Monday Film Class: Buster and Charlie, Charlie and Buster

I full intended to re-watch and subsequently discuss Last Year at Marienbad, but unfortunately it is still sitting on the television. This week I haven't watched any movies though I have watched almost the entire second season of Party Down with my husband. Hopefully I will be back on track next weekend.

My recommendations for this week go back to the silent era. By watching silent films you can really learn everything you need to know about filmmaking. All of our visual cinematic language was truly created from about 1895-1927. It's often said, and I agree, that sound stunted the growth of cinema as an art form and if silent films extended their heydays by a decade the visual language of film would be exceedingly strong. Silent films are often even harder for students than foreign films. I can attest to this, when I was in college my film history class was a two semester sequence and the entire first semester was 1895-1927. We watched all the films on silent speed with no musical accompaniment. In reality silent films where not silent at all they always had at least a piano player and at times an orchestra. During the semester I thought it was torturous, but once you become accustomed to viewing silent films they are easier to digest and are very enjoyable.

The best place to start to ease your way into the silents is with the comics. Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin are not only funny, but also superior filmmakers. They are also both extremely different. Buster Keaton does almost unbelievable stunts particularly considering this was before any safety measures. He also uses a lot of trick photography and symmetrical composition. His films are well planned out. Keaton is the master of the deadpan and relies more on the structure of his films than an emotional punch. Often Keaton is challenged by seemingly unbeatable odds; it's not one cop, but hundreds.

Chaplin, on the other hand, packs on emotional wallop. I don't think there is any film made before or after that matches the emotion at the end of The Kid. A while back there was a Bank of America Commercial (or some similar company) that used just the end of the film when Chaplin is racing across the city roofs to rescue his adopted child and I was tearing up. I didn't even have to see little Jackie Coogan. In his work Chaplin relies heavily on his supporting actors and would burn through magazines of film allowing for improvisation. He did not really script out his stories at length. He is most famous for developing the character of the "little tramp." The sweet, lovable, down on his luck clown has become iconic.

Pretty much any film you can pick up directed by one of these masters will be an experience. Be sure that they directed the film and are not simply featured. For Keaton I highly recommend Cops, Sherlock Jr., The General, and Steamboat Bill, Jr. For Chaplin: The Immigrant, The Kid, The Gold Rush, Modern Times and City Lights.  These are not exhaustive lists by any means, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone with silents. In my experience most students are wary of the silents, but Chaplin and Keaton helps to reduce their fears. Often students prefer one or the other and become very defensive of their chosen director. It is always a good class for me when a student who was vehemently opposed to watching silent films at the beginning of the semester sits in class arguing for Buster Keaton's composition and visual impact with another student who prefers the emotion of Chaplin.

Parisian Promenade

Last weekend we attended the Parisian Promenade at the Bicentennial Gardens. It was a very sweet event. French Opera was being sung live and cute booths with food and artwork lined the sidewalks. It really transformed the gardens. I'm not sure how French it was, but the touches were cute. The best part was a balloon woman who was creating balloon objects and animals for the children. My daughter is too young, but I told my husband that next year he'll be standing in that very long balloon line. Not only was he aware of this, he was also very excited about it.

Of course, being summer in North Carolina, it was HOT. There was a misting tent and surprisingly it was not very busy. It was in a very awkward area, which could have contributed to the short line. My daughter was very curious about the mist and went through twice with her Papa and then almost once by herself. All and all it was a very fun family day.

Flip'n Friday: With the Wind

This week I was able to do a video shoot with my sister, who has  been featured in my films since she was young. Actresses can bow out, but a sister is in it for the long haul. We can work fairly fast because I can direct her in shorthand. We shot at Guilford Courthouse Battlefield Park where a key battle of the Revolutionary War was fought. When we were there it was very hot and they were laying asphalt, which was noisy and may have even made it even hotter. At one point bicyclists were very curious as to why my sister was wandering the battlefield sulking in a long white dress. I am very happy with the results and it came out as I visioned. It is very pretty and dreamlike; hopefully it will bring calmness to your day.

With the Wind from Chelsea Wayant on Vimeo.

Procrastination

I am trying very hard to sit down and write. The ideas are floating around in my head, but I am finding too many distractions to focus. Earlier my daughter was playing outside and kept trying to eat bird poop while I was trying to write my documentary proposal. I always hand-write my work first, which makes it fairly easy to follow her around with a notepad and sit where ever she decides to play. I think I am procrastinating because the proposal is not very fun to write. Pre-production on a documentary is very tedious to me. Unlike a narrative (fiction) film a documentary really comes together when editing, so I am excited for that stage even though it is far, far, away.

Speaking of narratives my other distraction is that I have a fiction script that I want to start writing and am much more excited about. I'm refusing to let myself work on it until the doc proposal is done. There is a very good chance the documentary will get made and not such a good chance for a narrative feature, which is why I need to focus primarily on the doc. You'd think that would light a fire under me, but so far it is not working.

I won't get anything else done today because my sister is coming over in a couple hours so that we can shoot something for a video to post tomorrow. I think this one will be good. I'm very excited and this time there is a real actress and not just my husband!

Wordless Wednesday (Our Back Deck)

The Bog Garden

Amazingly this garden is in the middle of the city. There is a shopping center right next it, but you would never know. This weekend family was visiting from Atlanta and we took them here for a walk. It's such a beautiful place that it is always a hit. When my father was a little boy he used to catch frogs with his buddies at this lake and he delivered newspapers to the houses near it.

While we were visiting there was a wedding going on. We never found the site of the ceremony, but saw all of the guests and even a bridesmaid walking the paths. There were also rose petals scattered all around and floating in the stream. It was a wonderful time to visit the bog garden. The next day my husband, daughter and I went to the bicentennial gardens right next to the bog garden where they were having a Parisian Promenade. I'll have pictures once I get them to the lab. I love when big cities have places like this to relax.

Monday Film Class

 The thing about leaving a college is that when you leave there are still three years worth of students who know who you are and want you to stay. We are a small school, which makes it even worse. Those having the toughest time seem to be the juniors, particularly the ones that were my advisees. Two in particular, Courtney and Tashia, are talented filmmakers and want to keep taking classes. Courtney constantly asks me for a list of films for her to watch so that she can continue her studies. So here is a better solution (I hope) than just a list.

Every Monday I will discuss a film that I am currently watching, is a favorite of mine, or one that I believe is a need to watch. At times I may discuss a director instead of a film or maybe even a year (1939 was a particularly good one). There are so many films out there that are worthwhile both historically, artistically, and as legends. I have not even seen everything that I "should" see and, trust me, I've seen a lot of films.

After over a decade of a study in the field I have come to realize that there are two films that if you have not seen them and were to delve into a conversation with a serious cinephile you would be at a lost. Now these two films need to be watched alongside plenty of other films that cover all the decades; keeping in mind that the first film screened in 1895, not 1985. The films from the 1890s are very important and luckily they are short and sweet! But, on to the films for today, this first one should be obvious...

Citizen Kane (Welles 1941)

Surprise! Yes, you need to watch Citizen Kane. In a way it is like telling an art student they should really see the Sistine Chapel. You don't need to be told. Regardless, I'm starting at the beginning here. This is also an unranked look at two films. I am in no way saying I think Citizen Kane is the best film ever (for the record I don't believe that), I'm just saying you need to watch it to understand the scope of cinema. Kane is important for any number of reasons the big one that you will hear over and over again is: deep focus. Welles and his cinematographer, Gregg Toland, were very innovative in using the whole frame to visually tell the story even the background. Watch for the scene when a young Charles plays outside in the snow while his mother makes a deal regarding his life inside their house.

When first watching films it can be hard to understand how a story is told visually and when a story is not being told visually because film is a visual medium. This film should help you to see what can be done visually and why your favorite film last year may not have been nominated for an Oscar. Welles uses every shot in the film to say something about a character or to move the story.

On the Waterfront (Kazan 1954)

I watched On the Waterfront in more classes in college than Citizen Kane and I have undoubtedly shown it more often in classes that I have taught. It couldn't be more different, at least when looking at Hollywood movies, than Citizen Kane. While Kane is an epic visual powerhouse Waterfront is more personal with extensive location shooting. The acting plays the pivotal role in this film and the camera work often plays second fiddle. For instance in the famous white glove sequence where Marlon Brando improvised his actions after Eva Marie Saint dropped her glove. Kazan allowed the camera to continue to roll as Brando began to fiddle with the glove and put it on his hand. The symbolism is strong due to her innocent white glove and the action of him putting it on his hand. His guilt in the involvement of her brother's murder is in question and by taking her glove it can be seen to foreshadow his later actions.

Even though Kazan allowed his actors the freedom to improvise his film still has plenty of visual interest for instance when we see Charlie is revealed in the alley. Another interesting aspect of this film is that it can be read as Elia Kazan's explanation for his testimony at the HUAC trials where he named names. He had held out naming names for awhile and he never gave a clear explanation as to why he suddenly changed his mind and named names. All of the characters in the film can be substituted for various players in the HUAC trials notably with the Brando character representing Kazan.

Notice that both films are in black and white. It's important to not be scared of black and white; it's beautiful. Particularly in films before 1970 when the cinematographers really knew what they were doing when creating images with light and shadows. During my Introduction to Film class at the University of Colorado I overheard two girls planning on skipping out on the film because they couldn't handle all the black and white films they were being forced to watch. They did not understand why they couldn't watch recent movies. Of course, me being the film student snob I was, rolled my eyes and thought to myself, "Why are you even taking this class?" Counting films out just because they are not in color is a huge mistake some of the most amazing films were filmed in black and white. In fact if I were to add a third film to this list it would also be in black and white: Casablanca. Ironically, I believe the film they skipped out on was Last Year at Marienbad, which I just received from Netflix last week.