Throughout the film, we see how Kazan uses different shades of lighting to accentuate the harsh lifestyle the characters are situated in. At the very beginning, viewers are made to feel unwelcome by the bleak, murky streets and alleyways that were filmed in lowlight. Not only does this suggest that the dock adopts an uneasy environment, it also adds a sense of mystery; in which ‘behind’ such darkness lies the corruption of Johnny Friendly’s (the antagonist) union. The dark representation of Hoboken essentially implies that the dockworkers and residents within the town are being ‘overshadowed’ and controlled by a hidden force, living an uneasy lifestyle. Kazan’s decision to make the film black and white also aids in portraying these elements.
A detailed analysis of four parallel scenes in ‘Emma’ and ‘Clueless’ show how film techniques are utilized to help convey meaning in a text. Film techniques that Lawrence and Heckerling employed include lighting, mise-en-scene, dialogue, setting, music, flashbacks, camera angles and camera shots and juxtaposition. These film techniques assist the audience in fully understanding the meaning being conveyed regarding the themes during pivotal scenes in ‘Emma’ and ‘Clueless’. In terms of the theme of marriage and matches, both Lawrence and Heckerling use film techniques to highlight the main concern of the protagonists Emma and Cher, which is to make matches. Lawrence highlights Emma’s choice of Harriet as being heavenly, and emphasizes this by creating a halo effect around Harriet’s head when Emma first sees her in the church.
The shadows and lines caused by the windows draws your attention to the two immediately. It’s dramatic framing and colors elaborate the dramatic change that just occurred, a shift in power. 2. We also see various montages in the film, some more obvious than others. Identify one of them, and explain when it occurs in the story and what purpose it serves in the plot development.
This is shown through the contrast between good and evil in this novel. The concept of good and evil is demonstrated through the juxtaposition of the protagonist and his doppelganger and also through the contrasting ‘real’ Sydney and alternate Sydney. The graphic imagery, ‘It looked like a morgue…there were four dead bodies that I could see…one of them had been split open from neck to groin,’ exemplifies this concept. This quote shows a scene of horror that would not normally be found in the so called ‘real’ Sydney but is common in the alternate Sydney. Parker uses images of a sordid and seedy world with other similes such as ‘a syringe still dangling from his arm like a puppeteers twine,’ to convey the contrast with Andrew’s world and his doppelgangers world.
Kuleshov’s statement, as it appears in the title for this essay, clearly attempts to define what cinematography is through the means of ‘montage’. These two facets, montage and cinematography, are huge driving forces behind film, its message, and how it affects any given audience. It is, therefore, important to explore this powerful declaration from such a notable mind in the world of film and image making in general. Andrew (1976, p. 5) suggests: Film theorists make and verify propositions about film or some aspect of film. They do so for both practical
Throughout the film “On the Waterfront”, Kazan sets out to depict these principles, throughout the characters Terry, Eddie, Father Barry and Johnny Friendly. Kazan involves the use of cinematic devices to delve into an area of the human emotions and human conscience. This is the focal point of the entire film as it shows the transition mainly in Terry Malloy that each of the characters are faced with, and how it can be through ones involvement and courage that empower others to follow and therefore whether it be through a hero or a villain that peoples true natures arise. It is through the shame of ‘hiding’ in the church does Fr Barry come out of the church and into the thick of the fight for justice. It is through the long years of corruption, which the union has tortured upon the town, that Fr Barry act of ‘hiding’ in his church, becomes a heroic act of freeing the people from the terrorizing and desperation of the union.
Jose A. Mendoza-Huijon Dr. J. Kanin Film 2 17 December 2014 Film Analysis Report #3: Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront (1954) Created as a response for director Elia Kazan’s decision to identify communists to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), On the Waterfront is an award-winning, crime-drama classic. Almost universally agreed as a masterpiece of method acting as well as a parallel of complications central to its time, critics criticized the film during its initial release. Although many critics did recognize how powerful the film was, many were uncertain and leery of the unique acting style and doubtful about the effectiveness of Brando’s hunched inarticulateness. Despite its criticism, the film remains an amazing demonstration of visual literacy and a chief illustration of what can be produced from artistic passion and political zeal. The film is an exhilarating adventure with a great deal of action and diverse emotional and philosophical conflict.
All of these decisions result in an environment that heightens the reality and depth of the characters’ struggles and emotions. Kazan filmed On the Waterfront outside on the docks in what happened to be one of New York’s coldest winters in years. Breaths are visible and steam up in the bone-cold air. A small detail like this suggests the brutal treatment these dock workers face daily, not only from the corrupt union officials but from the elements themselves. The visible breaths also affirm the unique existence of each character—it’s difficult to lump any of these men into the background.
When Billy arrived at Bath, the air there was ‘deadly cold’ and the wind was ‘like a flat blade of ice’. Night had fallen and the whole environment was dark. As Billy was especially new and unfamiliar to this place, the scene where he was walking alone on a deserted, creepy street sets up great worries and anxiety in the readers. Secondly, Roald Dahl uses juxtaposition to emphasize some strange scenes. Billy was originally walking in the dark when he saw the landlady’s window ‘brilliantly illuminated by a street-lamp’.
Comparative essay The three texts I studied as part of my comparative course were ‘How Many Miles to Babylon?' (Babylon) by Jennifer Johnson, ‘The Lonesome West’ (TLW) by Martin McDonagh and ‘Inside I’m Dancing (IID), a film directed by Damien O’Donnell. The general vision and viewpoint of the three texts was conveyed through the manner in which the they open, develop and conclude, through the main characters and relationships, through the way the world of the text is conveyed and finally through the use of language and imagery. The way a text opens and the setting it establishes usually gives the reader a good idea of the general vision and viewpoint of the text. In the three texts, the openings are drastically different.