Silent Film Era Research

No synchronised sound, especially dialogue
Would use gestures/mime (often borrowing from theatre), title cards and announcers to provide context
Orchestras would also play
70% of silent films are lost due to degradation of being destroyed
Era lasted mid 1890s - late 1920s
Were actually high quality, but the copies we see were damaged ones make it look bad
Were referred to at the time as talkies, sound film or taking pictures
First talkie was The Jazz Singer (1927)

Influential people in this era include Charlie Chaplian and Buster Keaton, who performed slapstick comedy. More serious performers include Lillian Gish and Rudolph Valentine

The director D.W. Griffith is also acclaimed as being one of the most influential creators of the time, with films such as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916) and Broken Blossoms (1919)

Top Grossing Silent Films US:
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The Big Parade (1925)
Ben-Hur (1925)
Way Down East (1920)
The Gold Rush (1925)

Mystery in the films we've studied

Vertigo
Supernatural element
What's happening at start
Is Judy going to tell the truth
Relationship between Midge - Scotty

Blade Runner
Who Deckard is
What Replicants are
Why they need to be hunted
Why is the world X
Rachel - Deckard, love dynamic

I like films like Blade Runner because of mystery, to not have some questions answered

Ie Vertigo sets up a supernatural 'mystery box' with another box inside it

Good films invest in characters

Krampus: The Christmas Devil - Critique

Cinematography
Camera shakes too much - looks homemade
OTS too blocked
Way too many close ups - blocks out characters
Out of focus
3 way conversation blocking is ineffective
No wide shots

Mise-en-scene
Two policemen costumes look nothing like police
Poor lighting all the time

Editing
Weird, unnecessary effects
Loads of dips to black
Jarring cuts to colour
Very fast paced editing
Flashback should be from his perspective
Phone conversation doesn't cross cut, no cutting in general

Sound
Music doesn't fit scene
Music changes in scenes
Dialogue at different levels
Lack of music
Sound levels wrong, cuts out jarringly

Characters with no name

Increases sense of mystery
Events of the plot could happen to anyone - adds a sense of relatability

Psycho

Similarities between Psycho and Vertigo:
Extended opening sequence
Blonde female protagonist
Orchestra mask stunts - incidental
Norman's face half in darkness
Focus on eye in the shower scene
Mental illness
Norman emascualted

Strange things about it:
Black and white even though colour was around - thought it looked creepier and more effective in terms of shadows
The protagonist dies half way through, massive twist, similar to Vertigo with Madeline's death half way through - both films have fake protagonists
Breaks conventions

Technical elements:
Loads of shot-reverse-shots
In Norman - Marion (protagonist) conversation, she's in centre with Norman on the right, with out matching in her shot - predator

Auteur

French word that means author

Concept that a filmmaker has such a distinctive style that they can be regarded as the 'author' of the film - it's down to them. And hat their style is so recognisable you can tell who made it without being told. In order to do this, the auteur must be someone which has direct control over the production, and has ouvre - a substantial body of work. They will have certain characteristics in their films that are consistent, e.g:
Aesthetics
Repeated themes
Crew (performers + crew)
Motif cinematography
Any film form features (mise en scene, cinematography, sound, editing)

Christopher Nolan
Favours non-linear narratives
Reuses actors

Wes Anderson
Reuses actors
High colour contrast
Symmetry
Steady cam
Unusual framing
Similar themes, settings

Quentin Tarantino
Use of music - late 60s-70s pop music
Excessive violence
Non-linear narrative
Expletives
Reuses actors

Ridley Scott
Strong female characters
Cutting away from violence - Often to 'seeing' - Woman on billboard, searchlights from blimp after Priss' death
Sci Fi
Realistic acting in unrealistic setting - Dialogue, attitude
Low key lighting, high contrast colour - Neon, umbrellas, woman looking billboard
Themes of humanity and identity
Isolated protagonist - Deckard (but only the Replicants aren't isolated in BR)
Long takes
Title card
Voyeurism - But to a more limited extent than Hitchcock - ie shots before entering eye shop

Alfred Hitchcock
Eccentric characterisations
Mystery and suspense via omniscient narrative - Finding out Judy/Madeline's true identity
Plays with audience nerves
Slow paced
Use of music
MacGuffin - Paranormal in Vertigo
Voyeurism - Scotty's stalking of Judy
Black comedy
Purposeful
Placement of objects - everything intentional
Cameo
Emasculated males - Scotty submissive to Midge, weak due to acrophobia
Themes of undeserved punishment (stems form childhood)
Plot line of films often relate to characters having psychological issues - Scotty's paranoia/delusion


Two types of Auteur - Thematically and Cinematically

Comparison of auteur trits between Scott and Hitchcock
Rachel a passively strong character, Priss and Zhora combatants, in comparison to debateably no strong characters in Vertigo
Vertigo Mise-en-scene - shot in studio vast majority of time, costume main focus of the last section but say nothing personal about them. Differs massively to Blade Runner, as each costume is unique
Both films have very active spectatorship - opinions on actions and motives of characters and over all themes

Vertigo Themes

Identity
Fake person, Scotty obsessed with them etc.

Psychological Orders
Scotty not sure what is real, vertigo all prisoners of own psychology
Sets up acrophobia as the theme

Appearances
Scotty seemed to be recovering, but was revealed he was always unstable since the opening scene. Supposed supernatural theme that turns out to be fake - things never what they seem, Scotty's opinion on the supernatural at the start.

Death
Seen as attractive and frightening, brushed over, not treated seriously
The death at end - holds no consequence

Supernatural
Fake theme - red herring. Still prevalent.
Ethereal glow when Judy dresses up as Madeline

Romance
Differs to normal, shows its a bad idea and only ends badly
Every relationship fails. We assume Scotty + Midge get together (close up shows she's interested)

Reality
Lots of Scotty's motivations based on a lie

Masculinity + Femininity
Flawed genders. Man has the weakness
Madge looks after Scotty not other way round. Women who aren't 'fallen' seen positively - Midge.

Guilt
Shown in all characters and develops plot
Scotty develops vertigo due to guilt and he says his problems come when remembers. Madeline confesses because of it

Obsession + Control
Everyone has control of someone else in a pyramid shape. None of it ends well. Once someone becomes obsessed they become the protagonist
Elster's control of Scotty and Judy, Judy's control of Scotty as Madeline, Scotty's control of Judy. In restaurant camera work hints that Madeline knows Scotty's watching. Scotty gradually becomes obsessed - line blurs between doing his job and stalking.

Music constant and dramatic/atmospheric
Performance overdramatic

High key colour, strange for the genre                                                                                                                                             

Mise-en-scene - shot in studio vast majority of time, costume main focus of the last section but say nothing personal about them (differs massively to Blade Runner)
Editing - loads of cross fades - all scene transitions are fades, loads of long takes