Italian Neorealism is a cinematic style born out of the economic and political strife following the Second World War in Italy (Smith, 2013). The style generally depicts the hardships of average working-class people who are struggling due to forces outside of their control (Smith, 2013). The main goal of these films is not to embellish reality, but instead accurately depict life in Italy at this time. Often times sets are not used, as “location shooting” is utilized. This allows for the debris filled, hardship struck streets to become a huge part of the makeup of the films. Italian Neorealism films also generally have some stylistic tendencies. A documentary style shooting method is commonly used; that is one camera at eye level of the characters. There is typically no variation in the angles of the shots. Furthermore, editing and lighting are mostly avoided, allowing for a simplistic yet accurate take on reality.
A classic example of an Italian Neorealism film is Bicycle Thieves (1948). Setting the tone for the rest of the film
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is the opening scene, where many unemployed and impoverished men wait to hear about possible job openings. The camera then focuses on the main character, Antonio, who is sitting on the ground, too far away to hear his name called. These two consecutive shots encompass exactly what Italian Neorealism is. The shots clearly show the plight of the average working class man, as dozens had to gather in the streets for work. Undoubtedly, there is hardship within the country, as the men appear desperate to hear their names called for jobs that most likely are not even going to feed their families. Furthermore, the setting in the following shot is consistent with that of most Italian Neorealist films. In the background there are war torn buildings and debris infested streets. There are even people cleaning their clothes outside in a bucket. It is clear no set was used, but instead the scene was shot in the street. These are classic methods that help to further exemplify the hardship working class individuals were facing during this time period. The camera angle, lighting, and editing in the scene that Antonio steals the bike all represent that of an Italian Neorealism film.
The camera is always at the level of the actors, as if someone is holding it. The camera is always at the level of the characters, even when it is moving. It never appears to come from different angles, a stable of Italian Neorealist films. There also appears to be very little staged lighting in the various shots.(That is, lighting that is purposely placed.) Instead, the lighting appears to be natural from the sun. To go along with that, it is apparent that there has been very little editing done. For instance, techniques such as straight cut, fade, or dissolve are not used (here or anywhere in the film.) Also, means such as cross cutting or matching shots are not employed. These stylistic features of the scene are consistent throughout the film, and are overarching qualities in Italian Neorealist
films. The themes, goals, and stylistic features of Italian Neorealist films differ greatly from that of traditional Hollywood films. Italian Neorealist films tend to be shot in real locations, and feature characters that are facing dire circumstances. Conversely, Hollywood films tend to be presented in a made up world, and its characters are attempting to overcome issues that can only be described as fantasy. Another huge difference is the main stylistic features of the two genres. Italian Neorealist films generally lack editing or professional lighting. One shot normally cuts to the next, which cuts to the next and so forth without any dissolve or fade. Hollywood films conversely are ultra-edited as every nuance of detail is heavily scrutinized. There is no film that does not take into account the lighting or editing that Hollywood produces. In his essay Narrative, Themes, and Technique, Paul Julian Smith states that, “The formal elegance of Almodovar itself has emotional resonance. Or to put it another way, his technique is not merely technical. An acknowledged master of film form, Almodovar exploits mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing to unexpected effects.”(Smith, 2013). Smith is attempting to explain Almodovar’s cinematic techniques touch an emotional nerve within the viewer, There have been many films throughout time that use cinematic techniques wonderfully to show various ideas and subject matters, but what makes Almodovar’s films so special is that he uses these methods brilliantly, emotionally evoking the audience. When human emotion becomes aroused, memories start to flow, the audience immediately becomes more attentive, and the film immensely more relatable. This is what makes Almodovar’s work so brilliant, his use of mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing allow the viewer to emotionally relate to the film and its characters; and intern creates a resonating experience. A scene that exemplifies these characteristics is Esteban’s death (which occurs about eleven minutes into the film). The scene starts by showing Esteban and his mother talking about Esteban’s father in a tight two-shot. In the background, interestingly, are what appear to be prison bars. This simple shot strikes emotion, possibly subconsciously, with the viewers (an example of Almodovar’s brilliance.) First, the decision to only put Esteban and his mother in the shot gives the viewer a sense all either character really has is each other. Also, it helps create sympathy for Esteban, who clearly is emotionally hurt due to the lack of relationship he has with his father. Furthermore, the prison bars in the background give the scene a sense of darkness, foreshadowing that tragedy that is to come. What makes the prison bars so brilliant is their relatability. Every human has some internally negative associating to prison bars. A car kills Esteban moments later. Here again Almodovar’s magic is in display. Almodovar decides to play the camera on the ground, as if the viewer is seeing the world from the point of a dying Esteban The shot only shows Esteban’s mother’s legs running toward his body in slow motion yelling “Mi hijo, mi hijo.” This composition works to dramatically evoke internal emotions from the viewer. The viewer feels almost as if they are experiencing their own death. Furthermore, a mother’s frantic plea for her son’s life arouses emotions such as sadness and sympathy. Paul Thomas Anderson in There Will Be Blood (2007) makes particular use of specific cinematic techniques to develop Daniel Plainview, the main character. Plainview is portrayed by the end of the movie as a selfish, ruthless materialist that needs obsessive control over a situation; and that despite achieving everything he set out for financially, is living an incredibly empty and unfulfilling life. The final scene in the film uses cinematic techniques such as camera movement, camera distance, and setting to further develop and exemplify the character that is Daniel Plainview. The scene takes place in the bowling alley in Plainview’s mansion; a mansion in which he is the only occupant. The setting of the final scene presents tremendous irony relating to Plainview, as he has accomplished everything he ever wanted to do. He is an ungodly wealthy and powerful individual. Despite this, it is clear he is leading a meaningless, unhappy life. This irony can be seen as a representation of the reality of Plainview’s life at the end of the film. As the final scene goes on, the use of camera movement aids in the development of Plainview’s character tremendously. As the discussion regarding a possible oil deal between Plainview and Eli (another important character) heat up, Plainview becomes enraged. Plainview stands up as the camera pans to the left, showing Plainview pointing at Eli, who is sitting down in a very insecure manner. This camera movement technique brilliantly helps to further develop one of Plainview’s inherent traits: his obsessive need to be in control. By Plainview standing, he is clearly in the power, controlling position. Near the end of the scene, camera distance plays a huge part in showing the current physiological state of Plainview. He is shown grabbing Eli’s collar (again, he has an obsessive need to always be in control). The distance of the camera though is incredibly interesting, as it portrays both characters in the background of a second frame. In the foreground on the bar of the actual second frame lies three glasses. The way the camera is distanced, it is clear that two of the glasses are empty, while one is mostly full. One of the empty glasses represents the current state of Plainview’s life, the other empty one being for Eli, and the mostly full glass for HW. The juxtaposition of the glass in the middle of a gigantic mansion represents the nothingness that is Plainview’s life. The mansion represents the absurd wealth Plainview has obtained, while the empty glass shows the truly meaningless and purposeless life Plainview leads. In the movie The Godfather, Michael Corleone undergoes huge philosophical change throughout the course of the film. He starts off as a man who wants no part in the family business, even considering a career in politics. He strives for a ligament life outside the mafia, one more “Americanized.” By the end of the film, he turns into cold-blooded, vicious head of the family; characterized by a never-ending thirst for vengeance. An important scene and turning point for Michael is when he shoots and kills Sollozzo and McCluskey at a restaurant. Cinematic techniques such as sound, framing, and composition all aid in showing the change of Michael in this scene. As Michael goes to get the gun, there is sound of rain falling in the background. This sly use of non-diletic sound helps to symbolize and foreshadow what is to come. Rain is generally used in cinema to accompany dark, tragic scenes. One could view the symbolism of the rain as it applies to what is about to happen to Michael. Michael is about to turn himself into the dark side, a side filled with ruthless crime and murder. In a way, this is a tragedy in itself. Seconds later, framing and composition are use brilliantly to show the internal agony Michael is going through. Only his head is shown in the shot, as a divider blocks the rest of his body. Michael proceeds to take his hands and run them through his hair, as if he is contemplating what he is about to do. By only showing his head (composition), the viewer is forced to focus on his hands, which are clearly representative of a man internally conflicted. The scene is also framed perfectly, as Michael is facing away from the camera, directly at the men is about to kill. This represents Michael facing his fears head on. Work Cited Smith, Paul Julian. “Narrative, Themes, and Technique.” Film Analysis: A Norton Reader. Eds. Jeffrey Geiger and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2nd edition, 2013. 948-965.
There are types of main techniques such as zooming, craning, tracking and lighting. Zooming is one on going motion, the camera moves from an area to a close up shot. Tracking is when you move the camera towards or away from the film and it is designed to make the actor feel like they are part of the scene or is removed from the scene. And Craning is when the camera angel is place on a crane to make better interest to the location of the film. Last but not least is Lighting. Lighting is when the light changes throughout the film and draws attention to the objects and also lighting can be used to create their facial expression when it’s light or dark. The characters in the film wear a costume to represent the movie and to show the character personality of what they doing. Also in this scene you can see many other many cinematic techniques in this set. As it appears Dave has more lighting than Gail. That’s because since Dave was white and Gail is black. Black and white people can’t be in a relationship or get
Amelio places an immense focus on intertextuality in this film as an homage to the end of the neorealistic era. He particularly references one of the leading figures of the neorealistic movement, Vittorio De Sica, and his film Bicycle Thief. The title, Stolen Children, and the main character’s name, Antonio, are an allusion of Bicycle Thief. Through Amelio’s choice of allusions,
In effect all the techniques mentioned above portray a society of individuals who are weary of the world they live in. They are rejects who lead a pitiful existence in a wasteland called earth because they are not fit enough to go the out-world colonies. Suppressing their own natural instincts for the sake of physically surviving they really the walking dead. Scientific progress conducted not for the best interests of humanity but for the best interests of business has effectively brought about the progressive degradation of society. By exploiting and destroying the natural world human can no more find solace or beauty so as to recuperate their weary minds and rekindle their dying spirits. In summary the techniques that are unique to film such as camera, lighting, costuming, colour and location works in conjunction with common literary techniques such as visual symbolism, irony and characterisation to effectively convey the relationship between humanity and nature.
While there are many different ways to classify a Neo-noir film, Roman Polanski’s, Chinatown captures many. The 1974 movie consists of many of these elements, including both thematic and stylistic devices. One of the main themes of neo-noir film that is constant throughout the film is the deceptive plot that questions the viewers’ ideas and perceptions of what is actually happening in the film. Every scene of Chinatown leads to a twist or another turn that challenges the practicability of the film’s reality. All of the never-ending surprises and revelations lead up to the significant themes the movie is trying to convey in the conclusion of the film.
Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.
These days more and more audience like to see their beloved actors and actresses portray superhero or heroine figure in spandex suit blasting laser beam from their eyes, turn into fire then fly away to outer space, or even a scientist who turn into a huge, green, car-throwing, head-smashing monster with indestructible pants when he transforms. But not small amount audience like films with classical-antiquity geographical and timeline set such as Ben-Hur, 300, Spartacus, etc. Antiquity and modernity always be an important part in filmmaking, whether in its screenplay, set design or character design. In some movies these aspect can be shown separately or combined in sort of a new way in filmmaking.
Neorealism had appeared right after the end of World War II and was started by Roberto Rosselini, the father of Neorealism. With his movie, he started a new trend in Italian cinema. (quote) Although it was not specifically “Neorealist”, it was the start of the movement. Some of key characteristics of a neorealist cinema are as follows, “documentary visual style, the use of actual locations--usually exteriors--rather than studio sites, the use of nonprofessional actors, even for principal roles, use of conversational speech, not literary dialogue, avoidance of artifice in editing, camerawork, and lighting in favor of a simple "styless" style” (1.). These characteristics are what embody true neorealist films, such as Bicycle Thief. Although some of these characteristics still linger in Umberto D, the movie that is considered the “death of the neorealism” (2.). It goes without saying that, regardless of the movement these movies are classified under, these are both spectacular contributions to cinema. However it is Bicycle Thief that shows the prime of what neorealist cinema was like during the movement.
In the film V for Vendetta the director James Mcteigue uses a range of different film techniques in order to gain the audience's attention and to make the movie more interesting. The four film techniques I’m going to focus on in this essay are editing, music, camera angles and the lighting. I am going to do this by analysing the ‘Domino Montage’ scene.
This analysis observes the opening scene of the Coen brother’s film No Country for Old Men (2007), a neo-noir crime thriller set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The film does conform to classic Hollywood style in that the story is character-centered and plot and narrative change to serve character exposition. As well as the character’s actions changing plot and narrative and that style is subservient to the story as the ultimate goal is to develop a fictional world that is perceived as real, as Bordwell put it the classic Hollywood style should be “seamless” and “style-less” (Bordwell, 1988). But does have Post-classical influences such as lack of musical score and modern editing techniques and special effects.
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
The aim of this report is to discuss Italian Neorealism (Neorealismo); looking at how the movement played a significant element in European cinema during and after the times of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime. The report not only looks at how but why Neorealism became a growing phenomenon for filmmakers during its debatable 10 year period, and what implication of messages these Neorealist directors were trying to send out through their films. Backed up by several reliable book sources, the evidence for this report will also highlight the influences Neo-realism has created in modern filmmaking today.
Bicycle Thieves is considered an example of Italian Neo-realism. The plot demonstrates Italians of the working class in Italy and unfolds their day to day lives. One could argue it portray the reality and develops into an emotional storyline towards the end. Antonio, the main character is offered a job requiring a bicycle and on his first day it was stolen on the streets. You immediately feel drawn to the character as you want to see a happy ending. Watching the film, automatically feel sorry for him as he’s got no money and needs to make a living as soon as possible for his wife with two children to support. From the close ups and observational shots it clearly shows he is desperate as Antonio and his son Bruno go around searching for it for hours. The opening sequence uses the conventions of documentary to introduce the film giving an impression of realism and authenticity, which attracted me to the film instantly. These shots were used to capture realism. The function of this scene is to illustrate the nature of surrounding and an insight of Italy at this time.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...