Reel World

 As we know as film students and enthusiasts, film is one of the most all-encompassing, expressive art forms there is.  It utilizes sound, visuals, music, and motion to engage all of the senses and communicate deep themes, experiences, and meaning like no other medium.  Perhaps that is why whether you are documenting the events and moments or telling a story, film is the most effective way to communicate the horror, heartbreak, heroism, and sacrifice of war. The war genre in film is defined by its use of actual combat fighting or conflict as the primary plot or background for the action of the film.  Typical elements in war film plots include POW camp experiences and escapes, submarine/air/land/naval warfare, espionage, personal stories of heroism, tough trench and infantry experiences, or male-bonding adventures.  Themes are centered around main ideas of combat, survival in brutal conditions, escape, gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of futility and inhumanity in battle, the eff

    "Foreign films teach you a new language, but it's not the language you think.  It's the language of cinema"  -  Vera Blasi, Academy Member. One of the great rewards of watching foreign films is the infinite ways it can open up the world for you as a viewer.  You identify with a character from another time and place.  You share their thoughts and feelings--their hopes and fears.  A sense of intimacy and humanity is created through the experience and we go from an "Us vs. Them" mentality to a "We are Them, They are Us" way of thinking. This month, there are five films made by foreign directors on our screening schedule:  Sophie Scholl: The Final Days  (German - trailer link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x14U3R3-dFE ),  The Pianist  (Polish - trailer link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFwGqLa_oAo ),  Three Colors: Blue  (France/Czech Republic - trailer link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxz-FQvRxbY  ),  Life is Beautiful  (Italian - tr

  This blog may seem a bit of a mixed bag:  what do Westerns have to do with the celebrated cinematography of Conrad Hall?  At first and second glance....nothing much.  However, both are iconic in their own right, and both have a very special sense of "style." Read the article from Film School Rejects about the Western genre in Cinema.  In the article, is a link to a wonderful short video from the Museum of Modern Art about the characteristics that define the genre.  Here is a LINK .  Then, respond to the blog below with three noteworthy connections you saw between the short video and your experience viewing Tombstone .  Although this film was made more recently than the classic Westerns that defined the genre, it is most certainly made in the traditional fashion, and respects the conventions of the "All American" genre! Then, read the short article that celebrates the style of late cinematography great, Conrad Hall, who worked with Sam Mendes on Road to Perdition.

   In order to fully appreciate Brian De Palma's American crime drama,  The Untouchables,  every serious student of film must breakdown the very bloody, very pivotal "Union Station" scene shot by shot, noting every shot size, length, lens, and camera movement to explore how POV adds both depth and tension to an already by definition "intense" scene... One of the first things every film student notices about this scene is that it pays a very obvious homage to the "Odessa Steps" scene from Russian filmmaking legend Sergei Eisenstein's  Battleship Potemkin.   Although this may present as an example of "indirect intertextuality," make no mistake: De Palma is most certainly purposeful in his reference here.  Even the political and moral themes from  Battleship Potemkin  - the strain between the "bourgeoisie and the proletariat, innocence and oppression" are likewise factored into the narrative of  The Untouchables.   Eisenstein's

  There's no denying the importance of mise en scéne in filmmaking. Truly, it elevates film from just a record of movements and dialogue set to a sweeping score to an art form with depth, greater meaning, and purpose. In a translation from French to English, Mise en scéne means (quite literally): In short, it means to set the stage! This was originally coined in reference to theater. When speaking of film, the scéne or stage refers to everything in front of the camera, including set design, lighting, and actors. It may also be used in reference to the overall effect of how it all comes together for the viewer. As you are designing your mise en scéne for your own collaborative films, and as you are viewing your film of study this month, please complete the following for this blog discussion and exploration:  1. Read the Studio Binder article on mise en scéne. Click HERE to access the link. 2. Choose one of the following elements:  Setting, Decor(Production Design), Lighting, Depth

  Hailed as "the first landmark film in Japanese history" by film critic Mark Cousins,  Souls on the Road  is a film to which many students and scholars of modern filmmaking give a hard pass.  Some criticize the film as offering a patchy narrative and overly melodramatic character portrayals.  It has also been criticized as being "messy" by modern standards, in terms of directing, lighting, camera angles, and in its unconventional, non-linear storytelling. However, all of these criticisms can also be viewed as groundbreaking in these very areas. Once again, scholars, Context reigns as King!  It is imperative to note that at the time this film was made in Japan, live musicians played traditional instruments to one side of the screen, while a narrator or troupe of narrators called "Benshi" elaboratively explained ("setsumei") the action of the film and its dialogue during the screening.  When intertitles arrived in Japan, Benshi would often incorpo