The digital Revelution (Blog Five)

Technology has brought film and the way we experience it into an entirely new dimension. Like most technological developments, film technology has advanced exponentially. In the early years of film production new innovations such as Technicolor, would take decades to become mainstream. In today’s digital world however, it seems there is a new way to experience film introduced every year.

Probably the single most influential invention to the film industry, the television became a fixture in most American households in the 50’s and 60’s. With a large portion of its audience staying at home, the film industry had to reinvent itself. Younger filmmakers were brought to the table to satisfy a young generation of “Baby Boomers,” hungry for something new. This led to the “New Hollywood” era of the 60’s.

In the 70’s we saw the advent of the VCR. Like most new technologies of the 1900’s, it took quite a while for the VCR to become commonplace in the American home. Before films were available for rent or purchase, movies were an event. Like other events, a plan was laid and brought to fruition. It might take a family days or even weeks before actually seeing a film they planned to see. As the VHS cassette players became more affordable and the cassettes readily available, going from the planning stage to the watching stage went from weeks/days to hours. Also, before home video ownership became mainstream most people were left with only the memory of a film. It was more like the folk tales human’s have been passing on since our beginning.

The VCR held it own against the introduction of the Laserdisc and the VCD in the 1980’s. Although revolutionary, neither invention took hold in the U.S. They were quite popular in Japan and other affluent parts of the world. The LD and VCD did however, lead to the eventual introduction of DVD technology. This grand new technology was introduced in 1995 by Sony, Phillips, Toshiba and Time Warner. Its success was due to several factors: Its storage capacity, an entire film on one disk! The remarkable improvement of sound and video quality. Its longevity (if handled properly) due to the fact that nothing actually touched the disk inside the player. Finally its compact size. Although gaining extreme popularity in the late 90’s the DVD did have some competition not long after its inception. Also in the late 90’s We saw the emergence of the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). The DVR’s ability to record, replay, pause, fast forward & rewind live television made it quite popular. While some early DVR models were swooped up by consumers, it was not until the cable TV companies started distributing them with their service package that they became commonplace in many homes.

Although the popularity of DVD and DVR players changed the way we experience movies/TV, The invention with the greatest impact on how we experience audio/video since the television is without a doubt, the internet. Netflix was established in 1997 and brought a unique DVD subscription service to the market. The company soon became the biggest player in the market, eventually driving video rental stores, such as Blockbuster and Hollywood video out of business. Netflix is now embracing mediumless video distribution! For the first time ever we are watching movies without film or disk. Welcome to the Digital Revolution.

Now in 2010 we are watching films and shows on our computers. I am a huge fan of movies and TV shows and I have not owned a TV for about five years. Instead I get all my news and entertainment from my computer. Although its becoming easier and easier to find content on the Internet, its been possible for several years now. The Internet has brought immediate gratification to our fingertips. The challenge I see for the future of film making is keeping up with the audience’s urgent need for this immediate gratification.

The Ring (Blog 3)

Gore Verbinski’s The Ring came out in 2002. It was his remake of Hideo Nakata’s Ringu (1998). Both films are based on a novel called Ringu by Koji Suzuki. Nakata's film leaves quite a bit more to the imagination than does Verbinski's remake. Although Verbinski stuck pretty close to the original source material, there are some differences, some obvious and some subtle.

The premise is as follows: Both films open to two teenage girls joking about a sleepover that one had gone to at a hotel in the mountains, where the teens watched a video they borrowed from the front desk. The Japanese version and the American version of this video are quite different.

The American version (preview Above) is quite a bit longer and more graphic. Both however, serve the same purpose; to give the viewer clues. After explaining the events at the hotel to her friend, the phone rings and...... you guessed it, death is upon her! Her friend is committed to a mental hospital and it is revealed that the dead girl's friends from the hotel have all perished as well.

From here the story follows the dead girl's aunt, played by Naomi Watts, trying to get to the bottom of her nieces death. While at the funeral Watts's character Rachel gets the scoop from her niece's friends by joining them for a smoke and admitting to "getting Hi" when she was their age. This is far different from the Japanese film where the same character simply gets the skinny from the kids without being in their circle.This difference, I suspect is due to the cultural differences of Japanese and American youth and their relationships with adults.

While at the funeral, Rachel's son goes to the dead girl's room after seeing a ghost. In the Japanese version the same things happen but the ghost is only present in the viewers

imagination. This scene and the differences in the death video (preview above) can be explained by the difference in attention span of the given audience. I suspect what is subtle and implied in the Japanese film is obvious and laid out in the American version because in America we have become a lazy audience. Few big Hollywood films leave anything to the viewers imagination, fearing we will get bored too easily.

The story continues with Rachel teaming up with ex boyfriend Noha (Martin Henderson) for

whom she makes a copy of the tape and together they seek the answers to the questions found on the tape. Time is of course not on their side, because by now both have seen the video and are given only days to live. As the film creeps toward the end many of the differences between the Japanese film and the American one become obvious. The Japanese film weighs mostly on the mystery and solving it. The American film also does this but with much more inclusion of in-your-face fright. In this way I think it (American version) looses a bit of scared by mystery and gains scared by gore. It seems quite common when comparing Japanese and American films to see this big difference but it becomes paramount in this genera.

New Hollywood (blog 4)

Post-classical Hollywood, also dubbed "New-Hollywood" and The "Hollywood Renaissance" was a phenomena brought about by the introduction of young talent. In the past this young generation would have been fighting in or working to support war. The baby boomer generation was coming of age in the 1960's. With no war to fight or support, this new generation became a big part of Hollywood's evolution. They played an integral role in every facet of the industry, including: writers, directors, actors, editors and more.

Many factors were part of the evolution of Hollywood's classical era to its post-classical. The advent of the television was a big one. Many boomer's parents were happy getting their news and entertainment at home. Hollywood had a new audience to please.

Not only was this new audience younger but also more affluent and educated. They demanded more from movies than spectacles such as Technicolor, CinemaScope, stereo surround sound and even 3-D. They wanted films to be artistic. Before Hollywood could catch up, the boomers found what they were looking for in foreign films, especially European "Art-Films" such as Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless. or Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup which featured full-frontal female nudity; a big deal for American movie goers in 1960.

The boomers were a generation like no other Hollywood had seen before. They were restless. The youngsters (20 somethings) of the time were rebelling against their parents perceived complacency. Hollywood's salvation came in the form of rebels, sex icons and a new "energy" that was Hollywood's "Art-Films.

As on-site filming became more viable, film makers took to the streets, in hopes of adding realism to the screen. Another facet of New-Hollywood films was artistic editing. This was the era when the magic behind the scenes brought new life to the cinema. One example of this is a scene in Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider when there is a long shot of Wyatt (Peter Fonda) changing his motorcycle tire with a cut to a farmer changing his horse's shoes. This edit is meant to symbolize young Americans' desire for freedom and exploration.

In Easy Rider and other films of the time, themes such as sex and drug use and of course Rock-N-Roll become common place. What a roller coaster these kids were getting on!

Alfred Hitchcock

Hailed by Movie Maker magazine as one of the best filmmakers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) made several successful movies in England before moving to America to direct Rebbecca (1940). The film was a hit and Hitchcock’s American film career took off. He was so impressed with the facilities available to him, he pronounced that they were “incomparably better” than those he used in England. He became an American citizen in 1956.

Hitchcock’s specialty was suspense thrillers. He was happiest when his audience was sitting on the edge of their seat. Called one of the pioneers of the psychological suspense genre, his films were meant to mess with your mind. One example is his 1948 movie, Rope. It tells the story of two men who strangle an inferior classmate, place him in a trunk and throw a party where food is served to his family and friends on the trunk where the dead man lies. Rope was Hitchcock’s first color film and featured popular Hollywood icon James Stewart.

During his sixty year career Hitchcock made more than fifty films, In America and the UK. Hitchcock had a unique style. He filmed the entire movie Rope in ten shots, each about ten minutes long. Rope, like a few other Hitchcock films, such as Lifeboat (1944) and Rear Window (1954), is filmed in its entirety in one small space. Hitchcock uses close ups of his actors’ faces to show their reaction to various scenes. In his 1958 feature Virtigo, Hitchcock uses a camera technique used by many of his counterparts and predecessors. By moving the camera in the opposite direction of its zoom, the image appears to stretch. This technique is dubbed Dolly Zoom or Vertigo Effect. Given the success of all these films, he made it work.

From silent film to talkies

Silent film first and foremost required a special talent for actors to possess: emotional expression. Because they could not express, Wow! Ahh, hmm with words or tones, they had to express these feeling through body language. Some actors were exceptionally talented at this, such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Unlike Chaplin however, Keaton managed to entertain with far fewer facial expressions. He was nicknamed “The Great Stoneface.”

When the integration of sound first came most filmmakers simply wanted to add sound to their existing movie making methods. Filmmakers soon discovered that changes were needed, such as: sound-proofing sets, silencing camera motors and the inclusion of new technical talents. Since dialog (written) was minimal in silent films, this too brought a re-invented segment to film production, screen-writers. The voice sometimes made or broke actors’ careers. John Gilbert, for example saw his career fade before him with the advent of sound. His high-tenor voice did not match the public’s perception of him as a romantic hero.

Music has always played an integral role in movies. During the silent film era, music was incorporated via live orchestras and sometime big band scores. The cooperation between the actors and musicians was vital. With the introduction of sound in film, came the disappearance of live orchestras. Many musicians were sent packing.

Films today would profit from including some of the characteristics of silent film. All too often, modern films rely on whimsical special effects and dialog alone to accomplish their goals. The recent science fiction film Distric-9 is an example of a potentially great movie derailed by amongst other things, lack of expressional (good) acting. Although there are many techniques that could be borrowed from silent film, the advent of synchronized sound did make silent films (features) nearly obsolete. Examples of silent films (shorts) can still be found in cartoons and animated shorts, like those made famous by Pixar Studios. It is possible however that we will see silent films re-invented. The latest film that exemplifies this possibility is Wall-E. Although, not without sound, nearly the entire first half of Wall-E is without dialogue.

Films comes at you from all directions: Actors expressions (believability,) script, special effects, musical scores, sets and more. A good film makes all of these elements work together. If one element is lacking, another must make up for it. Films are supposed to sweep us off our feet and introduce us to an alternate reality. Make us love, loath, fear or celebrate our new reality. Many films, most in fact, don’t accomplish this goal. When they do however, I can’t think of time better spent.

Inception

Has anyone seen this flic: http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/

I watched it a couple days ago and found it, at first glance great! But its one of those films that you have to watch several times (some of us) to get the layers. Sci-Fi is probably my favorite genres. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Film

“It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it.”

~Andy Warhol~