Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Blog #3
Referring to Marilyn Fabe's essay, "The Beginnings of Film Narrative: D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation" describe three characteristics of early film, using at least two scenes from Edwin Porter's Jack and the Beanstalk (1902).
Using at least two scenes from D.W. Griffith's The Girl and Her Trust (1912) and Fabe's essay, describe how Griffith's use of the cross-cut and setting impacts the film's realism and storytelling capabilities.
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Some early tendencies of film are clearly seen in Edwin Porter's "Jack and the Bean Stalk." The opening shot is "shot with a static camera" in a very long take. This is exactly as Fabe mentioned in her essay, the opening scene actually lasted almost 60 seconds with the camera staying fixed the entire time. It was also very unclear what events were taking place with Jack being talked to by an older women followed by Jack running into a man with a cow. If I did not have background with the story previously, I would have been unaware of what was happening at all. Fabe says this is another common aspect of early film. The Evolution of older cinema is seen in Griffith's "The Girl and her Trust." In an earlier scene when the girl is kissed, she immediately kicks him out of the room and acts upset. The camera follows the man out of the room , however the camera then cuts back to the girl and reveals that she in fact enjoyed the kiss. This Cross Cut allowed Griffith to add something to the plot which he would not have been able to do with the earlier film strategies. This ability to develop plot using cross cutting is seen shortly after when the camera cuts to a train arriving and a couple of suspicious looking men get off of the train. Since we had previously learned that there is $2000 arriving, cutting to these suspicious men adds another wrinkle to the story.
When comparing the styles the Griffith employed in his movies, to the characteristics that Porter uses in his portrayal of “Jack and the Beanstalk”, there are a lot of similarities on display. The biggest characteristic used by Porter is what’s known as “mise-en-scene”. Griffith really brought this element into it’s own. He used 3D props in the background with the actors to help give the audience a feeling of depth within the movie. Porter also follows Griffith by trying to get the actors to play their parts in a way that they look more natural, instead of typical over the top actors in theatrical productions. Another technique created by Griffith and employed by Porter is the means of editing. You’ll notice in the scene with the egg that cuts are made to help simulate the egg growing larger. It helps to simulate time more smoothly. Another characteristic of Griffith’s directing was his use of an enframed image. It’s a technique that has become heavily used and is designed so that it directs the viewer’s attention to key elements within the actor’s surroundings. He also developed techniques like the close-up to help gain dramatic effect. In Griffith’s “The Girl and Her Trust”, his use of cross-cutting helps to give the audience a better feel for what’s going on. Instead of just seeing the girl trying to keep the robbers out, you get to see them trying to fight to get in as well. Similarly with her using Morse code to get help, you get the sense of what both sides of the equation are doing. The setting is also very important because there’s use of many different locations, which helps the audience to get a better feel for what the character’s normal lives are like.
Early film was very theatrical in nature. One can see that in for example, Porter's Jack and the Beanstalk that actual film production is minimal and that the set is what appears to contain both the structure and the narrative of the film. The camera remains at a fixed angle displaying only a minuet number of sets. There is the courtyard day and night (where night is portrayed by means of a full and crescent moon), a bedroom, the giant's liar, and a kitchen. This is another characteristic of early film making that actually made the story difficult to follow. Since the sets were reused, a distinction between the continuity of a scene and the progression of the narrative could not be made. However, this film is different from even earlier films where props from those sets actually moved and where in Porter's he utilizes film tricks to have the same ideas visualize but with more a sophisticated method. The tricks are used in the appearances and disappearances of characters as well as costume changes.
The introduction of the cross-cut and setting dramatically affects a film's realism. In The Girl and Her Trust we can see how the use of cross-cutting allows the viewer to experience multiple perspectives of a same situation equally. Lets take for example, when we see the robbers planning to, well rob, the man sending out the mail. We see the man walk out hand the bag-cut to robbers about to jump-cut to the man giving out mail-cut to them hiding and even seeing the man in the same shot. This technique adds uniformity to the film while allowing many lines of action interact with one another. In the same scene we are shown the arrival of a real train which adds a credibility to the film that what we are watching actually is happening. At the conclusion of the film there is a chase scene that would never have been as entertaining as it was dramatic had it been performed on stage with cardboard props. The correlation between the setting and storytelling capability is that a narrative can be realistic only in so far as its props or lack there of can allow it to be.
Edwin Porter's film Jack and the Beanstalk is a great example of the characteristics of early film. The first and maybe most obvious is the use of lengthy static shots. For example, the first scene in Jack and the Beanstalk is about fifty three seconds long and is not cut at all. Another characteristic is the use of unrealistic settings. In Fabe's article she refers to one films use of a painted on clock which always stays at nine o' clock. This characteristic is especially evident in the second scene of Jack and the Beanstalk when we can easily see that the tree at the right of the frame is not three dimensional, but is in fact just a painting. Another characteristic of early film which is evident throughout Jack and the Beanstalk is a very theatrical and flamboyant acting style. D.W. Griffith changed a few of these things in his movies. He was especially a fan of using the most realistic settings possible. In the first scene of his film The Girl and Her Trust he uses all three dimensional and realistic props. This attention to detail impacts the films believability and thus keeps the viewer's attention and emotions under the control of the film. Griffith also makes the film more interesting and expands his storytelling possibilities by using the cross-cut technique. This technique allows him to give the viewer more information than the characters on screen. For example, early on in his film The Girl and Her Trust, a man enters and kisses a girl sitting in her room. At first the girl appears disgruntled and sends the man away, but later the camera cuts back to the girls showing delight in the kiss. Now we, the viewer, know the truth, but also realize that the man still thinks he has been rude and thus know more about the situation than the actual characters. This was not possible before the introduction of the cross-cut technique.
Nick LaVake
In the essay of "The Beginnings of Film Narrative" the first basic elements of film and story are revealed. After reading this it is easy to make connections and relating it to early films like Edwin Porter's "Jack and the Bean Stalk." In pretty much all of the scenes but namely the opening one, Porter films the action as if he is filming a play. There is not much camera movement and the viewer gets the feel that the actors are on a stage acting out a play. Porter also pays attention to the mise-en-scene by making the water fall in the back round look realistic. Porter also uses editing techniques that were present in early film such as the scenes with the magic fairy seeming to appear out of thin air.
In D.W. Griffith's "The Girl and Her Trust" he sets up the aspect of realism by using authentic setting. Instead of a painted back round, Griffith films on location of what he wants the setting to be. The scene outside the train station is a good example of this. Also, The cross cuts between long shots and close ups help the viewer to identify with the character and holds their attention more to convey the story in an entertaining way. This can be scene of the long shot of the train which is then cut to a close up of the character coming off of the train.
Jacob Rengstorf
In Fabe’s essay she points out, among others, three conventions of early cinema before D.W. Griffith started making films that are readily apparent in Jack and the Beanstalk. They are; Long shots that show most if not all of the actor’s body as a base shot for films, artificial painted backdrops, and static camera shots with no editing. The Long shot can be noticed early on when Jack and his mother are in the yard in front of their house and Jack is scolded for buying the beans. They scurry about the scene but are at all times fully represented in long shot, with their whole body in view. The artificially painted backdrop can be seen clearly when Jack climbs the beanstalk with what is suppose to be a farmland below him but clearly looks two-dimensional. And when Jack makes it to the “giant’s” house the whole scene is done in one none-edited static long-shot for approximately two minutes.
In The Girl and Her Trust Griffith changes the norm of film-making at the time to add much realism and setting. The Scene where the “Tramps” are trying to break into the room where the girl has locked herself is a good example off cross-cutting. Griffith cuts between the tramps banging against the door and the girl desperately calling for aid on the telegraph. The cross-cutting between the two actions creates a very tense and emotional scene. Griffith uses setting to great advantage when the train is racing after the push-trolley. By using the real countryside and fencing in the background you get a real sense of action and immediacy.
describe three characteristics of early film:
1) The Long Wide Shot - In most fiction films previous to Griffith the shots were composed to mirror the theater environment. The camera was generally placed out away from the action and remained static with no movement and no cuts for extended periods of time. An example of this in Edwin Porter's "Jack and the Beanstalk" is the scene where the giant is first introduced. The shot is very wide and lasts over two minutes without any movement of the camera or cutting.
2) Unrealistic Sets - Another characteristic of early cinema was unbelievable sets that would often take people out of the reality the film was trying to establish and instead bring attention to the means in which the film was produced. A good example of this from Porter's film is the set that is first established in the second shot of the film. It is supposed to be the exterior of the house with some plant life and a series of hills behind the house. As soon as one sees it though it rings as false. The hills are obviously painted and the fact that they did place a few plants in front of the painting draws even more attention to the flat nature of the background.
3) Flamboyant "Theatrical" Style of Acting - A third aspect of early films was a style of acting that was very derivative of the kind found in the theater. There was a general overplaying of gestures and emotions which was at least partially adopted to compensate for the lack of sound and more importantly dialog to express the feelings of the characters. This is found throughout "Jack and the Beanstalk" but perhaps the best scene to look at is when Jack descends back down the beanstalk. In this scene the mother runs around flailing her arms, Jack chops at the stalk with strong exaggerated movements, and finally the giant falls and reaches up for the heavens with a thrust of his arm. In this scene no one ever stops moving, there is a constant sense of nervous energy in the performances.
describe how Griffith's use of the cross-cut and setting impacts the film's realism and storytelling capabilities:
1) Cross-cut - A very simple example of how cross cutting can be used to tell a better story is the arrival of the train in Griffith's "The Girl and her Trust." First we see the man loading the gun next to the woman, then we see a shot of the train pulling up, then we go back to the shot of the man and woman and they react to the fact that the train is coming. If this had been done like the example we saw from "Jack and the Beanstalk" and kept in one shot we would have had no idea what the man was reacting too.
2) Setting - The ending of Griffith's film is especially heightened by his demand for a realistic setting for his stories to take place in. During the chase he often has shots that highlight that they are actually out in the world and on real tracks instead of in a studio. Because the hopes of the film maker at this point would be to make the audience concerned for the girl's well being it is very necessary that we feel she really is out there and that we are not made aware of the filmic trickery at such a crucial point.
-John Olsen
Jack and the Beanstalk were a series of 'loosely spliced scenes', the scenes were all shot in a long shot, and also proceeded in strict chronological order in that the original story takes. One most obvious early cinema trait with Porter's film is that the setting seen in the scenes are much like if it were on a theatrical stage. You can see this in the part of film where Jack enters the giant's domain and is welcomed in his home by his wife. The long shot shows the setting and helps emphasizes the abnormal size of the woman so that the audience can take note that she is not a normal human being but a giant. This scene is a long take, if you give notice to the running time to about two minutes with this same long shot of Jack entering the house and to the end of it where the giant goes chasing after him. The second scene I want to use is with how the fairy shows up. The editing of the scenes is choppy in order to believe that the fairy appears and disappears. It is the same with the end as Jack and his mother's clothing change to grander outfits.
The Girl and her Trust greatly show the transitions from early cinema to D.W. Griffith's introductory era of new film, as I would like to call it. The scenes where the two men are peeping at her through window greatly emphasize the change in editing, as the shots go from the women inside, to the men snooping and peeping, back to the woman inside. The setting also shows a dramatic change with the two men snooping outside by the train. It is more of a realistic quality, making it more believable than the theatrical set-up in Porter's Jack and the Beanstalk.
In Marilyn Fabe’s essay, she discusses a few aspects of early film, one of which includes the use of the “static long shots”. This device is used throughout the film “Jack and he Bean Stalk”. With this shot, the camera remains fixed at a certain point for a long period of time. All of the shots in this film are taken this way. The camera never moves closer or farther away from the action. Another aspect of this film that clearly shows it was made before the das of Griffith is the sets. The sets look as though they were taken right off the stage. By using painted backdrops, it is obvious to the viewer that hey are watching something contrived, a tactic moved away from in the days of Griffith. The moon is a gigantic cardboard cut out, obviously fake. A third facet of this film that resembles very early film making is the acting. The actors use grand motions and physical comedy o get their point across as opposed to the more nuanced acting styles to come later.
In the film The Girl and her Trust, more modern film styles are utilized by Griffith. In the scene where the girl receives a kiss, we are lead to believe that she does not desire to be kissed, yet through the use of the cross cut, we she that she does. The camera cuts back to her and we she that she enjoyed it. In the case of the train and trolley race scene, Griffith uses a real outdoor setting to draw his audience into the idea that they are watching a real race scene.
Two characteristics of early film are seen in the opening scenes of Jack and the Beanstalk. Early films used very long takes, much more like plays than like modern movies. Events seem to be carried out at a pace much closer to real time. Another characteristic seen in these opening scenes is the mise-en-scene is also very play like. Most of the props are man made, instead of shooting outside in a real location. A third characteristic of early film is seen once jack climbs into the sky by the crescent moon. Many awkward jump cuts are used here, where modern day film would cut to another camera angle if they needed to break up the scene.
One scene where the cross-cut is used is in the beginning where the girl is inside of a room drinking her soda, and then men are outside of the room. These two events are taking place at the same time, and the viewer can see that the same passage of time is taking place in both rooms when he camera cuts to the other room and back again. This lets story telling tell the story of two things that are taking place at the very same time.
Another scene is where them men are hiding outside of the woman's window and she is inside of the house. The cross-cut is used to jump back and forth to outside and inside of the house. This is a more effective way of showing that the men are hiding outside. In older films such as 'Jack and the Beanstalk' this probably would have been done with a window behind the woman with the camera only being inside the room and seeing the men through the window intermittently.
Jordan Steffen
In "jack and the beanstalk" some of the early tendencies discussed from Fabes essay include A) the opening scene being a long shot. there are people entering the scene and then horse, all the while the camera doesn't move. Another early film tendency is B) the overdramatic theatrics of the actors. They are flailing their arms in and moving more then necessary. 4:54 in the movie is a good example of this. C) the final characteristic are the fake looking backdrops. The setting just never looks very convincing, not to mention the horse in the opening scene. when it comes to the cross cut in Griffiths film, it impacts the films realism and setting by building up the viewers nervousness. at 3:33 when it shows the man peeking out of the train it lets the viewer know he is up to no good. then the character sneaks around while it shows another man unaware of what is going on. it sets the environment for a future development and leaves the audience feeling nervous. then at 6:40 the crosscut is effectively used to show the girl fight with the criminals by showing both sides of a door as she tries to shut it and they try to open it. Since not all of them are visible at the same time it highlights the different sides involve in this struggle. it makes the film seem more believable and tense rather then being purely exposition.
To begin, early films, like Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk, used simplistic methods to create mes-en-scene. Film was a new medium so all the possibilities the camera offered had yet to be discovered. Instead, large stages were set up, like in play houses, with two dimensional props and backdrops. Static or prolonged shots were used to limit the amount of editing. However this method of filming kept the viewer at a distance. This was done in order to ensure the actors were in frame at all times without the camera having to move. What also tended to occur with the stationary long shot would be the overcompensation by the actors, i.e. gesticulating flamboyantly and creating an overtly theatrical performance, due to the moderate visibility of the audience.
By introducing the cross cut in his film The Girls Trust Griffith was able to bring more realism to the screen. Not only did the cross cut enable the “action” to jump quickly from one location to another, it also allowed the viewer to see the story from more than one perspective. One examples of perspective in this particular film would be the scene in which the girl is frantically trying to call for help whilst the tramps are attempting to breakdown the door. In earlier forms of cinema you would only get one prospective, the girls or the tramps’, one room or the other. However with the new editing style the viewer is able to jump back and forth between the two rooms and watch the action unfold in sequence
Kelly Pelot
Part 1
More classical Hollywood approaches to narrative filmmaking really began to emerge around 1906ish. Edwin Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk was made in 1902 and has a couple examples of early approaches to cinema. One way is how simple the camera angles are, although there are a variety of shots they’re mostly head-on and pulled back wide shots of all the action and the entire set at once, for example the scene(s) outside where the beanstalk is located. Also there is no cross-cutting in this film as we can see how one scene goes to another, with an absence of simultaneous events happening. The third thing I’ll discuss is the scene at the top of the beanstalk. It’s clearly a stage and has more of a theater aspect to it more than cinema.
Part 2
Griffith’s use of cross-cutting brought a much larger sense realism through his editing which also made his ability to story tell much better. For example when the girl is trapped in the room and the men are trying to get in, the editing cross-cuts to the frantic race of the two men on the train to get to her rescue. Having not seen such editing in earlier films, having simultaneous moments in a film allows for better story telling. Also the setting of this film adds to its realism. Instead of having more theatrical looking sets, there’s a variety of real inside and outside sets, which seem to all revolve around the girl in the room where the story begins. The setting and the editing’s cross-cutting between these settings, truly creates a world in the film that the viewer can explore and visit.
Andrew Fleckenstein
In early film, the most common shot was the long shot, where the character only fills a small portion of the frame. These shots were also long, maybe ninety-second shots that seemed to drag on. In Edwin Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk, the scene where Jack first enters the giants’ home, he is hidden in a sack in the far left side of the shot where he waits and watches as the giant receives a golden egg from his bird and has his harp play him to sleep. The scene is long, and drawn out. It is also hard to see exactly what is happening because the camera is so far away from the action.
Another common characteristic of early films were the use of “blatantly artificial painted background[s]” (Fabe 3). In Jack and the Beanstalk, all of the scenes had painted backgrounds. The front of the house where the beanstalk grows shows a fake, 2-D house as well as a painted background of rolling hills. Even when Jack is climbing up the beanstalk, we can see in the background, an obviously painted scene of hills, clouds and the sky. This gave the films a less realistic look, and seemed less and less like believable films.
Finally, a very annoying and overused characteristic of early films is the overly dramatic acting. It seems that earlier films were trying to take the overly dramatic acting from the stage to the screen. However, without sound, it didn’t have the same impact. On stage, the use of overly dramatic acting in combination with a booming voice is used so that everyone in the theater can see what the actors are doing and hear what they are saying. On screen, it seems unrealistic considering everyone in the theater can see the screen. It comes off as ridiculous because the films are trying to portray a realistic scene but the actors are reacting in ways we would never react in real life.
When using cross-cuts, D. W. Griffith realized “that more narrative excitement could be generated if he systematically intercut or alternated between two or more narrative threads happening simultaneously” (Fabe 7). He did this in the film The Girl and Her Trust Fund when the robbers first get into the bank and the girl runs to the room where the telegraph machine is. You see her typing, then you see the guy receiving it and taking action. You also see the robbers trying desperately to get into the room. By cross cutting these scenes Griffith builds up the suspense so that audience watches and waits to see if the robbers do get in or if the woman is saved. Another scene, previous to those, was the one where you see the woman in her room, and then it cross-cuts to the robbers looking in the window. The scene keeps cross-cutting between the woman looking at the window to see if someone is there and the robbers hiding below the window and then peeking into the window. This also creates suspense. If we had only had one long shot from the room where the woman is sitting, it wouldn’t have built the suspense up. When Griffith cross-cuts between the two scenes, then there is that anxiety about when the woman will finally see the robbers.
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