Identify one film which appears to have been influenced by the visual style of classic Soviet Constructivist Cinema
Similar to the classic Soviet Constructivist Cinema style, Citizen Kane (1941), focuses on the more functional representation of the film rather than the aesthetic beauty, typical of the Russian Constructivism era. Visually, “Citizen Kane” was a breakthrough that helped shape film’s classical vocabulary as a cautionary tale, it’s no less formative or necessary.
Intellectual Montage
The cutting between the slaughter of the cow and the death of the workers makes Eisenstein’s point of comparing Russian workers to animals being exploited for labour purposes and killed once they are no longer of use.
Metric Montage
As one of the workers plummets to his death, the fall is condensed down to three shots, each lasting the same length. We see the man drop from the platform, someone attempting to grab him, and his death.
Rhythmic Montage
When the child is dropped and killed, we see him fall from a variety of different angles back to back, keeping the editing in continuity.
Tonal Montage
The cutting between the interior and exterior of the building connect to show the fear and panic of the workers, whether it be the dread of being killed by the military or being trapped alone.
Over-tonal Montage
When the worker attacks the leader of the company, cuts happen between every action, and as the man slams his hand down on the table, ink spills out onto the map, possibly representing the blood of the workers that are about to be killed. The spilling of the ink happens while the shareholders react to the worker’s outburst.
the realism in Casablanca was very high because they used a lot of natural lighting and they also used natural environments.
the visual style in Casablanca was very natural because they didn’t use any effects to change anything in the film they kept it as realistic as possible
there was parts in the film where the lighting was low because the mood and atmosphere was low as well.
intellectual montage:
in the final scene of strike. Intellectual montage is used cutting between the strikers being killed and a cow having its throat cut. Giving the comparison that the people are being slaughtered as if they were animals.
metric montage:
metric montage is used in this scene to give a steady flow of events showing many different angles and perspectives of the strikers being attacked.
rhythmic montage:
this type of montage is used here cutting to different shots as the man falls to his death.
the sound in Casablanca.
there was always faint music in the background, from a live pianist and live singers in the bar.
the dialogue is overpowering from the music and you can hear he characters very well.
there was sometimes a faint sound of a plane flying over the top of the building because people are leaving to go to America
there was a sound of cars frequently to scare everyone that it might be the police arriving
Film 2: The Rats/Las Ratas
| What did you like about the film? I liked that she wanted to get revenge | What didn’t you like? I did not like how fast it all went. |
| What ideas could you use? Narrative or style? I would use the idea of getting revenge for her family | What ideas won’t you use? Why? I will not be using the fact that the other woman killed the man, not the girl who needed revenge |
In-Depth study – Mise-en-scène
| Feature | Example – how does it convey meaning or create an effect |
| Set Design | A small resteraunt |
| Costume | Waitress outfit, chef outfit and a man in smart casual wear. |
| Space | Lots of space to move around |
| Lighting | Low lighting in main resteraunt, bright lighting in the kitchen |
| Composition | Lighting dramatically changed from room to room |
| Hair and makeup | Very minimal makeup |