Five Most Valuable Minutes:Taxi Driver

The movie we have recently watched in film class is an ingenious piece by Martin Scorsese. The movie Taxi Driver, was a piece about Travis Bickle(Robert Di Niro) who in the movie is portrayed as a Vietnam War Vet. He is a very lonely man who is discontent with his lifestyle and feels the need to work 24/7. He becomes a taxi driver and has unusual habits, that leave him with barely any social skills. The setting is in New York and Travis, feels that the only way society can progress is if it is "flushed down a toilet." I feel that the extract I am focusing on for this film is one of the most important scenes, because through this extract an accurate characterization of Travis is made, the setting of New York is touched upon, and Travis' intent to fix New York is shown.

Martin Scorsese was born in New York and is a very well known director who directed twenty-five films. Some films he directed are The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, The Departed, Aviator and Shutter Island. Taxi Driver seems to relate to the screen writer, Paul Schrader's older screenplays like American Gigolo and Bringing Out the Dead. The recurring themes of loneliness and alienation are two traits constantly used within these movies. In relation to his other more recent work Shutter Island, also a thriller seems to be a recurring type of movie style Scorsese enjoys. In Shutter Island the main character Teddy seems to face psychological struggles just as Travis does in Taxi Driver. Both films have you on the edge of your seat and Teddy of Shutter island is personally motivated to pursue a case, that ultimately has no solution to. The mysteries push him to his own insanity, as in Taxi Driver, Travis is personally motivated to clean up New York, but his motives lead him to wanting to kill himself. Both characters can not deal with the circumstances before them, for Teddy he must figure out the case and Travis he wanted to clean up New York, but neither get to see their desires accomplished. 

In Taxi Driver, (another dramatic thriller) the opening of part six, Travis is listening to a voice over of Palentine one of the people running for a political position in the film. Travis is told by a police officer to get off the side of the road, which could show how the authorities are blinded by certain corruptness and are patrolling the wrong things of New York. Following this Travis is seen writing a letter to his parents, on a childish card that highlights his isolation. Travis says "he hopes no one has died" expressing how detached his own relationship with his family is and isolation from them. Travis is quite lonely throughout the film, and is ashamed by his own loneliness. In the letter he explains how things are going well with Betsey his brief romance. He can not continue with this romance due to his own alienation. One of the first dates he took Betsey on was a movie revealing film that angered Betsey and ended their brief romantic stint. Through this sequence Travis can be depicted as a character who has little practice with human interactions and further give reason to his loneliness.

The next sequence of this extract is Travis playing with the magnum and watching a romantic film, annoyingly. His annoyed expression could reveal his frustration in society as a whole, because he does not seem to understand how real interactions work . Travis seems to live in the fairy tale world, and does not have a grasp of reality not understanding how actual interactions with girls work. Following the T.V. Sequence Travis is seen looking at injustice going on in New York with one man dragging another away. This relates to how throughout New York the society is corrupt and people are bystanders not intervening with "scum" that surrounds New York.

The last sequences of this film is Travis asking to have time with one of the younger prostitute girls, hoping to make a difference in her life. The confrontation with the pimp foreshadows the resolution of the film where Travis decides to try and end the corruptness of New York single-handedly. This confrontation also reveals how discontent Travis is with the society and his attempt in relation to the narrative to "flush out New York in a toilet."

This extract had every aspect of the main ideas Scorsese attempted to portray and this film allowed me to realize thematically that one man can make a difference. This thematic idea Scorsese uses often in his films, and especially through this particular film. Travis had many flaws as a human being, but ultimately he wanted to sacrifice himself for the better good. He attempted to fix New York and metaphorically fixed an aspect of New York, by saving the girl from a life of prostitution. This film is a classic and is a main reason why Scorsese became, so well known.

Blog Response- The American Anti-Hero

The American-Anti hero seems to be a contradiction within itself because they "will perform acts generally deemed 'heroic', but will do so with methods, manners, or intentions that may not be heroic." This was a popular intent of film makers at the time period, which was around 1945 because World War 2 had a large influence on people and directors at the time, so they had to create films to appeal to their audience. The characters being portrayed and films seemed to rival the harsher time period that America seemed to adopt during the time. America at the time was not innocent at all and "Americans wanted their heroes to rebel against the status quo like they, the American public, were rebelling." America through different films, audiences can understand the context of what is going on at the country's time because films do not present irrelevant material. Many times films rival, the society at the time as shown during this period, and through war-films politics and soldiers minds were constantly questioned. An example of the anti-hero more recently is brad pitt in fight club, where his gritty character contradicts him aiding many people in a violent outlet of fighting.

The Anti-hero contradicts the Classic Hollywood Ideology because Anti-Heroes motives seem to be more defineable than those of Classic Ideology. Anti-Heroes are "Rebels... who fight authority figures no matter what the cost." This is true in almost all anti-hero stories where you can predict the actors motives and intentions through the time period. Also you know what to expect out of the character and their motives are more hostile than the typical "hero" portrayed in Classical films.  A film we recently saw shows how the anti-hero is far different from a classical hero, who does not have as many psychological issues as the anti-hero does. Travis constantly faces issues within his own mind allowing the audience to question his sanity.

Blog Response- Article- Intensified Continuity

David Bordell expresses in this article how there is a period of intensified continuity that surrounds the new cinema of today. In the beginning Hollywood used more wide angle shots that were a bit static to go for the more realist view, that had a standard lens of 35mm. Over time though the standard has changed and directors are incorporating different lens to give the audience a sense of depth and also having a lot more faster edits to build tension and suspense in the films.

"Fast-paced dialogue has reinforced premises of the 180-degree staging system...the axis of action must be strictly respected." Through this you could see how the intensified continuity plays a significant role when directors are composing a set of shots. For example before with the shots not as quick as they are now, the 180-degree line was not as important, but now since the shots are so fast the audience pays attention to the 180-degree line and can easily spot when this is crossed. Also with new technology it is making it easier to follow this rule, but with the constant increase of speed through each cut, this rule must be respected and acknowledged.  This also supports one of the 4 factors of intensified continuity, which more rapid editing; a way for this to further happen would be shot length varying now, to escape that sense of realism.

The second aspect of intensified continuity is different lens lengths in between shots. "Since the long lens magnifies fairly distant action, the camera can be quite far from the subject, and this proved advantageous in shooting exteriors." This was used because film makers and directors now could take advantage of their new lenses by taking shots from a lot farther and depending on their lens to get all the action. This lens also allowed the film maker to incorporate deeper focus within their shot, which now is a very popular technique.

The third aspect of intensified continuity is closer framings in dialogue sequences. In many films now you do not see the stationary sequence of two characters talking, but see, "Mouth, brow, and eyes become the principle sources of information and emotion." Now because pf the faster cutting and longer lens variety, a dialogue sequence does not need to bore the audience but can be very intimate and emotional. This forced the audience to focus more on the actor's performance instead of the make-up of each shot.

The last aspect of intensified continuity is the usage of free ranging cameras. "Camera movement becomes a mainstay of popular cinema," through these movements a clear path is set between old cinema and new. The use of motion in shots allows the director to convey feelings and moods that the actor cannot portray, or to extenuate a certain mood or feel at the time.

Blog- Advanced Editing Notes- Overview/Classical Paradigm

1. The camera work from the two short films "Arrival of a Train" and "Damsel in Distress" differs quite significantly. The Arrival of a Train short film is composed of one static, stagnant shot throughout the film, which probably portrays the time period during that time. This shot is derived from a realist stand point where the angle is at about eye level and is composed of people going off and on the train. The idea behind the director is more on the surface, since no editing technique or different angles were incorporated by the director. In the Damsel in Distress short film, there is a more clear narrative going on through the different shot sequences. This is eminent through classical films that have a more fast paced cutting that seems to build tension for its audience. The diverse shots of close ups, long shots, and tracking shots build a greater tension for its audience.


2. As I noted from above the Arrival of a Train short film has a more realist feel to it because the distanced shot is held for quite awhile without moving. This is also probably due to the lack of technology at the time and is what appealed to the audience at the time, realist films and shots that are straight forward. The other short film had the classical approach where the cutting was fairly fast from one sequence to another to build a dramatic tension for the audience. The different shots like wide shots, long shots, close ups add to the story and make the story feel a lot more fast paced, even though this short film was a lot longer than the first.


3. In the first short film there is no clear cut narrative, I believe the director did this on purpose because he wanted the audience to make their own interpretations. The angle the director chose is a stagnant spot that seems pretty wide, so people can be show going in and out of the train, which supports the realist view. The other film with the damsel focuses on her and seems to have a dramatic narrative that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. This narrative is a lot more clear cut because there is a plot, an antagonist, protagonist, a climax and a resolution.

Documentary Project Pre-pro

Short Film Critique

A. Rationale
My group members and I set out to create a drama film called "Bridge." My working plan consisted of creating a film that was extraordinary, that had meaning behind each and every shot. I wanted locations that drew in the audience, so during the edit I have many different shots to cut to, creating more suspense. The audience varied for anyone who can experience the same circumstances as our main character and those who have overcome adversity. I knew this film had potential because the idea was original, our skills have developed, and each time our effort increased.

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B.Commentary
For this film I was the lead actor-editor during post production.

Some problems that arose for this film was the very beginning of the film with our original script. The script that our director originally produced, had a suicide in it, which our teacher and I disapproved of. After our teacher tore up our script we went to the drawing board and the director shared the script idea and I started adding some input in what I saw we should change. After much collaboration our director implemented some of my ideas, but constantly edited the script until a final copy was agreed on.

Another problem was the location of the bridge even though we had our hearts set on this location we were not supposed to film here because the officer that approached us said it was for non-commercial purposes. I started talking to the officer and made him understand it was a student based project that we were already almost done with and he consented. If we had been kicked off the bridge our story line would not have made sense and our main location for the film would have been scrapped.

Yet another problem I encountered was acting, I have acted in films before, but I still do not have the experience to portray emotions on the spot. My acting abilities at times I was even frusturated about because I did not want to let my group members down and wanted this film to be the best yet. The scene I was especially frustrated about was after Sasha, the female actress, was coughing it was hard to show genuine concern for her. That particular scene I had to do over constantly until I and the director were satisfied with my reaction to her coughing fit.

Another acting struggle was down below the bridge when Sasha said I should join her on the run and I agree. After she runs away I was trying to look genuinely intrigued and satisfied at this unexpected acquaintance, but instead stared creepily at her. I realized after this first day of shooting and acting I needed to step my acting up tremendously, because although I was not originally planning on acting my group members trusted me to step in their and fill in the role.

The next days of filming and acting I was a lot more proud of because I read the script and my lines over and over again until I could internalize my role and evoke the right emotions through the words given to me. I also did not follow exactly what the script said, so it would seem more natural, which I thought served the film better. For example the scene when I am looking really down I was remembering my grandma's death to portray the emotion a lot better than the first day. Also in the scene where I was visiting Sasha at her house my emotions were a lot more concerned than the first day of filming and my director applauded my performance and ability to bounce back from the first day of acting.

Besides acting problems I had a difficult task editing because many times what I portrayed or saw as a good edit my director would want me to do a little more and ask me to re-cut and re-edit things constantly. Editing in this case took many hours because I and the director wanted a perfect cut and we had, so many takes of the same shot it was difficult to find the best one. I had to play through about four hours of footage and cut and rename folders, so my editing would be a lot easier. Even though editing took, so long and the color corrector I thought was a bit too drastic in some shots I still thought the meaning of the film was maintained.

Another overall problem we had as a group was time managing everything. We all had to skip some practices to make our production work and we still were rushed with our production, so everything did not turn out the way we wanted it to. Since we did not have too much time for our production every day we had to shoot and our shooting times took about five hours per day.

Initially in our script we had a hospital sequence, but had to compromise this since our production was taking already too much time. We called three different hospitals and visited two hospitals and two elderly homes, but did not meet success. We tried sweet talking our way and a couple time got close to a hospital location, but the process of them agreeing took too much time, so we finally decided to use a junior girl's house instead. I thought the room we used fit the scene well, but did not completely win us over because we had our hearts set on a hospital. The exact day we wanted to film we called the girl and she allowed us to use her house even though it was really last minute. In this case we were able to compromise many locations because we had a lot of acquaintances.

In scene two I think a last problem that arose was the time that we chose to film. This scene we were supposed to film in the day, but did not have any time early on because of our rivaling schedules, so had to settle for a night time shoot. This one shot took three hours because it was a sweeping shot, that we wanted in one take, so had to be as flawless as possible. After many takes we finally got the shot we wanted and after staying until midnight at another friend's house. Luckily she was really intrigued about our film and wanted to see our filming in action, so allowed us to stay really late instead of kick us out. With the night issue we set up the lighting kit, which created an illusion of the morning fairly well. The lights were really powerful, so we made the night seem fairly close to the day and no one questioned it.

Overall I thought this film was a great success the way the director, cinematographer, and I came together in times of worry was a feat in itself. I thought the cinematographer handled his role extremely well. His camera movements and angle changes added a heightened sense of drama to the film. Also I recall an instant where I was just taking to Sasha the lead actress and enjoying a laugh on the bench and our cinematographer immediately jumped on the opportunity and started filming. This shot was my favorite because it was completely natural and unexpected and varied from the constant running in this movie. I thought the running was getting a bit over-used, so a nice bench shot allowed a vary that made the audience more intrigued in the next events of the film. Overall the cinematography was applauded for and I thought it was a huge aspect in the success of our film.

The directing and acting of this film was equally as challenging and successful as the cinematography. The director in this film was everywhere; in pre-production, production, and post-production. He wanted everything perfect, so when one thing looked a bit awkward he immediately recognized it. I recall editing and him constantly checking over to make sure the edit made sense and the shots I chose to use were the best possible ones. Even during filming when there was a shot he was not satisfied with he would take over and do it himself to get it perfect, for example the shot of Sasha's point of view when she collapses. This shot was another of my favorites because it was an unorthodox shot that you rarely see and is never really used in films. In terms of acting I thought it went a lot more smoother because my acting experience had grown and we had auditions for the girls role. We did not want to choose people randomly like our last film because knew there would be the same acting struggles. Also this time each actor and actress had a script to read over, so we could know our lines and make it seem as natural as possible. The director in scenes where the acting was a bit tougher, would show an example of what he wanted, which was good because then we had a visual representation of what was being asked of us. Without the direction of our director the acting and film as a whole would have fell apart, but each aspect of our film complemented each other well.

The last parts of our film was during post-production, which was my own main role as editor. The director also was critical in this area because he helped design the sound track and decided on where to place each track. Our approach to this film was a classical film because we had constant cutting and did not want to hold one shot for too long. Also we incorporated deep focus and had a lot of shot variety, that supplements classical films. We incorporated many angles like over the shoulder, low angles and higher ones, so the same shots would not be used over and over again. We felt that if the same shots were to be used the running would bore the audience to death, so hoped the variety kept each person on the edge of their seats. I believe the sound track we used tied all aspects of the film together and gave the film the overall mood we were looking for. The music was not copyrighted also which we were especially proud of, since usually good films use high end tracks. Our tracks even though were pretty basic set the stage well and gave the shots more meaning overall to them.

I am proud of this film and am proud of my production team; with out constant encouragement and trust in one another's abilities I believe our production would not have been executed as well as it turned out.

Word Count: 1690

Advanced Editing Notes: 3. Soviet Montage and 4. Realism

Soviet Montage and Realism are two forms of editing that Pudovkin began in what he called "constructive editing." This technique is stressed by the fact that each shot has a new point and through the juxtaposition of shots, meaning is created. His usage of close ups were put together to make a unified meaning, and thought long shots were to close to reality, so other details, more intimate ones should be focused upon. Pudovkin's concept of constructive editing included montages that were most effective in conveying the idea underlying the complex jumble of real life.

Kuleshov's was Pudoovkin's mentor and also heavily influenced Soviet film makers and the theories of Pavlov. He believed that ideas are created by smaller details to produce one unified action and details can be unrelated to life. His effect allows the viewer to create the emotional meaning, once the film maker or producer puts the right objects in the film. An example of this would be the actor's expression not changing or varying, but the objects within the shots vary to give the viewer a different effect without the actor actually changing their expression. Some comedic shows and films have this circumstance of cutting to convey the light-hearted mood even though the actor's facial expressions stay stagnant.

The Eisensteinian montage was about constant change and the contrasting of opposites. The conflicts of opposites is the root of motion and change. He believed each shot should be linked; needing the conflict of two and a new idea. His montage works with the Odessa Steps sequence because he strives for sharply contrasting images which essentially was like a collision montage. A bunch of changing shots and action leading to a new idea that supports the Odessa Step sequence.

Andre Bazin was an editor that helped establish the theory and language of film analysis. He was responsible for creating an approach to analyzing a the body of a Director's work in order to discern patterns in style and themes. He believed that editing could destroy the effectiveness of a scene. Distortions in using formalist techniques, especially thematic ediing, can violate the complexities of reality. Formalists were egocentric and manipulative.Bazin followed more of a realistic approach and applauded realism, saying it can only be achieved by varying shots instead of cutting to individual shots.

Realist film makers strive for shot variety and change the depth and angles of shots, so what we are seeing is not stagnant because shots that hold on the same individual shot or depth is unrealistic. Shot variety portrays what we as human beings see in real life close objects, far objects not everything in the same range or perspective, as unrealistic shots and films convey.

Techniques realists use are for example cutting back on editing as much as they can, use deep focus, work on sound realism, focus on shot variety; and all these techniques are being implemented and are easier to accomplish since technology is advancing.