act the movie starts out with a conversation between a couple in a diner. This same couple comes into play at the very end of the movie in showing that unlike the inhumane hit man Samuel L. Jackson portrays at the beginning of the movie he is actually a very calculating caring person that has seen the error of his ways. When Jackson and Travolta kill the people with the briefcase at the beginning he seems as though he has absolutely no remorse for taking life, at the end he talks the the couple out of making him kill them and also gives his wallet to them.
In Forrest Gump, there is a repeated element that serves a specific function. Throughout the movie, especially in the beginning and the end, the viewer is shown a feather as it floats through the air. Not only does the floating feather unify the film as it introduces and departs Tom Hanks from the film, the feather also serves as a metaphoric motif. The feather is completely controlled by the elements surrounding it, namely the wind, just as the protagonist is completely controlled by his environment, namely a specific time and place in America's history. Also, just as a tiny, almost insignificant feather can soar to great heights and travel to far away places, the movie's protagonist, although being mentally challenged, witnesses and takes part in many crucial events in America's history. The feather also serves in a strictly functional way. Certain scenes will cut away from the ground and follow the feather in the air, until it lands in a different time and place. It serves as link between scenes. The feather is really neato.
Hey jonathan, pulp fiction is one of my favorites. The way tarantino exhibits a dissassociation of time and an eventual interconnectedness is amazing. Which wallet is it? it's the one that says bad mother f*cker. classic, watched it today actually.
Jon,
Ironically I was just watching Forest Gump on tv today...all the times i've seen it i've never noticed the symbolism of the feather. But it makes sense the way you explain it! Interesting.
My most favorite Disney Film is the Lion King. I truly admire the art and the message of courage that the animation sends to viewers young and old.
Laura and Jon,
Watched Forrest Gump a bit today as well cause it was on TNT. "I'm figured I'll try out my sea legs." "But Lt. Dan you ain't got no legs." Or something like that haha
I figured***
There is a repetative element in the film of the Lion King. Nala pins Simba to the ground to win an argument. Later in the film, the two young lions meet again in the jungle as adults and Nala still pins Simba to resolve an argument. I can especially see a repetative element when Simba battles against Scar at the end of the film. Simba ferociously hangs Scar at the end of a cliff just as Scar did with Simba's father. Scar recalls this and pleads "Simba, no, your own uncle!", just like Mufasa pleaded with his brother, "your own brother!" I feel that this element truly brought the story together in the way that it would remind us of how the characters show their emotions and how they choose to fight if in the film. It made watching the film more entertaining and fun to children's perspective. I enjoyed it.
In the movie Boondock Saints, there are many repeating aspects and ideas. For example, throughout the film the importance of religion and prayer are emphasized to make the "criminals" seem more like saints and less like murderers. (the two main characters wear huge crosses as necklaces, are constantly attending church, and even recite a prayer before each execution) Also...well this is kind of hard to explain...but for each main action sequence or crime in the film, the action begins and then cuts to the end as Willem Dafoe enters to investigate the crime...kind of like working backwards to complete the puzzle.
laura...
one of the things that struck me about the movie Crash was the irony. There are many examples of this which im sure you know of, but one of my favorites was the complete 360 of the police officers. In the beginning of the film, Matt Dillon is the sleazy cop with no conscious and Ryan Phillippe plays the good cop but in the end, Phillippe turns out to be a cold blooded killer and Dillon the changed man.
I watched American Psycho the other day and I’m writing in regard to question 1. This movie is set in NYC in the 80’s. The focus is on the extremely wealthy, well-educated, elite, members of society. I’d say this high class 80’s culture is probably the most important element of the film. The main characters are incredibly materialistic, competitive, and judgmental of each other. It is this atmosphere in which main character Patrick Bateman’s already abnormal behavior is driven into full-on psychoses. It’s also interesting to see that there are several instances in which Bateman tries to confess his disturbing behavior to others, but they laugh it off as a joke. This movie is highly reflective of the 80’s attitudes toward sex, social relations, AIDS, etc., thus it could only take place in the 80’s.
Laura and Sam: I like what you guys said about Crash. I think the way the director sets up the encounters between the different characters leads up to some really powerful scenes. My 2 favorites were when the daughter saves the father with the "magical" cloak and the one where Matt Dillon saves Thandie Newton from the burning car.
The movie Coffee and Cigarettes consists of the combination of many similar short discussions taking place between two or more people about completely different things. However, each short centers on the characters drinking coffee and/or smoking cigarettes in some sort of coffee shop. These repeating elements bring unity to the movie, and show just how important these elements can be. Some shorts are similar but there really isn’t anything else to connect all of the discussions, with some being so very different than others, but when viewed, the audience does not get the feel of a series of shorts; instead, they come together. This connection, essentially, is the movie.
I recently watched Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. This movie clearly uses repetition as an element to help tell the story. A motif is any significant repeated element in a film. This use of repetition, or motif, is seen when his character Phil Conners repeatedly relives the same day, February 2nd, Groundhog Day. He finally escapes this repetitive routine by slowly figuring out, through trial –and-error, how to be a better person. This story of personal triumph wouldn’t have worked unless we saw this motif of his day being repeated. And did you know that the director of the film, Harold Ramis, wrote and starred in Ghostbusters 1 & 2?
i thought all of your comments on Crash were interesting. I haven't seen it yet, but now I think I'd enjoy it...off to Blockbuster!
I know this may seem a little corny, but one of my favorite movies during high school was Save the Last Dance. The element that is repeated throughout the film is dance. At the beginning of the movie, the main character, Sara, is a senior in high school with the dreams of becoming a world class ballerina. During her Julliard audition, her mother is killed in a car accident. She has to move to Chicago to live with her father, and she gives up dancing. She has a hard time making friends at her new school until one day in gym class when she shows off some of her dance moves. She is befriended by Chenille, who takes her to the local night club where she learns how to dance hip-hop. Soon after that, she starts dating Derek, who gives her hip-hop dance lessons. The lessons are a focal point of the couples’ relationship. One night, Derek takes Sara to see the Chicago Ballet. This becomes the turning point of the movie. He helps her to see that ballet is still her dream, and she auditions for Julliard again. The end of the movie features all of the characters in the night club dancing and having fun.
Dan, I definitely agree with you about Groundhog Day. That a great example of repetition in a story.
Debbie, I like your analysis of the battles in The Lion King. That is something I never thought about before.
2. Are elements or patterns repeated throughout the film? If so, how and at what points?
The movie I am applying this to is Nightmare Before Christmas. Perhaps because it is one of my favorite movies, its the first one that came to mind. To me the repeated element is that the characters are looking for something outside of their confines, something new, even foreign. We see this with Jack Skellington when he sings his lament about how is he done being the best at what he does and he needs something else. He then stumbles onto Christmas land and tries to be the best "Sandy Claws" even though he fails. At the same time, Sally is trying to escape the confines set up by the possesive scientist who created her. She wants to venture out into the world and show her owner and Jack that she is more than just a stuffed doll. Although Jack fails and Sally succeeds, to me it is an opposing parallel that creates one repetitive element. Other than the repetitive plot elements, throughout the movie, visually, there are contrasting elements that Tim Burton uses as a signature such as checkboards and spirals always black and white. I can go on and on about Tim Burton and how his escapist theme transcends through all of his films if i even used that word correctly. I'll divulge during the auteur presentation!
debbie:
lion kind is one of my all time favorite movies. I am a huge fan of disney movies pre-pocahontas (hated that movie). Although all of disney movies have an underlying message, lion kings message was apparent to both children and adults. It was a really hard movie to accept as a child because I could never fathom how anyone could turn his back on his brother. It was probably my first experience of what goes around comes around. anywho, im glad you picked that movie to use for that example.
The film I have choosen to answer question #1 is Sin City. Sin City contains the same element that Laura wrote about for Crash. In Sin City, it tells the story of 3 different men who are all on different missions. Each of these characters story lines are completely different yet at the end, their stories cross path where the veiwer gets to see how the stories are related. Each character unconciously helped the others. Though the stories in the beginning dont seem to relate, throughout the progression of the movie you find out how closely related they actually are. This is a great movie, everyone should see if if they havent already
on what bobby said:
I remember the first time I saw Fight Club, I never noticed the flashes of Tyler, this almost made the film better for me. It made it more exciting in the end when you discover that Tyler is just an alter personnality of Norton's.
One of the most important element’s of The Sixth Sense is the symbolism of the color red. M. Night Shyamalan uses the color red throughout the entire film to foreshadow or signify a ghostly presence. When Cole is at the birthday party and is trapped in the attic with ghosts, there is a red balloon. The door knob to Dr. Crowe’s basement where we would frequently see him was red. At the end, Cole’s mother was wearing a red sweater when they were in their car beside an accident where someone had died. Shyamalan also uses red as an important theme in another film of his, The Village. I think that he is an exceptional director when it comes to psychological thrillers.
Ray, I agree with your views on Bateman. His psychosis comes to a head because of this highly materialistic and fake society. His overall obsessiveness, which many of the Wall Street elite probably have in some form or another, takes an extremely uncommon form in Bateman’s newfound love of killing.
Dan- great movie fact. I did not know that. I think Groundhog day is absolutely hilarious and definetly very repetitious.
The movie I chose to discuss is Boiler Room. An important element of the film is gambling. Gambling in the sense of taking risks, not just poker and craps. The story follows a college dropout who starts a casino in his house. It turns very profitable and allows him to make a decent living. He's offered a job as a broker in an investment firm. I hate to give the movie away so I'll try and be as descreet as possible. He begins to "gamble" in this new career and eventually gets himself into some trouble. His father, an esteemed judge, is also forced to "gamble" on his son and his own future. It's a very good movie and I recommend it to everyone, has a very good cast. Really shows the progression of "gambling" in his life and the ultimate outcomes.
Jason- Good stuff with the Shyamalan movies. Makes me want and go back through his movies and look for everything that's red.
After reading these short posts I can't wait to see what you all have to say in the outside viewing reports.
Great job everyone! Good film form analysis.
1. Select an element from the film. What is the element's function in the overall form?
In Moulin Rouge, I thought they did a great job using the song choice in a creative way. Similar to a common musical, the film uses musical performaces to embellish the story line and help convey emotions that are going on in the film, but what i found so interesting was the way they tied modern pop-culture songs into the movie and made them fit in perfect context to the movie. I feel like they did this to help bring the story that happened over a hundred years ago into a modern day light. The song choice was used to make us comparatively feel what it would have felt like back then in a given situation. For example, the song Lady Marmalade was used to introduce the underworldliness of the Moulin Rouge, a song rich in sexual innuendos and heavy beats that make you want to dance. When in reality the kind of music thats going on in the club (especially in the era that the film took place) was far more lackluster and boring compared to what we are used to today, even though back then it was considered racy and vivacious. I also liked how they were able to find such suitable songs for certain situations, like "Material Girl" to demonstrate Satine's lust for wealth and fame, and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to help convey the feeling that the creatures of the underworld (as they called themselves) just wanted to be used to any extent to entertain those who were willing to spill forth their cash.
Bobby- Yeah i remember those flashes and never quite understood what their full purpose was. Thats a really great observation. I thought the flashes were merely flashbacks, instead of the illustration of the two characters slowly converging.
The movie I wrote about last week was Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. This film directed by Harold Ramis would definitely fit into the comedy genre. Although there are parts of sincerity, love, and even mild suspense, the film is filled with many comedic situations. These funny moments are heightened by the repetitive nature of the movie, because the audience expects these moments to happen over and over. What is also funny is to see Phil Conners (Murray) react differently each time he faces these same awkward moments on Feb 2nd. What I find most appealing about Murray’s performance in this film, as well as others, is his dry, sarcastic persona and delivery.
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