Saturday, 26 December 2020

'One Week', 'The Scarecrow', 'The High sign', 'Cops' Analysis

'One Week'

The camera typically stays around a mid shot to wide angle shots to show the audience the plot eg. the house but also help the actors as due to the film being silent use of body language is heavily used to portray emotions which is conventional of the genre for example the beginning scene in the car as the driver has a large smile as he annoys the couple in the back. The transitions used in the film is typically used when the day changes as it fades to the calendar changing to the next day and transitions to title cards to show what is being said by characters.

The house is the main prop of the film as it is shown in the beginning the man in the car changes the numbers on the parts for the house and the finished product is a extremely warped house creating a comedic effect. Stunts which became popular from silent films are prevalent from the beginning as Keaton and Seely are flipped over at heights and the final part where the house is spun around by the storm throwing the actors out.

The portrayal of marriage is typical of the time as the man builds the house but subverting this stereotype as its built poorly and the woman in the film typically shown cooking and is used as a sex object when she is in the bath and the camera is covered to hide the nudity. The portrayal of Keaton's star personae like the outsider clown is heavily presented as he is thrown and flipped about by the house during the storm and the building of the house too   


'The Scarecrow'

typical of the genre the camera stays mainly at a wide angle shot and full body shots however close ups and mid shots are used in this film and are most prevalent at the beginning as we are introduced to Keaton and Cline's characters. also within the beginning multiple gags are shown as Keaton has to stand on Celine to reach stuff or the choreographed dining scene. Typical of the genre the film will cut to cards showing what is being said and the camera zooms multiple times during the film usually to express a characters facial expression.

The props within the house have a certain theme which is shown at the beginning through the cards "all the rooms in this house are in one room" as a book shelf turns into a fridge/ pantry and the record player turns into an oven creating a surreal atmosphere portraying its comedic tones.

Keaton and Cline's drastically different height is used to create a comedic tone as the contrast of height is used throughout the film and the multiple chase scenes especially the scenes with the dog close ups of Keaton and the dog are shown during the chase showing the facial expression of Keaton to create a comedic effect as the dog jumps over to him.  


'The High Sign' 

The typical camera angles are used like wide angel shots and full body shots obviously to present the actors body language to create emotion however at the end a shot of the four rooms in one is used during the chase scene with a lot happening in these scenes to create a comedic atmosphere being like a cartoon gag another scene like this is at the beginning where the newspaper is fully opened up and is huge. 

Title cards are used in the conventional way helping the narrative move forward but also the letters which are present in the film as it give the audience more information on the characters especially the antagonists. many guns are used for this film having a heavier focus on violence though being in a comedic tone murder and crime are running themes using a dead bird as a prop also.

 Two scenes in particular show a person running away using a wide angle shot and speeding up the footage to make the scene more funny to contemporary audiences and the usual exaggerated movements like jumping and falling are prevalent throughout the film.

the representation of police in this film portray them in a negative light shown running away from a criminal 


'Cops'

The shots in this film don't really change typically staying at wide angle shots however having a few close ups like the scene when the bomb is thrown next to Keaton this is done so we can see the facial expressions of the actors which occurs multiple time in this film. Title cards are not used as much in this however more cuts are present than the earlier films cutting between characters and shots greatly seen at the beginning and the end of he film.

The main costume used are the police uniforms as we see Keaton chased by a large amount of policemen as its during a police parade also, using a horse to help the narrative continue. The stunt at the end where Keaton is thrown off a ladder after being thrown about fits in with the conventions of the genre.

At the end we get a wide angle shot of Keaton being chased by a large group of police helping create a comedic tone as the police are presented as idiots tripping and falling over each other whilst chasing Keaton.      

          


    

Friday, 11 December 2020

Silent Film conventions

 Silent films follow specific conventions for example an obvious lack of dialogue and having the actors which perform needing to act much more eccentric with non-diegetic sound to help reflect emotions within the films.


Key figures of the silent film genre consist of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, John Bunny etc.   


Soviet Montage: A form of silent film which heavily relies on editing 


French Impressionism: A form of silent film which uses non-linear editing attempting to portray dream sequences and fantasies and other methods to tell a story from a protagonists point of view. 

postmodernist examples

Family guy uses themes of post modernism through its constant parody of pop culture and the amount of references which also occur within the...