Once Upon a Time in Mexico Directed by Robert Rodriguez; "Malagueña" by Ernesto Lecuona

Blog Assign. #5

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Directed by Robert Rodriguez; "Malagueña" by Ernesto Lecuona

    The song I chose to write about is "Malagueña" by Ernesto Lecuona featured in the introduction of the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I thought it was really interesting how the song has diegetic and non-diegetic elements. The song starts off the Antonio Banderas's character playing the guitar which is diegetic, and as he's walking and playing, an orchestra comes into the soundtrack which is non-diegetic because they are not in the world of the movie.

    The song really sets the mood of the film, it starts of settle and because epic when the orchestra is added. It symbolizes the journey that the main character is about experience. It also displays the talent the character has when he solos on the guitar, it shows an intellectual side of the character. The character isn't only a gun slinger but a artist as well. I think it was a great choice by the director to integrate non-diegetic and diegetic sounds.

Cinematography Blog Assignment

Overall Look: The overall look of this film is very interesting. I think the director and DP chose to use neutral colors so that it sets the mood. The DP was very innovated on the use of camera movement and the way the lens was masked. I found it was interesting that the director chose to show a little more than a quarter of the first part of the movie in first person using an POV than clearly showing the main character.

Images: When the main character is reminiscing on his past the films look changes to illustrate he is imaging his past in his head. The use of the old style of film and double exposures made this look possible, it gave it the texture and colors to show the viewer the difference between reality(in a diegetic sense) and his thoughts and memories. When the main character first wakes up the use of a very shallow depth of field  on a POV shot showed that his vision wasn't all the way there, it sends the message to the viewer that this guy is freaking out.

Shot Lengths: Depending on the scene of the movie the shot lengths helped show the intensity of the scene. When he first wakes us the shots going in and out showing that he's barely gaining consensus. The long shots of the talks he has with his past lovers and friends show the subtleties of the scene.
(P.S. I would have thought shot lengths had to do with editing)      

Shot Types: In the first half of the movie it showed a lot of close ups and medium shots from a POV style angle. Once the main characters clearly shown the style changes to broader shot types. Using long shots, close ups, and extreme close ups.

Camera Angles: The movie showed a lot of POV shots from a low angles looking up. This put the viewer in the main characters perspective, looking up at everyone because of the condition he's in. I enjoyed the use of reflections in the movies camera angeles, very creative and visually interesting.

Composition: The film used the rule of thirds very well, it made the shots interesting. Even when it was in a POV perspective the shots were very well composed.

Camera Movement: The first part of the film and all the POV shots had the movement of the main characters eye. The film did use dolly, tilts and pan shots.

Cinematography Style: The cinematography is all intentional, it's telling a story in a more visually interesting way. Using noticeable cinematography is a tool to tell the story, show and create feeling.

The Black Film - Blog #2: Film Noir

   

    In the American Cinema Documentary film Film Noir Director Errol Morris says "..for me great Noir films, are films about the fall guys, a person who finds himself caught in a net, the more he struggles the deeper and deeper he becomes entwined  in nightmare" This relates to the film Double Idemnity. You have the fall guy "Walter Neff" played by fee MacMurray, who at the end of the film goes to prison. Also the character Walter Neff keeps digging himself in a deeper hole the more he tries to get away with his crime. Another way I see the relation between what Morris said and the film "Double Indemnity" is the character "Phyllis Dietrichson" played by Barbara Stanwyck is like the net Walter Neff got caught on and the more he struggles with his feelings and principles the more he makes a mess of things. When Errol Morris said " for me great Noir films are films about the fall guys" I'm sure "Double Idemnity" was one of the greats he was talking about.

   

Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis DietrichsonDouble Indemnity" (1944)

    Scholar Janney Place describes the femme fatale characteristics as if she was describe the characteristics of Phyllis Dietrichson from the film "Double Indemnity". "...she's very smart, she's very powerful, and she's extremely sexual.... she uses her sexuality to get what she's after and what she's after us not the man in the picture, he's another tool, what she's after is something for herself." The Phyllis character is a self driven selfish woman that uses her intelligence and sexuality to get what she wants. Her well plot out scheme works because her sexual personality can manipulate a man to get her way. She uses the male character Walter Neff  to insure her husband with accident insurance and kill him by making him her puppet with her sexuality and false emotion. Walter believes they're are in love so like a lovefool would do he makes moves that would "ideally" in the mind of Walter let them be together and happy. In the end even though she gets murdered, her puppet Walter is left with the consequences.

 "Double Indemnity" (1944)

     In the film "Double Indemnity" the director and cinematographer use traditional Film Noir techniques to create the feel and look of the film. The amount of shadows and lack of fill lighting creates a mysterious and dark feeling to the scenes you watch. The use of deep focus allows the scene to have a deeper depth of field allowing the viewer to seen whats beyond the main focal point. The angles and camera movement as tools that can make a character seem more superior, for example when Walter first enters the home of Phyllis he is on the first floor and Phyllis is on the second, the shots are point of views of each charter illustrating  there superiority. Phyllis looks down on Walter and Walter looks up at Phyllis. The location of film noir were usually shot on location in cities. Shooting on location as opposed to studio made the film have a "real" feel to the look of the film. "Double Indemnity" was shoot in Los Angeles not as up tempo and maze-like as New York City but it had enough crime and bad reputation to make the stories setting edgier. The music help create suspense and surprise and help exaggerate the climax of the film. It's all very dramatic. 

"Body Heat" (1981)

      The neo-noir film takes the story and some of looks of a traditional film noir. The stories are pretty much the same. The film "Body Heat" has the story of the fall guy and the femme fatal that makes it all happen. Kathleen Turners character Matty Walker uses her sexuality to use William Hurts character Ned Racine to get what she wants and thats money from her husband. Its very much like the film noir "Double Indemnity" but at the end the femme fatale gets away with it and lives to enjoy her accomplishment. The use of color makes the film have a more realistic feel to it, the black and white look to the modern eye looks less appealing on a mainstream level.  The black and white film noir fits better because of the contrast and darkness of the film. It sets the mood.

 

WILLIAM HURT

• Actor
• Studied Drama at Juilliard
• Known for slow mannered style of delivery and deep mellow voice

• Into the Wild (2007)
• Dark City (1998)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• A History of Violence (2005)
• The Village (2004)
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
• Broadcast News(1988)
• Children of a Lesser God (1987)
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

• Won 14 of 35 Award Nominations
• 6 Golden Globe Nominations
• 4 Academy Award Nominations 
• Won Oscar for Best Actor in Leading Role "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985)
• Nominated for 2 Emmy Awards "Too Big to Fail" (2010) & "Damages" (2007)

My type of movie

The movies I've watched and enjoyed have ranged in many genres. Every film I've enjoyed has had in my opinion, a unique content and form, visual striking images, interesting stories and characters. I often think about how the image was composed more than anything during my film watching experience. It has to do with my interest in cinematography. I observe the position of light, composition, depth of field/focus, camera movement/angles, and what the director decides to capture in the frame. The content and form plays a big part of what movies I enjoy and find interesting. What the movie is about would have to interest me and how the filmmaker delivers it should move and inspire me. Characters are a very important to what I think makes a great film. The actor/actress must make me believe that the character they portray is sincerely he/she and they have the emotional connection with the story and with other characters in the film. Having solid characters helps the story to be interesting and make the view believe what they are watching.

The movie "Gummo" directed by Harmon Korin has a nightmare-like take on what reality for a small town in Ohio can be like. The film has no real plot or direction, it shows scenes of individuals through the town that are visually disturbing as it follows the main character ride his bike around his neighborhood. I decided to talk about this film because I think it’s an unusual taste of cinema that I have and it a great example of what I mean by visual striking and interesting content and form. The movies content is already unusual but the way Korin forces you to see them (the form) is uncomfortably entertaining. It’s the set design, wardrobe, actors and lighting that compose these disturbing images which make the movie visual striking. The next movie I choose to write about has the qualities of why I think “Gummo” is a great film plus a great story and amazing characters. Luc Besson’s “Léon: The Professional” has everything I think makes a great movie. The characters of this movie are played so well by the cast, I actually believed this story. The relationship between the two main characters, create conflict and do a great job of laying out the story. Jean Reno’s character Léon is a very skilled assassin with a naive and child like personality finds himself in a position were he takes care and develops feelings for a 12-year-old girl with an edgy and curious personality played by Natalie Portman. The contrast and irony of the characters make the story interesting and entertaining.

Scene's from "Gummo"

Behind the scenes and a scene from "Léon: The Professional"