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NMED 2030

NMED 2030. Jan 15 th 2009. NMED 2030. Today’s Class… Finish Watching Citizen K ane (1941) Citizen Kane Analysis Scene Analysis. NMED 2030. How Citizen Kane Transformed Cinema…

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NMED 2030

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  1. NMED 2030 Jan 15th 2009

  2. NMED 2030 Today’s Class… Finish Watching Citizen Kane (1941) Citizen Kane Analysis Scene Analysis

  3. NMED 2030 • How Citizen Kane Transformed Cinema… • Writer/Director Orson Welles, along with Cinematographer Gregg Toland, came up with several new filming techniques that literally changed the world of cinematography.

  4. NMED 2030 Depth of Field

  5. NMED 2030 • Depth of Field • Depth of composition of a shot, i.e., where there are several planes (vertical spaces in a frame): (1) a foreground, (2) a middle-ground, and (3) a background; depth of field specifically refers to the area, range of distance, or field (between the closest and farthest planes) in which the elements captured in a camera image appear in sharp or acceptable focus.

  6. NMED 2030 • Depth of Field Description • One of the techniques that the movie is most famous for is “deep focus.” As you can see in the image on the right, all of the characters—including the child in the window—are in focus. Toland achieved this through the use of a wide-angle lens to create a large depth-of-field. When this wasn’t possible, he would shoot the scene with the foreground fully lit and the background in darkness. Then, he would rewind the film and shoot the scene over again, with the background in focus and fully lit and the foreground in complete darkness. This is called an in-camera matte shot.

  7. NMED 2030 • Depth of Field Analysis: • Extreme depth-of-field in shots in Citizen Kane heighten dramatic value.

  8. NMED 2030 Lighting

  9. NMED 2030 • Lighting • Lighting was also an important aspect of Citizen Kane. In this shot, the strong backlighting is used to make the character in front appear as only a silhouette and therefore anonymous to the viewer. The smoke that fills the room helps to show the light beams coming from the projectors as well as the lamp on the table. This use of lighting can also be seen in the image on the left, in which the high-contrast lighting creates a foreboding atmosphere.

  10. NMED 2030 • Low-Angle Shots

  11. NMED 2030 • Low-Angle Shots • Another thing that made Citizen Kane stand out from other movies of its time was the way it used low-angle shots. The sound stages in Hollywood filmmaking made it impossible to show low-angle shots without revealing the microphones and lights that hung above the actors. To overcome this problem, Welles built whole sets with ceilings made of draped muslin, so the microphones were hidden above the cloth ceiling. Then, he cut holes in the set floor for the camera, so it could get the lowest angle possible. It made Kane in particular appear “larger than life”.

  12. NMED 2030 Editing Episodic Sequences - Passage of Time

  13. NMED 2030 • Editing Episodic Sequences - Passage of Time • One of the story-telling techniques introduced in this film was using an episodic sequence on the same set while the characters changed costume and make-up between cuts so that the scene following each cut would look as if it took place in the same location, but at a time long after the previous cut. In this way, Welles chronicled the breakdown of Kane's first marriage, which took years of story time, in a matter of minutes.

  14. NMED 2030 Sound Welles brought his experience with sound from radio along to filmmaking, producing a layered and complex soundtrack. In one scene, the elderly Kane strikes Susan in a tent on the beach, and the two characters silently glower at each other while a woman at the nearby party can be heard hysterically laughing in the background, her giddiness in grotesque counterpoint to the misery of Susan and Kane. Elsewhere, Welles skillfully employed sound effects to create a mood, such as the chilly echo of the monumental library, where the reporter is confronted by an intimidating, officious librarian.

  15. NMED 2030 • Sound • In addition to expanding on the potential of sound as a creator of moods and emotions, Welles pioneered a new aural technique, known as the "lightning-mix." Welles used this technique to link complex montage sequences via a series of related sounds or phrases. In offering a continuous sound track, Welles was able to join what would otherwise be extremely rough cuts together into a smooth narrative. For example, the audience witnesses Kane grow from a child into a young man in just two shots. As Kane's guardian hands him his sled and wishes him a "Merry Christmas" we are suddenly taken to a shot of Kane fifteen years later, only to have the phrase completed for us: "and a Happy New Year." In this case, the continuity of the soundtrack, not the image, is what makes for a seamless narrative structure.

  16. NMED 2030 Sound Welles also carried over techniques from radio not yet popular in the movies (though they would become staples). Using a number of voices, each saying a sentence or sometimes merely a fragment of a sentence, and splicing the dialogue together in quick succession, the result gave the impression of a whole town talking -- and, equally important, what the town was talking about. Welles also favored the overlapping of dialogue, considering it more realistic than the stage and movie tradition of characters not stepping on each other's sentences. He also pioneered the technique of putting the audio ahead of the visual in scene transitions (an L-cut); as a scene would come to a close, the audio would transition to the next scene before the visual did.

  17. NMED 2030 Dissolves

  18. NMED 2030 • Dissolves • Opening Sequence: The “No Trespassing” sign is the first introduction to the dark, looming estate of Xanadu, empire palace of Charles Foster Kane. We cut in towards one of Xanadu's windows; the room in which a light is shining. As we reach the window, the light vanishes, and we dissolve into a snowy blizzard. We hear the immortal "Rosebud" mentioned.

  19. NMED 2030 Innovative Composition

  20. NMED 2030 • Innovative Composition • Citizen Kane is a great example of how a movie can be considered a series of artistic images. It shows that cinematography is like photography in that it involves capturing images that are visually pleasing to look at. They both require skillful execution while trying to find the perfect shot. This movie is especially important because it used new techniques, which are still in use to this day.

  21. NMED 2030 • Bottom Line… • Citizen Kane is an excellent text for formal scene analysis.

  22. NMED 2030 • Scene Analysis • Is an important film production practice that allows filmmakers to study, shot-by-shot, all the pieces that are used in conveying a message in scene.

  23. NMED 2030 • Scene Analysis Definitions: • Scene: A scene is used to mean several shots, which is more to do with the word’s origin in theater. The term scene and sequence in film production are interchangeable. • Frame: A single image (of a series of them) on a piece of film. • Shot: A shot is the action contained from one edit in point, to the out point. • Mise-en-scene: The mise-en-scene refers to the arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted. They are the physical elements of a the composition of a frame.

  24. NMED 2030 • Scene Analysis Assignment: • Choose a scene/sequence from your favourite film and conduct a scene analysis • Try to choose a scene that is AT LEAST two minutes.

  25. NMED 2030 • Scene Analysis Assignment: PART ONE: Word Document • What is the title? • When was it made? • Who is the director? • What is the story? • What is the director trying to tell us? • What's the main idea the director is conveying to the audience? • What is the genre? • What is the time period? • What is the location? • Where is the scene in the story? (beginning, middle, or end) • Who are the characters?

  26. NMED 2030 • PART TWO: Excel Chart • 1. Choose one (1) out of the following twelve (12) components for analysis • 2. Describe & Analyse each Shot Using that one component • Describe means list everything you see and hear • Analyse means what mood, tone or effect does this component create for you/the audience

  27. NMED 2030 • PART TWO: Excel Chart • Tools of Analysis • Acting Styles (characters, age, sex, physical traits) • Cinematography (close-up, medium-shot, long shot, depth of field, low-angle, aerial, etc) • Lighting • Editing (pace, etc) • Dialogue (must be transcribed) • Sound Effects • Score (describe genre, instruments must be listed as well closely as possible) • Costumes (wardrobe if clothes are contemporary - i.e. jeans and Hawaiian shirt; hair styles are important) • Visual Special Effects • Set Design • Mise-en-scene/Set Décor • Stunts (choreography)

  28. NMED 2030 • Next Class: • Be sure to bring : • a set of headphones • A DVD copy of the film you chose as your favourite. If you cannot locate that specific film from Blockbuster or on DVD from the library, choose and bring one of your favourite films to analyse for the next two classes • We’ll be working on scene analysis in Tuesday’s lab. • Scene Analysis is due at the end of class on January 22nd

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