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Updated 23 January 2007
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ENGLISH 114: INTRODUCTION TO FILM, Fall 2006
Section 2: Monday, 6:00-9:30 p.m., Professor Larsson
Week 2*, January 22, 2007
*(Don’t panic. There was no class on Week 1!)
6:00-6:20
· Syllabus, Requirements
· See Class Website: http://english2.mnsu.edu/larsson/introfilm/114syllsp07.htm
· Film Club Announcement
6:20-8:20
View A Star Is Born
8:20-8:30
Break
8:30-9:30
A Star Is Born and Some Basics of Film Production and Form
A Star Is Born (1937)
PRODUCTION (for more complete details, see the Internet Movie Database):
· Producer: David O. Selznick
· Director: William Wellman
· Script: Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, with Robert Carson, based on a story by Wellman and Carson
· Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
· Cinematography: W. Howard Greene
· Editor: James E. Newcome
· Music: Max Steiner
CAST
· Janet Gaynor (Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester)
· Fredric March (Norman Maine)
· Adolph Menjou (Oliver Niles, the producer)
· Lionel Stander (Libby)
· Andy Devine (Danny)
· May Robson (Granny)
· Edgar Kennedy (boarding house landlord)
STUDY QUESTIONS:
1. Note down specific elements of the film that catch your attention. (They may be elements of the plot; a line of dialogue; a use of setting, costume, lighting or photograph; the way shots or scenes have been edited together; or a particular use of sound effects or music.) Why did you notice them?
2. Do you see or hear any of these elements later in the film? How are they similar to or different from the way they were presented at first?
3. What does Esther Blodgett want at the beginning of the film? How do her desires and goals change? Why do they change?
4. At the end of the film, are there any elements, which seem strange or unexplained? Are any questions about the story or characters left unanswered? Are there any elements whose function is not clear?
5. What do you think is the film's "message" or "meaning"? What, if anything, is the movie trying to say?
Richard Barsam’s Basic Principles of Film (from Chapter 1):
· Movies manipulate time and space in ways that other art forms cannot
· Movies depend on light
· Movies provide an illusion of movement
· Movies can depict worlds convincingly
· Movies generally result from a complex, expensive and highly collaborative process
What kind of world is depicted in A Star Is Born?
What does A Star Is Born reveal about the collaborative process by which it was made?
Some other ways to think about movies:
A. Movies are a technological art form
B. Movies are based on principles adapted from other art forms or developed independently
C. The general structure of moviemaking has not changed much in nearly 100 years, but
D. Specific aspects of moviemaking have continued to change and evolve as technological, economic, and social contexts have changed
E. Films are commercial products made for mass audiences, but they are also made for personal, political and artistic reasons. Sometimes they are made for all of these reasons.
F. The power of movies comes in part from their ability to create convincing worlds and to encourage our identification with the characters and situations.
Basic Units of the Film in Time:
Frame: a single photographic image on the strip of film
§ The standardized speed of film in cameras and projectors is 24 frames per second. (Silent films were less standardized and could vary drastically since both the camera and projector were usually hand-cranked. Speed could vary from about 18 frames per second to 24 or more.)
Shot: one uninterrupted exposure of a strip of film for a particular period
of
time—1 frame to infinity (in theory). Most films are made up of
hundreds or thousands of individual shots.
Scene: a set of shots that forms a coherent unit within the film (set at a
particular time and place, for example)
Sequence: a set of scenes that forms a larger unit within the film as a whole,
similar to an “Act” in a play
Film: The completed, unified movie as a whole, with a beginning, middle,
and end (“but not necessarily in that order” --Jean-Luc Godard)
Basic Elements of the Film Event:
Mise-en-scene: The “world” depicted by the film; what we see on the screen
without taking into account how it was photographed
§ Setting and Props—The things we see and that are used
§ Costumes and makeup—The clothing and appearance of the actors
§ Lighting—The use of light, shadow and color to illuminate, to hide and to convey emotion and meaning
§ Acting—The physical movements and expressions of the characters
Cinematography: The portrayal and revelation of the mise-en-scene through
the lens of the camera (apparently), affected by lighting
and by specific elements of the camera:
§ Film stock
§ Camera lens
§ Camera speed
§ Camera position
o Angle
o Height
o Movement
Editing: The act of joining together individual shots to create scenes,
sequences and entire films. Editing allows filmmakers to
manipulate time and space in order to create a convincing illusion
of reality or to bend the rules of reality or to do both.
Sound: The use of voices, sound effects, and music to
§ Convey information
§ Create emotional moods
§ Shape our interpretation of the film image
Basic Steps of Film Production
1. Pre-Production (preparation)
· Idea for film is generated or bought/adapted by the producer
· The producer finds financing for the film, sets a budget and schedule, hires the personnel needed to make the film
· The writer generates the film idea, eventually resulting in a complete shooting script
· Some “production” work may begin at this stage (art design, etc.)
2. Production (shooting)
· The making of the film is overseen by the director, working with production designer/art director, a cinematography crew, and many others, including the cast of actors
· Elements needed for making the film (sets, costumes, etc.) are found or created
3. Post-Production (editing)
· The final film is assembled from shots created in the production stage by the the editor and sound editor, usually with the collaboration of the director and/or producer
· The film is marketed and distributed to theaters or other viewing venues, usually the responsibility of the producer
Actual number of people and amount of detail in each step can vary widely, depending on the scope and financing for the film. In “independent” production, the number of people involved can vary from one to a few dozen. “Large-scale” production typically involves several dozen, hundreds, or even thousands of people.
See Barsam, Appendix, for details about production mode and historical changes since the “golden age” (c. 1931-1954) of the Hollywood studio system.
Lecture/Discussion Summary
Form and Production in A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born presents the process of studio filmmaking during the “golden age” of Hollywood from two different perspectives:
· As part of the story of Esther Blodgett’s rise to stardom as “Vicki Lester”
· As a “behind the scenes” display of Hollywood, filmmaking and the life of stars
Some of the individual elements in the film that we discussed include
· Use of Technicolor
Garish red sunset when Norman is about to go “swimming” reinforces the sense that he might try to commit suicide
· Role of music (the “Star Is Born” theme)
Ten notes are continually played in different variations (over credits, in minor key, even as light piano music in the bar scene between Danny and Esther). Rise of this theme combines with sunset noted above to create emotional effect
· Oliver Niles (the producer) as character
o Oliver’s studio is small independent studio similar to David O. Selznick’s
o As producer, Oliver is concerned about profit and the bottom line but is portrayed as genuinely caring about Norman and Esther as people
o At times, Oliver’s character hints at stories and events connected with other Hollywood “moguls”—studio heads like Louis B. Mayer (MGM), Jack Warner (Warner Bros.), and Harry Cohn (Columbia). When he first signs Esther, he walks around the desk, unbuttons his jacket and says, “I think I’m going to like you,” suggesting that he’s ready to try out the “casting couch” but quickly says, “That’s not important and goes on to discuss her career.”
· Libby (publicity agent)
o At first, presented largely as comic figure due to gravelly voice, continued air of exasperation at Norman’s behavior, and overreaching publicity plans (such as the wedding)
o Becomes nastier in tone to Norman, leading to fight at the racetrack bar
o Final scenes with Libby show him drinking alone, suggesting that he may follow Norman as alcoholic
· Sights and landmarks of Hollywood
o Trocadero nightclub
o Hollywood Bowl
o Pool at the Roosevelt Hotel
o Footprints at the Chinese Theatre
· “Backstage” elements of filmmaking:
o Screen test
o Casting
o Costumes
o Preview showings
o Distribution to theater owners
Some other elements that will be discussed next week include
· Opening shot of script of A Star Is Born
· Establishment of Esther’s character early in film
· Contrast of settings: North Dakota vs. Hollywood
· Supporting characters: Granny
· Other supporting characters introduced:
· Danny
· Norman
· Landlord
· Themes, lines of dialogue (“Maybe I’m that one”)
Final Note:
· A Star Is Born is a product of the classic Hollywood studio system (see Barsam’s appendix for details) and displays elements of that system for the audience
· Aspects of the film (such as Norman’s decline) are based on careers of some actual stars and film history
· But the film also creates a fantasy story in Vicki’s rise to fame—she is very lucky!
· Movies are often about different aspects of (social, psychological, physical) “reality” but they also create and define those “convincing worlds” in the context of people’s ideas, beliefs and ideologies and the social and economic circumstances of the time when they were made