Video lecture for week 7 of CMST 10100, “Introduction to Film Analysis.”
University of Chicago’s CMST 10100 Spring 2020
Intro to Film Week 6 Video Lecture: Narrative
Video lecture for week 6 of CMST 10100, “Introduction to Film Analysis.”
Intro to Film Week 5 Supplemental Video Lecture: Film Scores & Synaesthesia
Video lecture for week 5, class 2 of CMST 10100, “Introduction to Film Analysis.”
Intro to Film Week 5 Video Lecture: Sound
Video lecture for week 5, class 1 of CMST 10100, “Introduction to Film Analysis.”
An Analysis of the End of Tell No One by Guillaume Canet (2:00:05–2:06:44)
by Joalda Morancy, Shahrez Aziz, Wyn Veiga, Ashwin Prabhu, and Frank Martin
Plot & Occurrences
As the film comes to an end, it becomes apparent that Alexandre will finally receive closure in regards to the dark conspiracy that was revealed to him in the previous scene. After learning of the absolute truth from Margot’s father, he heads to the lake where he initially fell in love with Margot as kids. After finishing his drive, he exits the car to see the damaged dock where the initial incident occurred. A reflection of his relationship, the dock has broken as a result of the damage over the last eight years. He continues to the tree where they would mark each year together, reflecting on their relationship. A crucial element of the scene in this is Alexandre’s bloodied hand in the everlasting beauty of the forest, a signal of how their relationship has been through so much torment.
The Cinematography of Retrospection in Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One
by Meagan Johnson, Joon Choi, Meira Chasman, Matthew Martinez, Dylan Kanaan
Editing:
As Alex reminisces, there is an intertwining of two contrasting scenes: the funeral of his presumed deceased wife and their joyous wedding day. This style of cinematography and editing closely resembles cross-cutting; this ultimately promotes the feeling of parallel action. Cross-cutting is defined as the switching back and forth between two or more scenes in different locations that appear to be occurring simultaneously. Tension is increased as the cinematographer accelerates the rhythm of the cross-cutting.
Intro to Film Week 4 Video Lecture: Classical Continuity Editing
Video lecture for week 4 of CMST 10100, “Introduction to Film Analysis.”
Camera Dynamics in Chungking Express (1994)
by Gabriela Horwath, Wyn Veiga, Tomas Pacheco, Mimi Taylor, Joon Choi
Focus Blur – Gabriela:
Specifically analyzing the first that appears blurry to the audience, the use of pan, tilt, and zoom creates a fast paced shot that allows the film to achieve a dramaticized appearance of the characters in action. In one of the first shots of the film where He Qiwu is chasing an assailant, the image produced by the movements of the camera are shown as blurry. When He Qiwu is first walking through a crowd, the skillful panning tracks him and shows the crowd around him passing by; this further highlights that it is a busy shot. In addition, pan is used as the camera moves alongside He Qiwu while he is running. This effect puts an emphasis on how fast he is running as well as the distance he is traveling.
The Expiration of Time and Love: Analyzing Speed of Motion in Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express
by Meagan Johnson, Emily Nagler, Dylan Kanaan, Joalda Morancy, and Haina Lu
California Dreamin’-The Mama’s and the Papa’s (to supplement your reading)
The context in which Wong Kar-Wai actually made Chungking Express is interesting to note as it relates to the techniques he uses to alter speed of motion in the film. According to Quentin Tarantino, Wong Kar-Wai was actually working on a different/epic movie, he had been editing for multiple years but had felt stalled in the process. Just as a writer needs to take breaks at times to look at their work with an objective lense, he felt he needed to step away for a bit, and decided to use the time to put out a quickly produced / quick hitting film, which would become Chungking Express. The context in which he made the film – moving from editing a film that was long, slower paced in time, to producing a film that was quick paced in time, and then returning back to the slower paced one – is in various ways actually reflected in his treatment of time in Chungking Express. As the remainder of this post will discuss in different ways, Wong Kar-Wai manipulates time through film techniques that alter the speed of motion. This manipulation of time is not meaningless however, the ways in which he does so is to reflect how time moves differently for different characters/situations, connecting us closer to their stories– instilling empathy in many respects. While Hong Kong films, at least at the time, were known for their fast paced approach, Wong Kar-Wai created a film in Chungking Express that is both fast and slow. And perhaps, his approach and reason to this was in-part to reflect how he perceives time as moving at different speeds within his own career.
Intro to Film Week 3 Video Lecture: Cinematography
Video lecture for week 3 of CMST 10100, “Introduction to Film Analysis.”
Intermittent Mechanism 