Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Blog #3
Referring to Marilyn Fabe's essay, "The Beginnings of Film Narrative: D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation" describe three characteristics of early film, using at least two scenes from Edwin Porter's Jack and the Beanstalk (1902).
Using at least two scenes from D.W. Griffith's The Girl and Her Trust (1912) and Fabe's essay, describe how Griffith's use of the cross-cut and setting impacts the film's realism and storytelling capabilities.
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“The most common type of shot was the long shot, in which the human figure fills only a small portion of the lower quadrant of the much as the human figure appears in the proscenium of stage dramas.” (Fabe, 2)
This characteristic of early film is abundant in Edwin Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk(1902). One in particular is the scene in which Jack hides from the giant once he climbs up the beanstalk and gets into his house. Jack enters the house and a woman finds him and hides him in a basket on the lower left side of the screen and pops up multiple times waiting for the giant to leave. This long shot is 2 minutes and 5 seconds long, the longest shot of the film. Which also happens in the scene with the fairy godmother raising the beanstalk to the clouds, she stands to the lower left of the screen, this scene only lasting 12 seconds. Another characteristic of early film is the immobile camera. Every shot in Jack and the Beanstalk has the camera in a “…fixed distance from the action.” (Fabe, 2) Jack and the Beanstalk is in chronological order, one of the major characteristics of all early films.
“The associative editing technique for which Griffith is best known is the cross-cut.” (Fabe, 7) Griffith uses this technique numerous times in The Girl and Her Trust. For example the woman is sensing danger of her money and a text of what the man is saying pops up saying “Danger? Nothing ever happens here.” While at that exact moment we see some suspicious men hiding near the train tracks. This helps tell the story because we know more than the main characters giving this sense of anticipation of what will happen, making the movie all the more real because it’s happen simultaneously. Having the movie take place in a real setting, being outdoors, also makes it all the more real. Something that was very important to Griffith.
Douglas J Mellon
Section 802
Many commonalities of early film, as described by Fabe, are present within both the opening scene in which Jack sells his cow, as well as the scene where Jack hides from the Giant. Fabe claims that early film many times contained long shots filmed with a camera in a fixed position. In both scenes the camera never moves and there are no cuts. Fabe further claims that early films had commonly long shots “…in which the human figure fills only a small portion of the lower quadrant in the frame.” The characters in both scenes never inhabit all of the space. Lastly, Fabe describes how early films were simply splices of loosely comprised scenes that do not connect truly. With little attention paid to transition the story-telling is weakened as neither scene connects to its following scene.
Griffith’s use of the cross-cut and the setting greatly advance the realism of his scenes. This realism is evident particularly in the scene where the Girl waits for the train to arrive. The setting has no painted backdrops and shows the true dimensions of the scene. The fact that the setting is organic allows the viewer to see many details of a real-life place. The cross-cut between the arrival of the train and the conversation between the Girl and the man allows the viewer to see not only what the narrator sees, but also what the characters see. This heightens the realism as well, by allowing the viewer to relate to the characters easier. Another scene this is prevalent in is the scene where the Tramps chase the girl. The true dimension of the scenery gives a realistic suspense to the chase. As well, the cross-cutting within the chase shows all figures moving across the screen in the same direction displaying a realistic continuity.
Robert Francis Curtis
Section 802
Danny D'Acquisto
Section 802
In Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk, he mirrors much of what Fabe’s writes in his article, "The Beginnings of Film Narrative: D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation.” In the area of mise-en-scene Porter seems to excel far more than any other early film artist we have reviewed thus far in the class. This is clearly shown in his intricate backgrounds and scenery. For example, the beanstalk scene—notice the tree, rolling hills, and nice stone house, and detailed costumes on the characters. This shows much more attention to detail than was the norm in this era.
Another area in which Porter excels is editing. For example, in the bedroom scene, the dream sequence is clearly not shot in real time. The different portions of the dream were shot at different times and combined together to make a flowing sequence.
Porter also revolutionized early film in the area of the narrator point of view. All of the scenes are presented from the point of view of an unbiased onlooker. For example, the giant scene; you never see anything from the perspective of either the giant or Jack. The camera is always in a neutral position.
D.W. Griffith, another early filmmaker, also revolutionized film. He was the first to use the cross-cut (moving from one shot in one place and time, to another shot in a different place). For example, in his movie The Girl and Her Trust, the woman is seen sitting in her office while the “tramps” are hiding by the railroad. The camera switches between the two shots making it one smooth sequence. Another simple example of this would be when the hero walks out of one room in one shot, and into the next room in the next shot. This makes it seem as though it were one fluent act, but in actuality it was 2 separate shots combined to one.
Early film was much different from the films of D.W. Griffith. Edwin Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk is a good example of early film as described by Fabes. The scene where jack is hiding in the giant’s house demonstrates two characteristics of early film. In this scene the camera remains stationary the whole time which was a common practice used in early film. Fabes describes the most common shot the long shot as “a shot… in which the human figure fills only a small portion of the lower quadrant of the frame”. This is the shot being used during the scene in the giant’s house; Jack only takes up a small corner of the screen. Also the first scene with Jack and the Fairy cuts to another scene outside of a different house. This is an example of how early films “spatial relations between the shots were often unclear”.
In D.W. Griffith’s The Girl and Her Trust Griffith uses the cross-cut to create new story telling capabilities. One example of this is the cut from a scene with the girl and the guy to the shot of the tramps getting off the train. By cutting these two shots together Griffith is letting the viewer know more than the characters. The viewer sees the guy leaving the girl while the tramps are coming to steel the trunk. This is one way Griffith builds suspense. He made an effort to use all 3-demensional props which weren’t always used in early film these props created realism on the set. Griffith also uses close-ups of the girl by the door in order to take control of his story telling by dictating what the viewer places their focus on.
Alyssa Holly
Section 802
T.J.Waite
Stationary cameras are a great example of early films according to Marilyn Fabe “The Beginnings of Film Narrative: D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.” In Jack and the Beanstalk Stationary cameras are used in some scenes. There was a long scene towards the end where the Woman hides Jack in a big bag or something of the sort. The camera is there the whole time and fills the entire room, so the audience can see everything needed, and the camera man doesn’t have to move the camera. The Most obvious however, is the long shot, and that would be where “The human figure fills only a small portion of the lower quadrant of the frame” (Fabe, 2). For example when they are again in the house after the climbing of the tree and Jack is mostly only in the corner.
People go to the movies all the time and for some they are so focused on the film that they don’t pay attention to scenes were they may be some sort of technical help, for instance the cross-cut. From D.W. Griffith's “The Girl and Her Trust” you can pay close attention on to how cross-cutting works. For example in the scene where you can see the man walking out the room and to the next right away making everything feel like it all takes place together at the same time. Although in reality though it may have been hours before he walked from one room to the other, because they are two different shots.
This also occurs when the man and women are talking in one room and outside the bad guys are hiding. When the man walks to the door and opens it, the camera cross-cuts to the outside in one motion.
T.J. Waite
Section 401
Section 802
One of the first characteristics of early film that I noticed in Porter's Jack and The Beanstalk was towards the beginning of the film when Porter used a close-up of the bean stalk magically growing towards the sky. This characteristic of early film is known as "the enframed image" as talked about in the Fabe article. As Fabe describes in the article, "The choices the director makes in framing the images...can add powerful dramatic effects to the filmed action." (Fabe, 3-4)
This effect was quite noticeable when Porter zoomed in on the bean stalk that started to grow, and I am sure that audiences during that time period were captivated by this dramatic and unbelievable scene.
A second characteristic of early film that I recognized in Jack and The Bean Stalk was the mise-en-scene. Throughout the entire film, I noticed how the background matched the actual three dimensional props being used in the film. For instance when Jack is climbing the bean stalk the background is mainly vegetation as well as his house and a tree. Also the characters in the film are believable because they are dressed as you would imagine characters to be dressed in a fairy tale.
The third and most noticeable aspect of early cinema in Jack and The Bean Stalk was the use of a static camera for virtually the entire film. Aside from the scene of the bean stalk growing, the entire film is shot with the camera remaining at a fixed length or distance from the scene. I would say this is most noticeable when Jack is hiding from the giant in a large vase, because the only way that Porter could show the whole scene was by using a long shot. This was because the giant was on the very right side of the screen and Jack was hiding on the very left side of the screen.
"Griffith soon realized that more narrative excitement could be generated if he systematically intercut or alternated between two or more narrative threads happening simultaneously..." (Fabe, 7) Griffith was best known for his use of the cross-cut, and the best example of this is in The Girl and Her Trust, when one of the men goes into the room with the woman and attempts to kiss her but is immediately shut down. There is then a cross-cut of him going into the room next door and looking embarrassed. This use of the cross-cut helps increase the realism of the film because the audience believes that both scenes are happening one right after the other. Griffith's use of setting in the film was also very important. For instance in the scene of the men getting off the train, crawling behind some barrels the landscape of the area appears to be very dusty, dirty and much like a wild west type of film. This use of setting allows for a more believable story because Griffith is producing the type of setting that the audience would typically associate with a train station, i.e. the hot, dry and western like conditions.
Connor Murray
Section 802
Lucy Derickson
section 802
There are many characteristics of early film described in Marilyn Fabe's essay, "The Beginnings of Film Narrative: D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation" that are evident in Edwin Porter's Jack and the Beanstalk (1902). For example, in all the scenes the camera is cemented in one place. Also each scene follows a logical narrative order, starting with a the boy receiving the magical beans which grow a huge beanstalk, and ending with Jack chopping it down, and becoming a prince. As Fabe describes “the most common type of shot was the long shot, in which the human figure fills only a small portion of the lower quadrant” (Fabe 2) This is especially true in the scene where Jack comes home with the beans. Both characters are placed so low in the shot that at points even there feet are off camera. Fabe mentions that this kind of distance from the viewer can be accepted in a live performance because of other elements, such as voice and music, contributing to the excitement and drama of the story. This is an effect that film of this time was not able to achieve because they were silent.
The use of cross cut and setting can greatly impact a films realism and is apparent in D.W. Griffith's The Girl and Her Trust (1912). By using more realistic props, and natural spaces, for example the train lot where the villains are hiding, or the space where the girl is, are real and believable spaces. However the use of cross-cut, “the associative editing technique for which Griffith is best known” is what makes the story more intriguing to the viewer (Fabe 7). The viewer can see that there is more then one thing happening at any given time. This also allows the viewer to know more information about the story then the actual characters do. For example, the girl insists to the gentleman“danger, nothing ever happens here” however the scene is then changed to the to villains snooping around by the train tracks. Both of these techniques help create a more realistic story.
The first early film characteristic I noticed in Jack and the Bean Stalk was the long shot in the opening scene where jack trades the cow for magic beans. Like Fabe says in her essay, the majority of the frame is not taken up with the figures, but rather the landscape around them like one would view a play in a theater. Another thing I noticed right away in the opening scene was the static camera placement. The figures in the scene are the only things moving. The camera stays in its stationary position and doesn't move or pan at all. Finally, the last characteristic I noticed in every scene, but especially the one where jack climbs up the beanstalk, is how long the shots are held for before cutting to another scene.
The two scenes that really display how Griffith used cross-cutting and setting in The Girl and Her Trust are when the tramps are peering in through the window form the outside the house, and then when the girl sits worried all by her self inside the house. Another good example is when the tramps have taken the girl and are trying to get away and the hero is trying to chase them down on the train. Both of these scenes show how when the viewer gets more information from the events taking place because of how it's edited, and also see how it changes the feeling, or in this case tension, of the scene.
Travis Torok
Section 802 401
Gina Waggoner
Section 802
One thing I noticed about Jack and the Beanstalk is that it’s sometimes hard to tell what is going on in the story, particularly the scene with the person having the dream. I can’t tell what the dream’s about or who is having this dream. Fabe agrees that it’s sometimes difficult for the early films to tell stories basically because the camera is shooting a long shot with the camera in the same position at all times, (p. 2). There are no close-ups in this film to see expressions or detail, which is another characteristic early films lack. Fabe also explains about the lack of the viewer’s ability to see how much time has passed in the film, (p.2). In Porter’s film, a scene is shot and just fades out and it’s on to another scene, usually in a different location, but not showing how much time has passed in between. In Griffith’s film, the scene where the man and the woman are both thinking about the forbidden kiss shows an example of cross-cutting as defined by Fabe. He flashes back and forth to the man and woman thinking, so it shows that they are both thinking at the same time. The setting plays a big part in the cross-cutting too because it shows the bad guys hiding by the train and then peering into the man and woman’s building, which shows how close the building is to the tracks.
Well the very first thing i noticed was the fixed camera position. In every scene the camera is set a certain distance from the scene to capture all the movement in the whole scene. The next thing was the long shots. Other than the edits for "special effects" the scenes had barely any cuts in them. And finally the order to the shots was relatively straight forward, although i found the dream thing kind of hard to follow. But mainly it looked like a theater performance caught on camera.
The editing in this second film brings more life to the film. THe different scenes and locations, the interiors vs. the exteriors brings a depth to the story. The scene I think of that best used this was the cuts between the 2 men outside the window, then the cut to the woman inside. Just being able to bring the camera outdoors adds much to the film and the cross cuts in the train chase scene brought the story together nicely.
In the film “Jack and the Beanstalk” the opening scene is a long, static shot where all the action is happening from the viewpoint of someone in an audience viewing a stage. This is unlike Griffith’s films because he used close-ups and extreme long shots to further develop the narrative plot line and to get the viewer more emotionally invested into the characters. In another scene, Jack is climbing the beanstalk and it is obviously painted on a set. It doesn’t look realistic. Griffith made the props in his films look as real as possible to mask the medium of film and to immerse the viewer into a totally believable world. Lastly the actors in “Jack in the Beanstalk” are extremely expressive in their motions, similar to how actors in plays were. Griffith specifically told his actors to tone down their movements and act more realistically. In “A Girl and Her Trust” there is a scene with the lead female character and a man who has a crush on her. They both are writing on paper in different locations but the director uses cross-cutting to flip between one person to the other, creating a sense of anxiety and yearning. Another scene is at a train station and it was actually filmed at a train station. All the props are real and this creates a world free from distractions, like a fake set, for the viewer that would remind them that this isn’t real.
D.W. Griffith takes narrative films to a new level by taking a heavy role in the film’s mise-en-scene, using imaginative photography, and creative editing. Edwin Porter’s film, Jack and the Beanstalk, uses these elements to heighten drama and fill the void of no sound. In the opening scene, the film’s mise-en-scene is obvious. The set has been created to look as realistic as possible. The tree is not just painted in the backdrop, but actually cultivated into a three-dimensional form. Mise-en-scene refers to the way in which a film is directed similarly to the way of theater. It looked like he was actually filming a theatrical performance. This is very different from the methods of the Lumier brothers whose goal was to bring the real world to the viewers, without the narrative. Porter also used creative photography by zooming in on Jack while he was climbing up the beanstalk. This allowed viewers to only focus on him and the dangerous task he was putting himself into, adding to the sense of drama. The editing was also used to create a more dynamic scene. In the scene where Jack finishes talking to the fairy, he exits to the right. In the next scene he enters on the left side. This editing creates the illusion that he had continuous movement.
In D.W. Griffith’s, The Girl and Her Trust, he uses cross-cutting editing to enhance the narrative and its realism. There early scene where it shows a woman working hard in her office, which then cuts to a man who is pacing nervously outside of her door. Place those two scenes back to back makes the viewer believe that the two characters have a some sort of relationship with each other. In one of the last sequences, Griffith juxtaposes the images of a speeding train next to the men who are racing down the tracks in a manual cart. It is assumed that these two images are related because both are moving in the same direction and the men continuously look behind them in a very frighten way. the editing creates such a drama because while you are looking at one image of the sequence, you are still thinking about what is going on in the other one.
Molly Waddington
802
One element of early cinema was the use of a long shot that envelops an entire setting in which the characters move about. “Jack and the Beanstalk” did not incorporate close-ups or even make cuts during a scene, instead it kept the camera static to convey the feeling of sitting in a theatre, which does not take advantage of the dramatic and visual advantages that cinema can offer. Another element of early film was a lack of realism, which took away from the dramatic integrity of a film. In “Jack and the Beanstalk,” the beanstalk had a ladder clearly visible in it in which the actor climbs. Also early cinema often used a painted background instead of shooting in a real location. In “Jack and the Beanstalk” a drawing of sweeping view of the landscape is placed in front of the ladder to represent being up high. These instances may deter a viewer from taking a film as serious as they might otherwise.
In “The Girl and Her Trust,” the cross-cut allows two plot developments develop at the same time. The shots of the arrival of the tramp and his approaching the telegraph station adds a looming sense of danger and suspense to the shots of the girl and her suitor in the office oblivious to the threat. It also provides a convention to connect simultaneous plot lines while allowing the audience to understand what is happening. The use of a real western outdoor setting adds to the believability of the experience and allows for chase scenes and movement through space. This space also allows room for characters who were separate during the cross-cut to travel and meet each other instead of a cue card or just a regular cut to convey this information to the audience.
Joe Steigerwald
802
In early films, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, the mis-en-scene is very limited. There is only one shot distance used, sort of like watching a play. Every scene in Jack and the Beanstalk is shot from the same distance, and it feels as if though the action takes place on a stage. After Jack climbs the beanstalk, for instance, the giant is in the same frame with him, and does not seem very "giant-like." Another characteristic of early film was the over-dramatic acting. When Jack is throwing his mother the treasures he stole, she is running around in a very obvious panic, throwing her arms this way and that. Lastly, there is a very simple sort of editing with older films, they simply cut when the scene is over, there are no cuts during a scene. In The Girl and Her Trust, we begin to see some of the impact Griffith had on film. For instance, the characters are much more realistic. When the girl feels her lips after the kiss, she doesn't swoon and fall to the floor, she simply gives one sigh of joy. It is like Fabe says on page 34 of the Course Reader: "He also brought increased realism to the screen by directing the players to act in a restrained, natural, less flamboyantly theatrical style. He also uses cross cutting to great affect in the opening scenes, and we are led to believe that the man and woman are one room away from each other, when in reality they could be days, even miles apart. Griffith also uses setting to great effect, utilizing a train and a front yard to put the little shack someplace in "the world." The film seems much more real when this is all added together.
Jack and the Beanstalk:
1. Lack of set design
:”Blatantly artificial painted background detains, common in early films… undermine the realism of filmed fictions.” (Fabe, 3)
The second scene in Jack and the Beanstock has a very obviously crude painted background, which makes the scene look like a high school musical. It takes away any realness out of the scene, making the viewer very away that it is viewing something that has been set up ahead of time.
2. Full shots
“In most films prior to Griffith, the camera stayed back, showing all of the action in long or full shots” (Fabe, 4)
The first scene of Jack and the Beanstock is a full shot, showing all the action at once. When the viewer watches it, his/her eyes do not really know where to focus, making all the action cluttered and blend into everything else in the background.
3.Long shots
The first shot (and scene) of Edwin Porter’s film is 44 seconds. The whole scene is not very interesting because of this, even though very interesting events are taking place. The crude edits in the film and the poor costumes also make the film seem unrealistic.
The Girl and Her Trust:
“A cross-cut is an alternation from one line of action to another, giving the impression that two or more spatially separated but plot related events are occurring simultaneously.”
This film is a great example of cross cutting. Griffith uses it as a method for suspense, as he does when the tramps are first outside the station and he keeps cutting the film from the station to the tramps and then back again. Griffith also using the cross cutting to cut between the man coming to save the day and the tramps taking the girl and the loot away, by showing the hero first calm in his house reading the paper. This technique creates suspense for the viewer, making them want to yell at the screen to tell the hero what he doesn’t know. After the hero character sees the tramps running away with the girl and the loot, and jumps on the train, Griffith shows another suspenseful action scene by cutting between the train and the tramps running from it.
Griffith also uses real places for all his scenes in this movie, never resorting to poorly painted backgrounds. He also uses a real train and real props instead of a poorly made model. He focuses on making the fictional story look real, and he makes it believable.
D.W. Griffith’s is the pioneer of narrative cinema, and it is by no means a stretch to say that cinema would not be what it is today without him. In Edwin Porter’s Jack and the Beanstalk (1902), many of the scenes are one static shot that shows the actors’ entire bodies, which only take up a small portion of the screen. The actors are also overacting to compensate for the lack of sound. Griffith, who told his actor to act more natural and restrained, changed this characteristic. In the scene where Jack has just climbed up the beanstalk, you can clearly tell that the trees in the background are painted set pieces. “Griffith insisted on the construction of authentic-looking three-dimensional props and sets for his films.” (Fabe 3). In the first part of D.W. Griffith’s The Girl and Her Trust (1912), the man and woman are in her house when the shot is suddenly interrupted by another shot of a train pulling up to a station. This seems completely random and unimportant by itself, but the next shot shows the man and woman looking through the window at what the viewer assumes to be the train. This is an example of a cross-cut. The ending sequence with the train chasing the rail car is made more realistic by shooting on location and use of blowing dust.
Nelson Schneider
Section 802
First of all, Fabe doesn’t necessarily talk about the characteristics of early film, but what elements of film Griffith had changed.
Based on that, “jack and the beanstalk” doesn’t have the impact of close-up that griffin would’ve used. It doesn’t concentrate on a character; the camera stays back, “showing all of the action in full, or long shots” through the whole scene. For example in the first sequence there’s two actions; the cow and the characters playing two different stories. The spectator has to figure out which one to concentrate on. Griffith was also the first director to use close-up and tilting in his movies.
Another thing Griffith did was to take the time to cast actors, and rehearsed the players before shooting, which was a rare practice in early filmmaking. He also chose costumes, props, and settings with an eye to providing narrative information “that would enhance the film’s dramatic effect”.
And of course the most important of all; Griffith basically is the creator of editing films; match cut, close up shot, cross cut, fade ins, fade outs, iris in, iris out; Basically everything that we don’t see in jack in the beanstalk. “jack and the beanstalk” has an uninterrupted linear chronology which was a characteristic of early film. It’s ironic that we’re comparing one of Edwin porter’s films to Griffith’s filmmaking, because Griffith was discovered by Edwin porter to be his star actor. But he chooses to direct his own movies, and went as far as influencing Einstein, Fritz Lang, and soviet editing. (Einstein said that “intolerance” was the main reason why he started to direct film.)
The settings and mise-en-scene of “the girl and her trust” shows how Griffith wanted to give narrative information about his film. He chooses to use real backgrounds than painted ones because he believed that it gave the film a more realistic look. Also, by crosscutting he gave a more dramatic effect to the audience, of the action. And created curiosity.
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