Social critique and active viewers: Brechtian practices Essay Example

Everything is different now that Emmi is no more in the vicinity. The point of lament is noted upon his rivals, for instance, the grocery store owner and a racist have realized that losing Emmi has impacted negatively on her business which is facing a lot of competition. Her son who was furious against her marriage returns home with the intent of helping her with childcare. The neighbors who were in the frontline against Emmi marriage to Ali treat her as nothing had happened before. Her workmates had launched a new rivalry against a newly arrived Yugoslavian workmate suppressing the old fights on Emmi marriage to Ali. It brings a point of relaxation of the couple from outside.

The scenes of rivalry and reversals make Fassbinder deduce that people’s behavior in a society follows arbitrary rules and the attitude within the society depends on individuals who adopts them at one time or another. In other words, life resembles a theater, and the role of cinema, according to Fassbinder is to ensure the outer and the inner workings of the theater to be coherent and visible. For instance, Emmi peeks out at the flat Ali in the hallway through a half opened door only to shut it with little concerns about him. Her solitary role as an elderly urban dweller is well depicted at this point who lives in skeptical privacy from the world outside her. It is a role to which her social status as a widow and an elderly seem to have doomed her through her engagement with Ali has enabled her to escape it from time to time.

In the Fear Eats the soul, the

visual style has been expressed with a lot of mastery. Fassbinder shows the couple predicament through the use of various symbolic expressions. The first one is based on the film frame. The door that leads to Emmi’s kitchen becomes a variable frame that captures the character in their sadness ( she is left alone when Ali goes out for a couscous) or a moment intimacy from a point of loneliness (Ali is having a private time with Ali who shares a brandy with her). Several scenes that are played at the Emmi’s apartment staircases the vertical forms that include the columns, window, and doorframes divides the characters and makes the relationships to be powerfully readable.
The second illustrative expression shows the couple emptiness. It is clearly depicted when the couple emerges from the registry office in the rain. The indifference and the solitude in them are clearly visible. For instance, the pile of rubble that is the middle ground and alone passing of car in the background signifies the emptiness in their social life. The couple finds themselves in outdoor café which is full of tables with marooned yellow décor, the camera tracking them intrusively gestures to the audiences’ point of sympathy. The scene at the fancy restaurant where the couple celebrates their weddings is a figurative expression. The interior doorways frame the couple while the intrusive camera that is positioned side of the doorway shows empty tables that signify the lack of happiness in their social context.

Expressive film techniques

Analyzing the techniques

In the film Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) lightning technique had been enormously used. The three point lighting provides the even illumination of the scene

and it is the most commonly used form of the lighting scheme that is unique to the narrative cinema. The light comes from different points that provide the actors with the sense of depth in the frame. But, do not dramatically do nothing more besides this. Blake Edward’s film breakfast at tiffany has made use of three point lighting technique to illuminate their scenes. The subject of the frame is properly highlighted, but they are faint shadows in the background that add to the depth of the frame. Another instance is when Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) utilized the three-point technique and there was enough illumination both in front and backlights that distinguished the people in the crowded scenes from one another. High key lighting involves the fill lighting and it is aimed at illuminating the scene making it brighter and softer with very few shadows in the frame. The technique is applied mostly in comedies and musicals especially the Hollywood age. Sofia Coppola used a soft, high key approach to lightening up in her film Marie Antoinette (2006).

Diegetic sounds have also been employed in the film the Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) to enhance the film. The most popular sounds include the screams, gunshots, nature sounds and crowd noises. These have been extensively used in this film to showcase the theme of violence that is associated with plotted crimes. For example, one scene is where Michael Corleone kills Sollonzo in the Italian restaurant. The actors frisk Corleone for a weapon but do not find any. A conversation ensues between the two and it is sooner that Michael requests to retire to restroom than Corleone grabs

a revolver taped strategically by the toilet. Michael places his hands on the head a train sound is heard from outside. The train sound effect signifies the thought that goes through his mind and the fast beating heart. The sound comes back again when Michael sits back down at the table. The train sound becomes much louder when Sollozo speaks. Michael pulls the gun and loud gunshots are heard killing both police officer and Sollozo. The sound effects are well organized in the scene so that the viewers can identify with what they are seeing.

The diegetic sound occurs within the film. For instance, the natural sound effect that resembles the sources on the screen is diegetic sound. Some of the scenes that use the diegetic sounds include the crickets and screaming. The use of the sound effects in the film the Godfather creates the solemn and dark moment the maker of the film was looking for. Ray’s film creates a beautiful atmosphere via which lightning and camera work. When the film Pather Panchali was shot, he used a new cameraman known as Subrata Mitra who was naïve in the film camera. He dislikes the slick light effect and devoted himself to the bouncing lighting. The light would simulate the daylight to some extent.

Imagining “china “with Zang

Cui’s statement explanation

China hosts one of the largest studios of filming globally known as the Hengdian. In 2010, china in terms of film industry was ranked third by the number of films it featured in that year. By the year 2012, china positioned second in world market courtesy of book office receipts. In 2015, china’s box office gross outcome was

about $6.78 billion with 61.6% produced domestically. A lot of co-productions in Chinese language have dominated the filming industry a move that has portrayed the language internationally.

Specific techniques; cinematography and mise-en-scene

The aspect of mise-en-scene in the film Raise the Red Lantern contributes extensively to the development of the tone and the theme in the movie. The scene is at the master’s property with the women that are depicted showing nothing of importance in what is happening there. The women are constantly fighting the idea that Songlian is constantly going to the rooftops and the Third Wife leaves the property to have an illicit affair with the doctor. The architecture of the house has designed it in a manner that subjects the women to live their lives according to numerous guidelines. For instance, despite the concubines living separately in different courtyards, the courtyards look the same showcasing that the women are equal in matters of master’s affection. The actors are framed in the scene in such a way that they built up the theme in the movie. The different object in each women room is an indicator of the each identity who believes they are typical in their own rights but seemingly alike in their cruel actions. Another scene is where the actors are positioned in the middle of the shot when Songilian unveils Yan’er’s restricted use of red lantern and she is forced to kneel in the snow and allow the lantern to burn as she watches it. As the lantern burns, we see the dream of Yan’er’s destroyed like the lantern is burning. The enormous use of mise-en-scene emphasizes how the structures of the

women in the film have been living in compromised lives that have influenced their thought and action.

Raise the Red Lantern film has also expounded the technique of cinematography vastly. They are a variety of shots with the most precise one being the high angle and close-ups. The courtyards are made up of high angles and the concubine environment is visible at bird’s eye angle. The unfolding events by the concubines are monitored using the camera that allows limits their freedom. The close-ups are used to reveal the women for whom they really are despite the guise that the women are using to avoid being caught off-guard. The close-ups are used to reveal the true emotions of the women. For instance, Songlian’s emotions are shown not only during the foot massage but also through the pleasure of beating the other mistresses. However, the camera is shaky as it displays the Songilian’s panicky POV to the audience. In spite of the shaky camera the life of Songlian becomes clearer and her fate in the new life is revealed. Through the cinematographic techniques, other women and Songlian are thoroughly examined and the establishment of their fate as a concubine is known.

The film of choice

Citizen Kane has made advances in cinematics in many fonts and the most noticeable use of cinematography is the use of a technique known as deep focusing. The deep focus involves the framing everything even the background with having everything in the foreground clear to the audience. The deep focusing requires the cinematographer combining the composition lighting and the type of camera lens to produce the desired effect. With this technique, the audience is left

with everything in the film crystal clear. Deep focus is the most effective to show cane loss of control and his isolation since it gives the audience a clearer view. Storytelling technique has also been employed in the film citizen Kane. The actors are allowed to age as the film goes on. It is through this way that the narrator is allowed to add a lot of information as each character gives more information through story telling.