COMP 1 - Hollywood Flashcards
Peter Bradshaw (Guardian)
Vertigo is a unique balance of Hitchcock’s brash flair for psychological shocks with his elegant genius for dapper stylishness’
‘Private affluence, public squalour- orwell’s airship one’
New Hollywood
(Mid-1960’s to early 1980’s) shift from classic Hollywood to contemporary Hollywood; young aspiring directors and writers emerge. Sometimes referred to as “American New Wave”. One of the earliest and most significant films from this era was Bonnie and Clyde.
Hitchcock influences
german expressionsims- Metroplis
soviet inspiration, UFA, TV personality. panopticon
Kael
Collaboration
Vertigo- Bernard Hermann, Edith Head, Saul Bass, Robert Burrs
Blade Runner- Vangelis, David Peoples, Hampton Fletcher, Michael Deeley, Jordan Cronenweth,
Auteur Theory
A theory of film popularized by the critics of the French journal Cahiers du cinéma in the 1950s. The theory emphasizes the director as the major creator of film art, stamping the material with his or her own personal vision, style, and thematic obsessions.
Scott interior meaning
Trapped in society
Phallic sexual design of the alien
Questioning identity/ humanity
Creator as a god
Authority
Slavery, religion, research
Sarris’ Auteur Theory
technical competence
personal style
interior meaning
In both films men are:
hyper masculine and act in a stereotypical way, they are heroized and embody the active masculine role in their respective scenes- Scottie beginning as emasculated in the introduction of Madeline and then over-exaggerated authority and superiority over Judy in the reincarnation of Madeline scene
Similar motif
Eye motif
Identity, power and control
male identity crisis/emasculation/castration anxiety
Noir influences
hyper -masculinity
Male gaze
Voyeuristic
Hitchcock Technical competence
Master of suspense
Spiral music
Dolly zoom
Hitchcockian
Long cuts
Minimal editing
first person to use sound in British film, psychology, paranoia, vertigo effect shot- dolly zoom, German expressionism, Personality, voyeurism, spying, watching people- not ethical, Scottie spying on Madeline, cinema screen- window, audience spying, peoples dark side, uncomfortable, 4th wall break- audience, Scottie in the dark- audience in the dark cinema
Scott- technical competence
Master of Spectacle
Establishing shot- dystopian sets
lowkey lights
Moving flashing lights
Venetian blinds
Gore violence
Sci-Fi
Smoke
dystopian
What was the response to 2nd wave feminism in the 80s in family entertainment?
Rise of hard-body action movies
Hitchcock interior meaning
Male dominance
Untrustworthy
Maternal figures
Fear of castration
Taboo
Directors other films
ALIEN, PROMETHEUS, THELMA AND LOUISE
REAR WINDOW, NOTORIOUS, PSYCHO
Scott motif
master of spectacle, strong woman, low-key lighting, venetian blinds, humanity, identity, killing the creator, eyes, dystopian, aliens and androids, gore, violence
How was the growth of working women in the 50s after the second world war perceived by men?
Threatening
In both films women are:
considered desirable if: they are passive and act for the men, they are in the male gaze, subjective and sexualised.
What vision of women was promoted through propaganda in the 50s?
Housewife as the ‘perfect’ woman
Hitchcock quotes
“Intrigued with efforts to create a woman… a dead woman”
“Added value you watch the woman resisting being changed back”
“ she has stripped but won’t take her knickers off”
“He is waiting for the woman to undress while he was standing there… he was getting an erection”
“You have a man creating a sex image, and he can’t go to bed with her until he has her back”
“Indulged in a form of necrophilia”
What is the dynamic between Deckard and Rachel in the scene?
Deckard attempts a romantic lead but transitions to a hard-body, action-esque style, with blurred lines of consent
How is the camera work utilized in the seduction scene?
Handheld camera, long take on Rachel’s reaction, and a voyeuristic shot behind a window
scott quote
‘the only way to see a film remains the way the filmmaker intended’
‘I think filmmaking is a team, but eventually there’s got to be a captain.’
‘If studios don’t get their money back, we don’t have any movies’
‘‘formulaic’ is somebody who is unlikely to succeed starting down a process and succeeding’
‘I think there are a lot of men who feel they’re being emasculated by having the woman be in charge; I’ve never had that problem.’
‘all gloss and no substance,’
Studio big 5
Warner bros
20th century fox
Paramount
Rko
Mgm
What lighting technique is used in the seduction scene of Rachel?
Chiaroscuro lighting with a venetian blind effect
