TCF 112 1st EditionExam #2 Study Guide Lectures: 6-7People:- Orson WellesKnown for Citizen KaneMusician, theater director, and radio performerBrings many artistic talents to cinemaFormed “The Mercury Players” in NYC- Fred AstairePart of Astaire and Rogers MusicalsAstaire-Rogers Poetics1. Non-diegetic music for many numbers2. Music and dance are integral to stories3. Proscenium and subtly moving camera4. Wide shots capture performers’ movements5. Long shots (duration) to capture entirety of the performance flow (editing undermines authenticity)- Ginger RogersPart of Astaire and Rogers MusicalsAstaire-Rogers Poetics1. Non-diegetic music for many numbers2. Music and dance are integral to stories3. Proscenium and subtly moving camera4. Wide shots capture performers movements5. Long shots (duration) to capture entirety of the performance flow (editing undermines authenticity)- William H. HaysMPPDA first headed by William H. Hayes“Hay’s Code” named after him- Gregg TolandRefined wide-angle cinematography characterized by the use of deep-focusWorked on “Citizen Kane”- Herman MankiewiczCo-wrote “Citizen Kane”- Joseph BreenProduction Code didn’t get its real teeth until Joseph Breen took overCode Under Joseph Breen:Enforced in 1934Created a pre-code & post-code dividing line in film historyProduction Code was NOT enforced by the governmentJoseph Breen was head of the new Production Code Administration (PCA) in 1934- William R. Hearst Powerful newspaper ownerWas the subject of Orson Welles “Citizen Kane”William Randolph Hearst wanted Citizen Kane to fail Hearst killed the film in box offices- John FordWrote about opposition between garden and wildernessDirected “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”- John HousemanDirected a modernized version of “Julius Caesar” that evoked the spectre of Hitler and Mussolini's Fascist statesHelped bring Orson Welles to powerWas part of The Mercury Players- Gene KellyDirected and starred in “Singin’ In The Rain”- Al JolsonStarred in “The Jazz Singer”- Mr. BrainwashThe main subject of “Exit Through the Gift Shop”- Alan CroslandDirector of “The Jazz Singer”Director of “Don Juan”- Busby Berkeley Reinvents “the musical”Gave film audiences views of the stage, performers, and sets unavailable to theater viewers- Fred ZinnemannDirected High Noon- Lee de ForestInvented the audion tubeAssociated with the birth of the televisionPatented in 1908Solved the problem of amplification- BanksyStreet artist who directed “Exit Through The Gift Shop”Terms:- Production Code Administration & its rulesSet of industry guidelines regarding film content First headed by William H. HayesCreated a pre-code & post-code dividing line in film historyProduction Code was NOT enforced by the governmentJoseph Breen was head of the new Production Code Administration (PCA) in 1934Code Requirements:Avoid brutalityAvoid sexual promiscuity- Shot/reverse-shotFilm technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they arelooking at each otherA feature of the "Classical" Hollywood style of continuity editing- Welles lightning mixesRelational sound editingSound as transitionSound bridge=”lightning mix”Welles used this technique to link complex montage sequences via a series of related sounds or phrases- Composition-in-depth- Act/Sequence/Scene/BeatFrom biggest to smallest element of dramatic structure• Act-a major movementGenerally 3-4Peaks/turns in a climactic sceneEnds/changes on a major reversal• Sequence-series of events within an actTied together with single idea or goalSome of the best known elements in film historyTypically have a beginning, middle, and an end• SceneAnywhere from 2-5 scenes per sequence Screenplay building blocksDemonstrate action through conflictDiscrete/self-contained units of dramatic action/story event• BeatsSmallest elements of dramatic structure Offer actor opportunity for dramatic choiceMay not be acted uponDialectical behaviors or choices exercised in a sceneHighlight differences between text and subtext- Main elements of “Classical Hollywood Style”Founded on principle of “invisible” editingDominant aesthetic mode in HW for decades“Excessively obvious cinema”- Low/High angle shotsHigh angles present a point of view directed at a downward angle on individuals or a sceneLow angles view the subject from a position lower than it is- Glance-object cutA transition from a character looking off-screen to a shot of what the character sees- Hays CodeNickname for the Production CodeSet of industry guidelines regarding film contentNo real power until Joseph Breen took over- Warner Bros.Warner Bros studio was responsible for the populizing of soundTook a gamble on sound tech and won- Film semanticsAll elements of a filmGenres building blocks and screen elements (physical elements, characters)- Integrated musicalWhen musicals begin to integrate musical numbers into more common situations and realistic actions- MPPDA/MPAAThe Motion Picture Production CodeMPPDA first headed by William H. HayesFormulated and formally adopted The Production CodeThe Association of Motion Picture Producers, Inc. and The Motion Picture Producers andDistributors of America, Inc. - Sound-on-filmSingle system solutionSound effects, music, and dialogue are recorded onto a film strip and a light optically reads the audio track, producing soundRemedies the problems of length differentials and synchronization- Mercury playersAn independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman.- Continuity editingA system that uses cuts and other transitions to establish verisimilitude and to tell stories efficiently, requiring minimal mental effort on the part of the viewers- Sound-on-disc (problems)Dual systemVitaphoneMade popular by Warner Bros- Spaghetti western traitsProduced by Italian studiosShot in Italy and SpainCharismatic anti-heroDemythologized western narrativesInternational casts and crewsPopular 1960’s-1970’sLow production budgets- Narration vs. Plot vs. StoryStory-what the film tells us; events that characters go throughPlot-abstract scheme of the story; dispassionate