"The Shot"

Even though this is a Gangster Film blog "the shot" is not what you think it might be.  The shot refers to the way a movie is filmed.  There are many different ways that films could be shot and the ways that they are shot have a huge impact on the film itself.  Some shots are very hard to take and others are much easier, the more complex the shot is the more complex the scene may become.  The shot in itself can make or break a movie because it can either indulge the audience even further into the movie or it can distract them away from the important things within the film.

On of the main parts of the getting the perfect shot is making sure to use the shot composition effectively.  When shot composition is used correctly the scene within the film can look brilliant.  There are some main things that shot composition uses the make sure that the shot is useful to the audiences pleasure.  Most importantly the shot should be used to the fullest, if there is empty space in the shot it is deemed as confusing or useless.  If I were to be watching a film where they were standing in a field with nothing extra I would begin to lose focus on that film.  Also by placing objects within the scene you can create depth of the picture itself.  If a room in a shot was empty the viewer of the film would have no perception of the setting that the characters are in.  By placing objects in the front, middle, or the back of the shot it begins to give a viewer a glimpse into the surrounding that the characters would be in while in that specific setting.

One of the most difficult shots to make in a film is the "long" shot.  A long shot is a uninterrupted shot which usually takes a couple minutes to get through.  The long shots are not edited with so you can imagine how difficult that these shots are to make perfect.  Everything must go right in a long shot or the whole shot must be done again, this is why the long shot is not used widely by directors because you can imagine the time that it would take to perfect a shot like this.  Long shots if used correctly can help build suspense in a film, or it can create a dramatic effect in which keeps the viewer on the edge of their seats.  Like this clip from A Touch of Evil, the long shot has so many aspects that must go right for the opening of the film to go right.

As you can see from the clip these shots take careful directing and shooting to make sure the right shot is seen by the viewer.  In this opening a crane was used to film this long shot.  The framing and use of space is crucial to the overall success of a movie, if the film does not used the correct shot or type of shot the audience view of the film may be skewed from that of what the director was trying to portray to the audience.  After researching into the "long" shot the clip from A Touch of Evil is absolutely brilliant, I can only imagine how much time and effort went into making that shot so dramatic and suspenseful.

Film Composition - Film School Online. (n.d.). Film Production Overview - Film School Online. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://production.4filmmaking.com/cinematography7.html

Film Glossary. (n.d.). Rice University -- Web Services. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~engl377/film.html

Character Function of Mise-En-Scene in Boardwalk Empire

Throughout many films the characters can be portrayed in certain lights to the audience.  These characters can have a certain persona that the audience deems to them at the beginning of the movie.  Through mise-en-scene the characters persona can be reaffirmed or it can be changed because of the theme of the movie.  Mise-en scene is a huge aspect of any film or cinematic adventure, it is the substance that the movie is based around.  The aspects of mise-en-scene include; costume and make-up, setting, lighting, staging, and realism.  In some films it is more prevalent than others, but to better explain the character function of mise-en-scene I am going to be examining Boardwalk Empire, a show that airs on HBO every sunday and is in its second season.

The two main characters I will focus on are Nucky Thompson the crooked politician and gangster, and his old friend now foe Jimmy Darmondy.  The costumes at the beginning of the series show Nucky as a very well dressed wealthy man during the times of prohibition.  At this time Jimmy is still working with Nucky and his costume is more of a working class citizen.  Throughout the series Nucky and Jimmy split up, Jimmy starts to make a name for himself and his attire goes from working class to the same costume that Nucky wears which is generally a very nice suit with their hair well done.  Showing the rise of Jimmy's social status with his prosperity.

Throughout the series many interactions happen inside of Nucky's office or in some sort of hidden social function because of prohibition.  Nucky's office is never very well lit and the social functions that are hidden always are set up and lit with a certain eery feeling that something is going to go down.  These settings all play into Nucky's character which is a crooked scummy politician.  As Jimmy breaks off from Nucky and starts becoming more like his father the Commodore he visits his dads house which also is in a darker setting with many extravagant pieces throughout the house.  Jimmy starts becoming more like Nucky which the setting in which we see him in becomes more like that of Nucky's office or social functions.

The staging in which Boardwalk Empire is set shows you the dark side of life within the ages of prohibition.  Both Nucky and Jimmy are the examples of the gangster within society in this time.  Once the series goes on we get a look back into Jimmy's life where Nucky had taken him in and looked after him like a father more than the commodore had done for Jimmy.  In these scenes the two are usually doing something fun such as fishing.  The lighting in these flashbacks is much brighter and I believe that it is used to show the bright side of each characters care for each other.  This part of the series is shown to give the viewer a look into the fond memories that the two shared together when Jimmy was growing up.  It also shows a different side of Nucky that he is capable of being a nurturing person.

Realism for the viewers are going vary from person to person with their views of the characters within Boardwalk Empire.  While I watch it with my friends and roommates their views of Nucky and Jimmy differ.  Some would say that Jimmy turned his back on Nucky and he is the one that should pay, other people think that Nucky has been portrayed and hurt so many other people that he is to blame for the corruption of Jimmy.  Either way these two characters play a huge role in making the series what it is, their settings, costumes, and the lighting they are portrayed in different scenes molds their character to the outside audience viewing them.

References

Boardwalk Empire (TV Series 2010) - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979432/

Moura, G. (n.d.). What is mise-en-scene? | Film Directing. Elements of Cinema | A Student's Guide to the Fundamentals of Filmmaking. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.elementsofcinema.com/directing/mise-en-scene.html

Form & Meaning-Implicit & Symptomatic in Gangster Film

In every cinematic adventure that we depart on while watching a film there is some factors that lay at the core center or every film.  Two of these factors are form and meaning without these factors the film would be completely lost upon the audience that has went to view it.  In gangster film this is extremely true because if we do not take what we are perceiving in order to make sense of what is going on the significance and symbolism of the gangster movie will be lost upon us.  Thus it will make the movie very hard to follow itself and unenjoyable to watch.

In gangster movies there are two different times of meanings that I will be examining.  The first of the two meanings is Implicit Meaning.  Implicit meaning is described that the film has left the meaning for the viewer to discover by them selves upon analysis or reflection, so the meaning is broad, and left up for interpretation by the viewer.  Symptomatic meaning is the second type that we will explore, its meaning the film divulges most of the time against its will, either by the stories history or the social context that the story is in.

Films meaning and the forms that they come in are so different from each other in the underlying layers of the films we see.  This is why we can go see a film that may look like a film that we have already seen before but it will have a completely different meaning to us because of our past experiences with these types of films and the way that we perceive the world around us.  I found it very interesting that people can come up with such different meanings of the same film just because of their own personal experiences.

 

With that being a said a good example of a gangster movie with implicit meaning in it would be American Gangster.  Even though every person that watches this movie will most likely have a different implicit meaning then I have because we all have experienced different things which helps us perceive the world as it is.  I believe that the implicit meaning for this movie involves the african american struggle.  Though it is based on a true story I believe that it shows many of the struggles that a black man, let alone a black gangster would have to face during these times.  Not only the hardship of being a gangster, but being a successful African American in society during these times and the scrutiny that he would have occurred not only because of his profession but because of his skin color.  That would be my interpretation of the underlying meaning of the movie.

Symptomatic meaning is a little more tricky then implicit meaning.  In a gangster film the symptomatic meaning would be that even though the gangster himself may have a rough exterior and his life is based on crime and killing, that on the inside the gangster really has a fear of being inadequate or has some problem in his past that makes him the way that he has become.  So at some point within the film against the will of the hardcore gangster this inner secret of his will eventually come out and be revealed to the audience as the meaning of why he is the way that he is.

Barsam, R. (n.d.). Chapter 1: Looking at Movies | Looking at Movies, 3e: W. W. Norton StudySpace . Home | W. W. Norton & Company . Retrieved November 22, 2011, from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/film/m

Grant, B. K., & Mitchell, E. (2003). Apes and Essences: Some sources of Significance in the American Gangster Film. Film genre reader III (pp. 219-228). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Genre Analysis Of Gangster Film

When we look back throughout American culture there has been a character that has played a role in the shaping of America.  That character is the notorious gangster, ever since America has existed the gangster has been around to influence certain aspects of the American Culture.  The gangster usually comes from the slums or across the ocean to be a part of, or take advantage of the American dream any way that they can.  With the gangster playing such a key role in the American culture I have decided that my blog will be dedicated to Gangster Film, and my first blog will be an analysis of the Gangster film.\

Gangster film started around 1912 before talking was in the movies, the movie was The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith.  It was the first gangster movie of its time and featured organized crime as well.  During this time the genre of gangster film was not attracting the crowds that they once desired, this all changed when films gained sound in 1929.  When sound became part of the movie crowds would flock to the cinema to get a glimpse inside the life of a gangster. But sound was not the only factor, prohibition had sparked the rise of gangsters in America.  The St. Valentine Day Massacre and villains such as Al Capone sparked the interest of America, so they looked to gangster films for understanding.

The first sound gangster film was Lights of New York in 1928 then in 1930 Warner Bros. released their first gangster film Little Caesar.  After exploding onto the cinema gangster films started to develop and become more complex with different sub genres.  The first sub genre that gangster film branched to was prison films in 1930 with the release of The Big House.  These types of films were intended to show the hardships of life behind bars not only for the individuals spending time behind bars, but for the guards in the prison and the warden as well.  One of the more popular films that would be considered prison films of lately would be the Shawshank Redemption, this aired in 1994 and was based around a inmate that after careful planning finally escaped.

Film noir is a very popular aspect of many gangster films.  It is not a genre itself but helps to set the mood in many films as a dark setting and the characters are more corrupt.  It is the perfect partner for the gangster genre in all aspects of the meaning Film Noir.  The darkness and coldness that you get from the characters and the lighting sets the tone of the film, and sets your perceptions of the film as well.  A great gangster film that shows film noir perfectly is White Heat from 1949.  It is a extremely violent movie, the darkness and coldness you get from Film Noir Works perfectly in sync with the movie itself.

Another sub genre of gangster film is organized crime.  One of the most popular organized crime films of all time is The Godfather airing in 1972 there are also two other films, The Godfather II and The Godfather III.  This crime family that originated in Sicily and Moved to New York to live the American dream.  Other types of organized crime movies would be those of Immigrants as well such as The Departed or Scarface.


Gangster film genre is one of the most cultural filled genres in film.  It has so many ties to many things that helped America become the individualistic society that we are today.  Most of us strive to have the things that the gangsters strive for as well.  I was truly blown away when I realized how much the gangster film ties into our society as a whole.


Dirks, T. (n.d.). Crime and Gangster Films. Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic History.Retrieved October 5, 2011, from http://www.filmsite.org/crimefilms2.html

Grant, B. K., & Schrader, P. (2003). Notes on Film Noir. Film genre reader III (pp. 229-242). Austin: University of Texas Press.