What I see..

is forced upon by the frames of this film

Every little movement in every single frame has meaning and adds to the overall effectiveness and mood in a film. The director and cinematographer work together to determine the technical aspects (before or during the actual shooting) in order to communicate their ideas visually. It takes a perfect combination of camerawork and conceptual theory to create a truly masterful, thought-provoking film.

Sometimes, the different roles are combined into one and a great cinematic architect is able to use his abilities to create a movie all his own. Ingmar Bergman, a Swedish filmmaker, churned out success after success throughout his 50-year career. In Cries and Whispers, he uses various techniques to produce an overall feeling of helplessness and isolation. At first, Bergman begins with still shots using diagonals as well as unbalanced compositions for a dynamic feel. He creates his space within the first three minutes, by tilting downwards from zoomed in extreme close-ups. Drastically, Bergman changes his frames from close ups to long shots, from deep depth of field to shallow depth of field, all attributing to this feeling which he continues to perpetuate throughout the film.

Characters are shown in their environment, each one obviously suffocated by the deafening silence surrounding them. Then within a matter of seconds, Bergman manages to capture every detail of their faces in his renowned close-ups dripping with raw emotion. The drastic light settings leave many characters almost completely in shadow, which demonstrate a focus on important traits. In the ultra-personal scenes, which focus on just one character, there is distinct color scheme, with intense red backgrounds standing out in the otherwise dull, rustic environment.

In the final scene, Bergman fades out to the sisters walking in white with deep depth of field, barely moving the camera as the subjects move through the frame. It then switches to a pan, zooming in to the main sister while creating a shallow depth of field, softening the background while focusing on her. He again utilizes his knack for extreme close-ups with this suddenly zoom into her specific face, highlighting the important aspects of her facial expression. The camerawork used to isolate her intensifies the importance of her emotions and her final realization that happiness comes from the ability to connect with others – as she is not alone anymore, but surrounded by her lovely sisters in this bright, sunlit field.

Lions, Tigers, Bears..Oh, My!

is this a film or a circus?

The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens was a fantastic experience. The museum contained various exhibits, such as portraits of stars dating back to the silent era, costumes, make-up, etc. It was nice to see physically available costumes from films like the Exorcist and Taxi Driver, unlike digitally programmed effects. The tour guide even showed us how they try to create points during the film that distract the viewer; allowing switches from real bodies to dolls to go unnoticed. Although there were so many fascinating things at the museum, the demonstration that personally stuck out most was the sound effects station.

At the sound effects station, the tour guide singled out different aspects of sounds that build up into one short scene in the film, Titanic. There I discovered how a specialist can manipulate various sounds to intensify the moment to create the correct atmosphere. Little did I know that elephants and lions had a dramatic role in the Titanic. It was an “ear opening” experience, because many people take films for what they are without taking these little aspects into consideration. When I closed my eyes during this demonstration the distinct sounds of the film sounded like a completely different scene, perhaps a scene at circus or zoo, because of the sounds such as the bag of sand being thrown, pistol shootings and different animal noises. Now I can say that I definitely learned to appreciate the small symphonies that help me absorb the film better.

This demonstration helped made me pay closer attention to the efforts one puts in media production by communicating through our different senses.