French Surrealism and It's Influence on Mulholland Drive

Perhaps the most common technique used in French Surrealist films, which inspired Mulholland Drive, was the fact that most plots led to confusion and disturbance.  I guess the art of Surrealism is just that.  Confusion of the mind; allowing you to make assumptions and draw your own conclusions, whether they're right or wrong.  The lack of structure in films like Un Chien Andalou can also be seen in some of the scenes of Mulholland Drive. Quick shots, fast scene transitions, and close ups, are just a few of the techniques used to create that "Is this really happening? What's really going on?" feeling. I received the exact same feeling as we watched L'age d'Or.  The erotic notions that took place between the couple as they lunged and kissed on each other, as well as other inanimate (i.e. the statue's foot) throughout the movie reminded me of the different lesbian and affair scenes that took place in Mulholland Drive. That dreamy, hazy suggestion of flashbacks, dreams, and confusion, was also a great technique used in the early 1920's and 1930's that could also claim its stake for being an inspiration to the David Lynch film.

Blog Post for Week 1/29

What really set Dimitri Kirsanoff’s Ménilmontant apart from the other films we watched on Thursday was the fact that there wasn’t any use of intertitles to inform or provide us with any kind of background information. I think this tactic allowed us to pay closer attention to the film and understand the jist of what the producer was trying to portray. Personally, I felt like the music dictated how I was supposed to feel during different scenes. The most memorable scene, in my opinion, was when the cold and hungry, young woman was sitting on the bench with her baby and the man next to her offered her a piece of bread. I could actually feel the compassion coming from his end and somewhat of a shameful, but thankful feeling coming from hers. Kirsanoff’s ability to pan in and out and cut quickly to the characters’ faces, also played a great part in the adding of different sentiments. When the murders first took place, we were looking up at the hatchet in one scene, and in the next we see the victim in pain. This quick, technique briefly allowed the audience to be placed in the shoes of the victim. The use of dreamy, out of focus, blurry shots had a great emphasis on different flashbacks of the sisters’ short-lived childhood, the confusion of lust mistaken for love, young pregnancy, suicide, prostitution, poverty, murder, etc. Much of what went on in Ménilmontant, is relatable to some of the worldly issues that we see on television, in films, or even on the news.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari / Chapter 2 Definitions

Most of Robert Wiene’s success in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’s Cabinet”  lies within his ability to incorporate all of the essentials for a perfect mise-en-scene [ all of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the settings and props, lighting, costumes, and makeup, and figure behavior.]  With that being established, Wiene made it a point to exaggerate and distort these elements, causing it to fall within the guidelines of a classic Expressionist film and allowing the audience to view the storyline through the eyes of a mad scientist and a fearful town.

The exaggerated setting and background throughout "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari's Cabinet" definitely deserves recognition for serving as an inspiration to Tim Burton films such as "Edward Scissorhands" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

establishing shot - a shot, usually involving a distant framing, that shows the spatial relations among the important figures, objects, and setting in a scene.

screen direction - the right- left relationships in a scene, set up in an establishing shot and determined by the position of characters and objects in the frame, by the directions of movement, and by the characters' eyelines. Continuity editing will attempt to keep screen directions consistent between shots.

 

match on action - a continuity cut that splices two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement, making it seem to continue uninterrupted.

 

cut-in - an instantaneous shift a distant framing to a closer view of some portion of the same place.

 

crosscutting - editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places, usually simultaneously.

eyeline match - a cut obeying the axis of action principle, in which the first shot shows a person looking off in one direction and the second shows a nearby space containing what he or she sees. If the person looks left, the following shot should imply that the looker is offscreen right.

shot/reverse shot - two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation situation. In continuity editing, characters in one framing usually look left, in the other framing, right.

mise-en-scene - all of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the settings and props, lighting, costumes, and makeup, and figure behavior.

First Take - Un Chien Andalou

Where should I begin? Un Chien Andalou was definitely a difficult film to follow.  I am certain that the time sequencing played a key part in this.  The narrative or lack thereof, was much different in comparison to a modern-day love story or drama.  In modern-day films, it’s almost always easy to gain an understanding for the characters, the setting, and the plot in order to get a hold of the general idea or gist of what the director wanted his/her audience to acquire during or after the film is over.  After Un Chien Andalou, I was left with a few questions that are still and will probably always be left unanswered.

Even though the film was produced in 1929, the "effects" that were used in the movie were pretty decent, considering the fact that they did not have the tools and machinery that film crews have access to today.  I can definitely see the usage of surrealism and realism in this film as being the starting point to eerie, horror films such as “The Amityville Horror” or “The Cell”.