Rushmore Still

Shadows as a Visual Device in Crime

Shadows and chiaroscuro are utilized by directors in movies about crime to express an undercurrent theme or mood that would be too revealing if it were to be explicitly called attention to. In the case of Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder uses venetian blinds and shadows to reflect morally on a character. In Minority Report, Spielberg used blinding light to symbolize the truth and shadows to express an escape from the truth. In Minority Report, Curtis Hanson used light and bright colors to symbolize a facade, whereas darkness usually encompassed a character as they expressed their true selves. I've seen countless other movies that utilize shadows and in fact wrote a visual essay last year about how shadows in German Expressionist cinema paved the way for modern day cinematography (unfortunately I think the website that this essay was on deleted it).

In this scene Neff had just flirted with a married woman and was now entering her living room. This would seem especially risqué to an audience in the 1940s, and so Billy Wilder cloaks Neff shadows resembling bars made by the venetian blinds. Neff's own shadow is also behind these bars, either hinting that Neff and his unmoral intentions are condemned or--as we later find out--he is trapped by the manipulative Phyllis.

In this scene, Neff records a message for Keyes outlining his motives for murdering Mr. and Mrs. Dietrichsen. Confession is a word that often refers to a religious cleansing of sorts, and that is exactly what Neff is doing in this scene--brushing away his unmoral deeds by accepting that they was wrong. The chiaroscuro of Neff's spotlit head against a black wall illustrates how his confession is a religious/moral renewal.

In this scene, Phyllis subtly flirts with Neff at their first insurance meeting. In this still, specifically, the shadow that Phyllis casts contrasts Neff's in that it is not behind bars, hinting that although Neff seems to be in a more dominant role with Phyllis being trapped in her marriage, Phyllis is in fact the one who has dominance over Neff. It also could illustrate the two-facedness of Phyllis as someone who is acting Machiavellian--totally for her own gain.

In this scene, Neff and Phyllis both freeze in terror as they try to flee from Mr. Dietrichsen's murder and the car fails to start. It is night and they are both blanketed in shadows, with just enough light on their faces to highlight their dread for not being able to flee, which in some sense illustrates that they feel guilt for the crime and acknowledge that it was an immoral act. Nevertheless, Wilder's use of shadows emphasizes that these people have sinned/done something terrible.

Blog Post #4

 Foreground visible, leads viewer's eye to subject, and the foreground and background create a frame within the frame. Each third of the image contains something different. Background indicates limited but large amount of space.

 Frame within the frame. Subject is in the middle, but subject's body and arm of the chair are at an intersection. Clutter of mis-en-scene creates a sense of claustrophobia.

 Foreground and background are visible. Horizon one third of the way up the image. The lines made by the porch direct the viewer's eyes towards the background--out of focus, suggestive of vast space and height. Subject at an intersection, partially in focus, close but separated by a small amount of foreground. 

 Subject at intersection. Background more in focus. Unlike previous shots, there is no house to suggest a location- cat, porch, and trees vaguely suggest a house and backyard. 

 Subject at intersection. Lines follow gaze of subject. Out of focus flowers and ground create limited sense of space.

 Subject at intersection. Railing creates a line directed towards the subject. Trees and sunlight mimic the subject. Frame very uncluttered, a lot of attention on subject.

Subject at intersection. Flow of motion/action throughout each third of the frame. Indistinct background emphasizes subject and action rather than scenery.  

Subject at intersection. Cluttered mis-en-scene creates a frame within the frame, but lack of focus and proportion emphasizes the subject and suggests both a large and small amount of space.

Different Shots

establishing shot

long shot

medium shot

close shot

extreme close-up

lower shot

higher shot

depth of field shot

Blog Post #1

Personally I don't see anything as pre-ordained. The very idea of pre-crime--being able to predict the future--is just like Minority Report; science fiction. I read Emerson's "Fate" last year in AP English, and because of the amount of time and effort we put into analyzing it I feel inclined to draw from that essay: decisions that people make are inevitable, and the thought process that leads up to those decisions make illustrate just how inevitable they really are, but nobody can predict what exactly those decisions are going to be.

Ignoring polytheism for a second, it is noteworthy that Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother directly because he is told that he will do that and tries not to. Although trying not to do something (fleeing fate) most of the time doesn't lead to doing that thing (fulfilling fate), it does inevitably lead to doing another thing. So with free will, personal responsibility, brain chemistry being the means and fate being the end; the "means" can be predicted and the "end" cannot.

For example, while I was taking pictures for the Sophomore Journal I knew that that was what I was doing, but I did not know if it would be something that I could rattle away on my college app or if it would lead me to join Associated Press or if would make me get sick of photography and dabble in some other hobby. As a high school student, if I were to work towards a particular outcome in my distant future--perhaps I want to get a PhD in archeology and spend the rest of my life lecturing at museums and universities--I would inevitably either lose interest or veer off course towards another self-made ideal of my fate. Our fate is unknown, and thinking about it makes us even more hopeless.

Favorite Film

Another one of my favorite films is one that nobody knows about and I probably like because of that fact. Chimes at Midnight was directed by Orson Welles and stars him in the role of Shakespeare's Falstaff. The story is a compilation of several Shakespeare plays to create a coherent narrative of Falstaff. The cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen (better, in my opinion, than Citizen Kane) and Welles is hilarious as Falstaff.

Favorite Film

Another one of my favorite films is Paths of Glory. I've seen it several times, and it's anti-war moral remains hard hitting every time. Kirk Douglas is great as the tragic hero who tries to defend French soldiers during the First World War who are accused of cowardice after refusing to embark on a suicide mission. Director Stanley Kubrick's humanism is pretty apparent in the camerawork and the black and white visuals (which are worth noting since the film was released in the 1960s) add an unsettling and alienating tone that is emblematic of Kubrick. The trench warfare scenes are some of the best in cinema and the ending is pretty moving. Probably one of the best war movies/dramas ever made, although I'm sure most moviegoers from my generation would be more comfortable with Blackhawk Down or Saving Private Ryan or something gory, in your face, melodramatic, and manipulative.