Themes in Conceptual Film

Themes in Conceptual Film
By: Ali Banach

After reading over a variety of themes that are commonly found in art, my attention was captured by the theme of The Human Experience. The text describes the vastly diverse spectrum of the human experience: all the variants in all of the lives in all of the world. This diversity is what makes examining other lives interesting, what drives conversations, and what motivates the search for commonality. Because the human experience varies so greatly from door to door, art and media strive to find the links between all of these human experiences and synthesize a sense of connection. Because of this, many themes in art focus on elements of the human experience that everyone must face including the issue of life, death, self-knowledge, decisions, vanity, and a variety of other concepts that construct humanity as we know it. 
I believe, personally, that a degree of art's job is to celebrate and to commemorate the diversity of human life while pulling through an underlying commonality with which the audiences can connect. These foundational messages can also be identified a truth, and when a viewer or audience can identify a sense of truth within a work, it will then become meaningful. 
While I feel as though I am most interested in the overarching theme of the human experience, more specifically I am intrigued by portrayals and representations of everyday life. Portrayals of everyday life can subtly reveal underlying messages while remaining relatable and applicable to your human audience. 
The element of film in which I am most interested is color. Color is intertwined with many other elements including setting, lighting, and costume. Through color, I feel as though you can better develop diversity in different lives and characters by creating different palettes in schemes. A prime example of a strong use of color is demonstrated through Wes Anderson's work, most notably Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Another example of a strong color palette is the film Ginger and Rosa which employs a greenish lighting and colour scheme. The setting, lighting, costumes, and even coloring of the actors accentuate and fulfill this common theme.  

Analysis of a Still: Rear Window

Ali Banach

Mr. Bomboy

IB Film HL I

5 May 2015

Analysis of a Still: Rear Window

Throughout Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, he utilizes a variety of cinematic tools in order to explore perspective and the complexity of the human experience. Throughout the film, the protagonist, L. B. Jeffries, observes out of his rear window, the actions of his neighbors. Jeffries is in a wheelchair due to a broken leg. His occupation is that of a photographer and he has a visible degree of restlessness with the limitations of his injury and occupation. While he explores the private lives of his neighbors, the audience observes his own personal relations, namely those with his nurse, Stella, and his fiancé, Lisa. In the primary conflict of the film, Jeffries perceives actions of his neighbor that point toward a crime, namely the murder of his wife. The climax arrives in Jeffries’ own confrontation with his neighbor, Thorvald, in which Jeffries is ultimately thrown out of his own window. In order to reach concrete conclusions about this complex film, one must narrow it down and as in this case, analyze a single still in the context of the larger meaning of the film. This still demonstrates how Rear Window uses perspective to allow the reader to share in the emotions of the protagonist; through the employment of techniques that will ultimately be affiliated with the postmodern movement, the film demonstrates that examination, reflection, and observation are essential elements of the human experience.

The use of perspective is a prominent and essential element in the development of the film and its meaning. The limited perspective of the film, limited to Jefferies’ apartment and rear window alone, allow the viewer to empathize with the claustrophobic nature of Jefferies’ situation. The scene depicted in the still is from the perspective of Jefferies’ rear window. In some ways, this point-of-view perspective feels intrusive, as spying on others violates social norms and ideas of privacy that society holds. However, this feeling of intrusion provokes a sense of irony because the practice of watching film is in a way, a form of spying. This sense of self-awareness of the audience’s identity as viewers aligns with many of the concepts commonly applied in the postmodern period.  The emotions felt toward Jeffries are then cause for reflection into the viewer’s own sense of identity as they question the morality and ethics of the film world.

The still also provokes a sense of curiosity and  urge to examine due to its complex nature. In this shot, Hitchcock utilizes variety in each of the windows while maintaining a strong sense of unity with the neutral color scheme and repetition. Through the employment of framing, the still manages to capture the complexity of the various human experiences that are occurring in Jeffries’ backyard. The widescreen nature of the still also emphasizes the vastness of the human spectrum of experience and emotion, minimizing the size of the viewer and creating an opportunity for self examination.

Another notable feature about this still is the use of line. Obviously, the windows each play an important role by framing, but there is also a plethora of other types of line used. The use of leading lines, for example, is prominent within this shot. On the left hand side, there is a tree that is in the shadows that draws the eye to the couple in the window. The stairs leading up to the dancer’s also act act as leading lines to her apartment. Each of the fire escapes also exemplify good examples of strong lines. The fire escape on the building on the left directs the viewers’ attention toward the skyline, where skyscrapers are visible. These massive constructions also contribute to the minimizing effect on the viewer. This sense of vastness provokes reflection for the audience on their own life, and the lives of those around them.  The fire escape on the building on the right effectively demonstrates the interconnectivity of humanity while maintaining a degree of isolation, which is seen through the connecting ladder, but separate landings. This theme of relative isolation is continued throughout the film through Jeffries’ own separation from the people around him including his fiancé. Jeffries’ unwillingness to commit to his relationship with Lisa and instead fixate on his profession of photography reflects the theme of the need to examine one’s own life and also the theme of isolation. There is also the use of repeating vertical lines, in the lines of the building, the gates, various railings and fences in the shot. The use of vertical lines can convey power and that may be the case in this still; they may be conveying the power of the sects of humanity existing as a cohesive whole.

Overall, Rear Window effectively uses various cinematic techniques in order to demonstrate the necessity of self examination and reflection in one’s life as well as the immense complexity of the human experience. The still uses a variety of principles of design to touch on themes that are further expanded upon in the rest of the film. The particularly unerring part about the film is the reflection that it provokes among the audience as to their own actions resembling spying. The film provides a sharp commentary on the intricacies of human interaction and ability to coexist.

Works Cited

Rear Window. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart and Grace Kelly. Paramount Pictures,

Patron Inc., 1954. Streamed Video.

Audio Levels

• What can you do to fix audio?
• You can lower the decibels in an attempt to fix or even out the audio. Audio can be made more consistent through the manipulation of the decibel levels.
• What cannot be fixed?
•  Audio cannot be made louder and the decibels can not be increased. Also, by attempting to make the audio consistent, you often times have to sacrifice the quality of the audio. You can never fix the distortion of poorly recorded sound quality.
• What is the optimal level for sound recording?

 The optimal level for sound recording is -12 decibels.

Critique Reflection

Design
For my avant garde project, there were things that went well but there are also improvements that can be made. In terms of design, there were a few of our shots that didn't perfectly follow the rule of thirds, notably the first shot. However, when they didn't follow the rule-of-thirds, they employed formal balance so it may be more of  a stylistic choice. I also feel as though our film could've been strengthened if there were more shots that were in focus in their entirety. Also, there was a overabundance of selective and rack focus that gives the film a confused feeling. The lack of variety in shot types also detracted from the films meaning, as it was dominated by close-ups.
Positive aspects of our design included the shots in the tech ed room with the machinery. They ended up being strong images with repetition and repeating lines. Another positive aspect of design was the final shot of the chainlink fence as it has strong unity. Also, while we may have overused it, the use of selective focus was effective in singling Reilly out as our protagonist.
Technical
Technically, I feel like I could've added additional sound effects that would emphasize the machinery shots in particular. A larger variety in camera movements would also be a smart decision in the future. Another technical aspect is the fluidity of the editing - my film could've been cut and edited in a smoother way.
Positives of the technical aspect was the use of black and white. The change to black and white added a lot of contrast and also a sense of unity to the film. Also, all of our shots were extremely still due to our use of the tripod. I also liked how the quick cutting of the clips turned out in the end, as I feel that it turned out to be a decent montage.
Performance
In regards to performance, we could have had a wider variety of emotion expressed, as it was pretty similar throughout. Also, at one point, Reilly made eye contact with the camera, which not a positive. Another negative was the lack of continuity, which was really due to the non-linear storyline, but made character development extremely difficult.
Some good things that we did in terms of performance was the natural and genuine feel that Reilly added to the film. He did not appear forced at any point. Shay did a good job crying and the cropping of the shot added to the emotion.  I also enjoyed the shot of me and Shay holding hands in the end because I feel like it reached a sort of conclusion to the ideas of striving for human connection.

Summary of Text Reading: Film Analysis

Film analysis is the process of forming statements and opinions about a film's themes and meaning. There are three different types of film analysis: descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative. A descriptive claim is a "neutral account of the basic characteristics of the film." Essentially, it is a plot summary that outlines the basics of the film. However, descriptive claims can include intertextual connections and genre as well as analysis of the film's visual or audio style. This is the most simplistic type of analysis as it does not require a large degree of synthesis on the part of the critic. The second kind of analysis, the interpretive claim is described as a "more complex intellectual response." In order to present an interpretative claim, one must take a stance and argue a point about a film's themes and abstract ideas. It's important, when making an interpretative claim, to explain, create, and develop a logical argument that the reader can follow. In order to do this, one must choose specific scenes, motifs, and critical moments that support their argument and bring them together into a cohesive argument. Some examples of elements that one might use to support their claim may be the cinematic lineage of the film, or the use of irony, as seen in Inglourious Basterds. The final type of claim that a film analyst can make is an evaluative claim. An evaluative claim involves the author expressing their personal opinion about a film and ranking or scaling it according to a grading system, such as stars or the letter system. This claim is based purely on the evaluator's own opinions and standards. Because of this, evaluative claims are extremely subjective. However, this is the most advanced type of claim because not only does one have to describe details from the film precisely, they also have to make interpretative claims about the film's meaning before deciding if it successfully conveys its intended meaning. In all, film analysis can promote a greater appreciation and understanding of film through examining the complexity within the film in any one of the three ways.

Avant Garde Film Project

Avant Garde Film Project

The aspect ratio of an image describes the proportional relationship between its width and its height. It is commonly expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, as in 16:9. For an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this same length unit, the height will be measured to be y units. The most common aspect ratios used today in the presentation of films in cinemas are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1.  Resolution depends upon the size of the pixel. 

Image resolution is the detail an image holds. Higher resolution means more image detail.

As for the overall project, I really liked how the shots turned out that we did in the tech ed room. I felt like the machinery images grounded the film and provided good contrast to the more abstract shots. I particularly like the worm's eye view of the drill because it is such a dramatic angle. If I were to complete the project again, I would develop Reilly's character further and attempt to create a slightly more linear plot line. For the avant garde genre, the nonlinear nature of the montage works, but if I were to want to develop the film to expand to other genres and a wider audience.  

Homage to Silent Film