All good things...

So, it's the end of the semester and the end of my time as a student in med150. How will I look upon the days... wistfully, I would imagine. Ok, so, thoughts, criticisms, and what have you. I guess my first criticism would be the lectures. This is not a complaint about the lecturers, fine gentlemen both. However, the slide show presentations (and I apprieciate that they are available on ye' ol Blackboard) went by a little quick and quite honestly, could be a little more thorough. I also wish that we actually watched some films. I know, I know, we do that in film101, but still, it would be nice.
As far as things I did enjoy, I loved the labs. Sam Stalling was great, respectful and informative. She also tended to laugh at my jokes... who can complain about that? But beyond that, being able to be "hands on" with the equipment was fun; granted it was basic equipment, but still, good fun.

And while I enjoyed the trip to the Museum of the Moving Image, I wish the lecture wasn't as "basic". Yeah, I know, these are more criticisms, but whatever, this ain't an English class, my form can be off a touch. Ok, so that's the basics. The class was fine, but I wish we went over the finer points with a bit more efficiency; I also wish the test reviews were a bit more comprehensive. Especially since I'm taking the final in about a half hour. I'd like to say I studied, but I had approximately 45 pages of papers to write, something had to give. I'm very charming though, and that always carries weight.

Design Me Likey

So, today I have the thrill of discussing media design that catches my eye, makes me say "wow". revs my engines, etc. I suppose, when one discusses design in film, the immediate example that comes to mind, from tip to tail (or stem to stern, if you prefer) is the work of the design genius, Saul Bass. Bass designed many film posters and credit sequences , most notably for Hitchcock (Vertigo) and Otto Preminger (Anatomy for a Murder), although he did collaborate with Scorsese during the '90s. I will focus on the opening credit sequence for Vertigo.

Over Bernard Herrman's haunting score, the titles sequence for Vertigo begins with a close up image of Kim Novak's mouth, and the James Stewart credit appears. The camera then raises on the eyes of Novak, then her credit appears. The camera tracks left, centering on Novak's left eye, and tightens as the Hitchcock credit appears; then the title card slowly emerges out of Novak's eye, as the camera zooms into Novak's eye, a red filter is placed over the camera, and the trademark "spiral" graphic appears as the credits run, ending with the camera pulling out to Novak's eye again, at which time the director credit appears. To view it for yourself, take a gander at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz46qS38OgM

Now, what's so special about that? Well, everything. To begin, the credits encapsulate all the central theme of the film: Obsession- as shown by focusing on various parts of Novak's face. The spiral graphics and the red filter tell the audience that the film they are about to watch will have a certain surreal quality to it, that the film is not a typical thriller. The theme over the credits is (as previous mentioned) haunting, which implies that the film will have a maudlin quality, or a sense of tragedy will be pervasive. Of course, the spiral graphics (which are spinning through the credits) also evoke a sense of, well, Vertigo- immediately establishing an image with a word which may not be overly familiar with audiences.

In closing, the credits sequence is visually striking- beautiful beyond repair.

Blog 3 post- movie time! (wheee!)

Oh, days where a blog post is due, is there anything for quenching for my love of academia. OK- so, I have to analyze a film, and as it's a personal favorite of mine, and is coming around the Film Forum sometime in the next few weeks, I'm going to write about Alexander MacKendrick's amazing, amazing film, Sweet Smell of Success (deftly written by the great Ernest Lehman and Cliff Odets). To give a brief plot summary, the film concerns a bottom of the barrel publicist (played by Tony Curtis) trying to gain the good graces of a powerful and cruel newspaper columnist (Burt Lancaster). It's a film where every character is completely morally corrupt, and filled with fantastic, hyper stylized dialog (i.e.- "The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river"); it takes the cinematic tropes of noir and adds a thematic exploration of the media and it's impact on society.

As stated the film does borrow from the classic Noir tropes; exceptionally stark "low key lighting" (ironically named as the key light is dominant). Cinematically, to capture the claustrophobia of the film (which is primarily set in dingy apartments, nightclubs-seedy and otherwise- and offices, the cinematographer (the great James Wong Howe) uses a lot of tight close-ups, often from exaggerated angles (low shots or high shots to emphasize power or fear). The film is also a unique mix of studio and location photography- the set bound shots look static, obviously mounted, suggesting the firm control of the Mephistophelic Lancaster character, but on location, the cameras appear to be handheld, suggesting the anarchy of New York.

In closing, visually, the film is beautiful, and in terms of story, character and dialogue, the film is second to none.

More Moving Images

So, as instructed, and as previously mentioned, I took the slam-bang Museum of The Moving Image tour. Oh, what a whirlwind tour it was! I suppose I'm suppose to say something to the effect of "Wow, I learned how omnipresent media is and the variety of technology used to create film, television, etc. And I saw Eddie Murphy's sweatshirt from Beverly Hills Cop. What an outstanding and enlightening day."

Yes, that is what I would say, but honesty forbids. The Museum is great- no question- tons of cool stuff. But, the educator was sadly lacking in education, and, which out sounding snarky, while some of my peers do not seem to mind being talked to as if they were pre-adolescents, I find it a difficult pill to swallow.

I would be an arrogant jerk to say the museum was a waste of my time, so I will refrain. Having said that, it was a bit insulting to my intelligence.

My trip to the museum of the Moving Image

Yeah, this will be a lot meatier with a lil' bit of time. In the meantime, I just want to say that I keep accidentally referring to the museum as "The Museum of The Sharper Image." Which would be a real lackluster museum: "Ladies and gentlemen, the first vibrating chair!"