sound on film

during the last class the discussion on the way sound enhances the emotional reaction from the audience came up, i think that the examples that were shown of the avant guard films and the classes reaction to them was based on the image itself as well as sound. the highly technical early animations we saw seemed to not be entertaining with the wrong soundtrack which is why i didn't enjoy them so much, which is why i think Norman Mclaren who created the sounds by drawing them on the film was so successful. by choreographing the animation that he painted on the film with music he also paints on the film he personifies the animation or the line n the animation which can often give it a form of narrative. similarly to the early animation we saw Norman Mclaren hand makes all his films frame by frame as well as the music which is all kind of shown in the video below.

assessment post #3

without watching videos during the break the first thing that comes to mind is slapstick when thinking about the moving image but the latest classes were on very different styled films. the cabinet of Dr.caligari was for me this fast moving film where the director had completely transformed the screen into this dark arena where the characters over play their roles to create this sinister backdrop for the storyline. however the use of dyes, costumes and filming the movie all in one small set space to create a claustrophobic element evident in the film failed to help my confusion, i think that film, moving from the days of the train arriving at the station that shocked people is looking or the directors are looking for new, exciting and shocking ways to projects their visions sadly the cabinet of Dr. caligari lacked a honesty that i love that is provided by the actors in slapstick comedy films, the way that the actor can carry the audience allows you to enjoy the film where as in the cabinet of Dr. calgari i was asking questions throughout as if i had started watching a movie half way through and failed to enjoy it like i enjoy slapstick films.

charlie assesment

Modern times is Charlie Chaplin’s last silent film or at least quasi-silent film, the American comedy is set during the great depression and stars the character little tramp played by Charlie. As well as staring in his own one man show, Chaplin was the director; writer, producer and he also scored the film.
It is in modern times that Chaplin for the first time speaks or his voice is heard, this happens in the second last scene where Chaplin is to perform a song but he keeps forgetting the words which is the key component to the gag, after writing the words on his cuffs he proceeds to entertain the audience, but during his frolicking around the arm cuffs are lost.
Chaplin performs the Léo Daniderff's comical song Je cherche après Titine, but a nonsensical version that is composed of words in French and Italian but ultimately is gibberish, this and the sound affects and music help to set the mood and draw a reaction from the viewer.
Chaplin waited 9 years before he used sound in a film, Chaplin’s films were so successful because of the drama he could evoke through his facial expressions and the way he played the character so not using sound until modern times and singing the song in gibberish allows Chaplin to somehow preserve that crucial aspect in his films although he is using sound the way he describes the song through his facial expressions and actions entertains the viewer allowing you to create a narrative of events within the song as u would through gesture in the silent films.,

assesment blog #1

Below are some exerts from a corner in wheat, over the short time the subject has been held we have already grasped a fundamental idea on the types of film, the differences between film makers, their motivations, and some technical aspects as well. During the screening of a corner in wheat I noticed that when “the wheat king” moved his hands to shoo away the bystanders, a rapid increase of speed occurred. It is true that the rate at which movement is filmed is affected by cameras being hand cranked and the speed of movement of the characters within, yet the actors are moving at what we perceive as a normal rate in the time preceding the speed up of the “wheat kings arm”, what then is the reasoning for this? (2:46)
The 24 fps rate at which film is exposed means the film has to stop 24 times per second for us to see the images moving like drawings in a flip book, this gradual movement incrementally moves the image otherwise u would see the frame running through the image, in affect this 24 fps makes the image blur so we see it as fluid.
The answer for the speed up of the wheat kings hand is due to the fast moment of the actors hand being filmed at the same rate as all other movements so the increments in which the hand moves between each framed is increased in relation to normal movement. Then when the film is played back the background people are moving normally whilst the hand seems to have this supernatural speed which I think adds to the drama of the gesture. This example is apparent also due to the hard edges, think about an image of smoke being played in only 10 fps, due to the soft edges the movement of the smoke in increments on the film goes un noticed and the smoke seems to travel at a constant speed without jumping but if an object with a hard edge is in its place it would jump, similarly if a sharp edge is filmed and played at 24 fps the eye detects the movement more due to the contrast of the sharp edge in relation to the background.