Upon entering the student Cinefest for spring ’09, our audience was treated to a mix of comedy, action, experimental and non-fiction, and that’s just for production I class. The show kicks off with a rather interesting futuristic movie about the end of man. Mainly, it is clips of a man smoking in front of a blue screen. Putting our narrator in dark at all times, where we can only see his outline. This gives us the impression he is in hiding. Although, it lacks a definite story line, plot or narrative in the movie, it does showcase the beginnings of one filmmaker’s possible career in futuristic thrillers. The film’s best actual element was the explosion sound transitioning between all cuts. This gave the audience a sense of the world they are now exploring. The major downside to this opening movie was the fact that there was absolutely nothing interesting about it visually – after the first 30 seconds. Once the audience got sick of watching some guy’s mouth and a cigarette we tune out to any meaningful through-line the author might have had, if any.
Overall, the movies for production I were a great success. All of the movies shown seemed to showcase these beginning filmmakers starting visions. The movies were rough, they were sometimes not edited together in a meaningful way, such as “Yes, Of Course I Speak English!” This movie is a great example of how one person can try and make something decent out of a lot of hardships in creating the film. “Rhapsody of a Life Extra” is a movie that shows how filmmakers can patch together meaning when they believe there is none in life. The two best movies of the night which elucidate good storytelling, effective mise-en-scene and great editing are Role Play and Three Stock Crossroads.
Three Stock Crossroads efficiently showcased a view of a desolate life in which there are no rights, and there is no reason to life. Although, personally, I am diametrically opposed to such ideas, their great use of cinematography brought me into their story, whether I liked it or not. The simple set, with three stocks holding three people out by a road in the middle of nowhere, worked great for the desolate feel they were going for. The exposure of the camera, which gave it a somewhat unrealistic feel, was even effective in drawing the audience in to what was going on.
The movie I wish to dive into a little bit more however, is Role Play. This movie starring Presley Conkle as an aging professor finally attempting to say his piece to his non-appreciative student body; utilizes great mise-en-scene elements, narrative flow, hilarious editing, great acting and more. When we are first introduced to Professor Harris he is running through the halls, this may just indicate a once in a while late person, however the opening shot of his feet and the falling paper, really giving us a sense of his character; lost and confused. The director then has us on an over-the-shoulder ride along with his character. To ensure we are feeling his tardiness we even see Harris attempt to look at his watch while running. When Harris finally gets to the door to his room, the editing (having been speeding up throughout his entire jog) speeds up rapidly, in successive cuts until he opens the door, begins talking, and we see he is talking to himself. The sound at the beginning is nothing but heavy footsteps and rustling paper, which serves to further elucidate his lonely and yet hectic life. By having the character run into a door further adds comedy in a way that helps the audience understand the kind of crazy lifestyle Harris is living. A great establishing shot is used after Harris enters the classroom and begins talking to his ‘class.’ The shot serves as one of the last straws to Harris’ psyche. Almost immediately afterwards he is seen talking to himself, as if teaching his class. Off screen a piece of crumpled up paper is thrown at Harris, and now begins his declaration of his feelings to the ‘invisible’ class. The edits are very nicely matched with the characters overall feeling, hot and fast when he hits on the beautiful women towards the end, slow and kind of scary when he splashes the latte on the innocent texting girl, and quite steady everywhere else.
The Make-up and wardrobe really helped this young actor look as if he were actually an aging professor. The close-up of his wrist watch and the sound of the clicking watch further exaggerate his absurd behavior. The end of the movie brings the character full circle, and shows that unfortunately he never really learned anything. Harris is stuck in his little world of pretending or ‘role-playing’ in his imagination the life he wished he could live. Although, the story might miss a few deep points it could touch upon, it is a well done project implementing many aspects learned in their first year.
No comments:
Post a Comment