synthesis
TRANSCRIPT
Synthesis
• Citizen Kane
Synthesis• Citizen Kane• 1941• Orson Welles, director, star & producer• 25 years old & first film• Gregg Toland, cinematographer• Critically praised but financial flop because of limited release in US because of controversial biographic elements• Discovered in Europe after the war
Synthesis• Use of a subjective camera• Unconventional lighting, including chiaroscuro, prefiguring the darkness and low-key lighting of future
film noirs• Inventive use of shadows, following in the tradition of German Expressionists• Deep-focus shots with incredible depth-of field and focus from extreme foreground to extreme
background that emphasize mise en scene
Synthesis• Low-angled shots revealing ceilings in sets• Sparse use of revealing facial close-ups• Elaborate camera movements• Over-lapping, talk-over dialogue and layered sound• A cast of characters that ages throughout the film• Flashbacks and non-linear story-telling • The frequent use of transitionary dissolves or wipes• Long, uninterrupted shots or lengthy takes of sequences
Synthesis
• Rooted in real-life events (Historiography)
William Randolph Hearst
Marion Davies
Millicent Hearst
Similarities Between Kane and Hearst
• Kane– New York Inquirer – Multi-millionaire newspaper publisher, and
wielder of public opinion, called "Kubla Khan"
– Political aspirant to Presidency by campaigning as independent candidate for New York State's Governor, and by marrying the President's niece, Emily Monroe Norton
– Extravagant, palatial Florida mansion, Xanadu filled with art objects
– Souring affair/marriage with talentless 'singer' Susan Alexander (the Hays Code wouldn't permit extra-marital affair)
– Kane bought Susan an opera house, and although Susan said that her ambition was to be a singer, this career goal was mostly her mother's idea
• Hearst – San Francisco Examiner, New York
Journal– Same kind of press lord, "yellow
journalist," and influential political figure– Political aspirant to Presidency by
becoming New York State's Governor– "The Ranch" palace at San Simeon,
California, also with priceless art collection
– A beloved mistress - a young, and successful silent film actress Marion Davies (Difference: No breakdown in Davies' unmarried relationship with Hearst)
– Excessive patronage of Davies - Hearst bought Cosmopolitan Pictures - a film studio - to promote Davies' stardom as a serious actress, although she was better as a comedienne
Synthesis
• Photography
Just a medium two-shot?
Review
• Photography– What does the cinematographer do? – Realism and Formalism– Shots - What types? What’s in the frame? Angles
- What types? What do they signify?– Light & Dark - High & Low Key, Contrast– Color - Saturation, Schemes, Symbolic uses– Lenses & Filters– Special Effects - CGI & others
Synthesis
• Deep focus
Synthesis
• Visual Effects
Synthesis
• Visual Effects
Synthesis
• Visual Effects
Review
• Mise en Scene– The Frame - aspect ratio, what’s in the frame and what’s left out,
dominance, symbolic ideas– Composition & Design - balance or lack thereof, dominants,
subsidiaries, intrinsic interest, weight– Territorial Space - space as a method of communication, the way
the space in the frame is shared, positions an actor can be photographed - full front, quarter turn, profile, three-quarter turn, back to camera, tight or loose frame
– Proxemic Patterns - intimate, personal, social and public distances– Open & Closed Forms - proscenium vs. window
Synthesis
• Mise en Scene– Dominant– Lighting Key– Shot & Camera Proxemics– Angle– Color Values– Subsidiary Contrasts– Density of information– Composition– Form– Framing– Depth– Character placement– Staging positions– Character Proxemics
Review
• Movement– Basic moving camera
• Pans• Tilts• Crane Shots• Dolly Shots• Zooms• Hand-held• Aerial
Synthesis
• Movement
Review
• Editing– Cutting to continuity, 180 degree rule– Montage– Master - Close-Up - Reaction - Two-Shot - Long Take– Time - Flashback, Flash-Forward, Parallels
Synthesis• Editing
Synthesis
• Editing
Review
• Sound– Synchronous/Non-
Synchronous
Orson Welles & Bernard Herrmann
Synthesis
• Sound– Dubbing & Looping or
ADR– Musical Motifs– Effects & Foleys– Dialogue– Design
Overlapping dialogue in Citizen Kane
Review
• Acting– Stage vs. Screen– Acting for a Formalist vs. a
Realist– Styles of Acting– Casting– Mechanics
Synthesis
• Acting
Review
• Drama– How Time, Space &
Language are used• Non-linear storytelling &
flashbacks
– Active vs. passive Spectator
– Setting & Décor– Locations vs. Studio– Shifting Perspectives
Synthesis
• Drama
Synthesis
• Drama
Review
• Story– Show vs. Tell– Realistic &
Formalistic Narratives– Classical Paradigm– Genres
Synthesis
Synthesis
• Story
Review
• Writing– Spoken word different
than the visual– Writer’s contribution
• Non-verbal or figurative techniques– Motifs– Symbols– Metaphors– Allegory– Allusion– Homage
Review
• Writing• Non-verbal or
figurative techniques– Motifs– Symbols– Metaphors– Allegory– Allusion– Homage
Synthesis
• Writing
Review
• Ideology– Neutral, Implicit,
Explicit– Left, Right Center– Culture, Religion,
Ethnicity, Sex– Tone
Synthesis
• Ideology
Left vs. RightOrson Welles vs. William Randolph Hearst
Synthesis
Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox & the NY Post, in a photo montage from last week’s NY Times for article on him buying the Wall Street Journal
Review
• Critique– Realistic vs Formalistic Film
Theory• Film as attempt to capture
external reality as accurately as possible
• Camera records – not expressive• Subject over technique• How films reflect external reality• Emphasis on ordinary people –
laborers, factory workers or “real people”
• Compassion – refusal to pass moral judgments
• Emotions over abstract ideas
Review
• Critique– Realistic vs Formalistic Film
Theory• Cinema is possible
because it is unlike reality – the camera is not the human eye
• Patterns in mise en scéne
• Visual & aural motifs
• Stylized dialogue
• Symbolic sounds
Review
• Critique– Auteur Theory
• Dominance of the director’s influence on the story
• It’s not always the story but HOW it’s told by a director
– Eclecticism • Rejects the notion that one
theory fits all
• All reaction is personal and thus subjective