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HOLLYWOOD SNOOPSExploring Certain Investigative

Tendencies in the Cinema of Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Samuel Fuller and Errol Morris

By Alan Taylor, Berlin

HOLLYWOOD SNOOPSCourse Leader. Alan Taylor

The John F. Kennedy Institute of

North American StudiesThe Freie University of Berlin

Fall/Winter 08-09

JFK-I; Berlin, SNOOPS 08/09

AT [email protected] 3

Introduction Overview

1. A script reading2. Storyboards interpretation3. Shared analysis4. Principles of mise-en-scene



Narrative Terms – A Sample

Antagonist CatharsisCausal RelationshipCharacterClimaxComplicationConflictCrisisDénouementDialogueEpiphanyExpositionForeshadow

Genre Hero & Hubris Irony

Point of View

Plot

Protagonist

Reversal

Story

Subplot

Subtext

Suspense

Theme



Technical Terms – A Sample

AngleBlockingClose upColour codesCompositionContinuity systemCross-cuttingExpressive spaceEye line matchingFrameImpact editingLong shot

Medium shot

Mise en scene

Montage

Point of view shot

Shot-reverse shot

Three-point lighting

Tracking shot

Voice over

Zoom



The Classic Narrative Paradigm

ACT 1 ACT 2 ACT 3

ORDER CHAOS ORDER / 2

HOOK 30 min 60 min 90min 120 min

The inciting incident



EARLY DAYS 1912 - 1919

“…they came pouring in, mostly illegible scrawls, written on everything from postcards to butcher paper…One in five hundred was acceptable…”

B.P. Schulberg,



Opening Rules

“…must have situations plainly visible…a clearly defined story…the complications should start immediately and the developments come with the proper regard to sequence…too many notes and subtleties interrupt the story and detract from the interest…let your stories, though they both strong in plot… be convincing, the situations not merely possible but probable…”



From Silents to the Talkies ( 2 )

1. The Director Unit System 09 – 1914 (Chaplin, Griffith, Keaton)

2. 2. Central Producer System, 1914 (Thomas Ince)

3. Division of Labour – 1920s4. Sound 19285. Standardisation of practices 6. Classic Narrative and Style, 1930s-1940s

(see Bordwell, 1985)



THE STUDIO SYSTEM

PRINCIPLES OF CONTINUITY

1. EDITING, from COVERAGE to SHOTS2. EYE-LINE MATCHING3. 180 degree RULE4. CAMERA ANGLES - DRAMATICALLY

JUSTIFIED/GENRE CODES



STANDARDISATION

“…filmmaking is governed by the division of labor (specialization), by a product measured against its economic success (commercialization) and by a calculable production (standardization).

As the length of motion pictures increased in the 1920s, the screenplay came to occupy a key position in production…”

Claudia Sternberg, p. 7



TAYLORISM….(honest!)

1. Scientific Principles of Management2. Maximising Work flow, time & motion3. Mass Production – Assembly Line4. Car Industry, Ford5. Isolated work functions6. Efficiency, Predictability, Measurability7. Control



Control on the Studio Floor

1. Division of Labour & managerial oversight via the continuity sheet

2. Standardised agreements across studios3. Emergence of trade unions4. Genre-based stories5. Manufactured & contracted star system6. Block booking distribution7. The ‘Academy’ & The Oscars



The Auteur Theory

A personal style

A meaningful coherence

Stylistic consistency

An increasingly mature vision



MISE EN SCENE

1. A personal style in and around genre conventions2. A gap between stated scene narrative and stylistic emphasis of camera3. The manipulation of scenic elements4. Lighting, camera, lens, movement, pace5. Imagery, colour, framing, composition6. Blocking, performance, dramatic weight



THEMES1. A line of recurring motifs, tensions, ideas

2. Relationships across characters

3. Subtextual features in the narrative

4. A maturing of thematic understanding & exploration



ARTISTIC VISION

The conscious and unconscious

development of an artist, exploring and deepening given personal themes made meaningful to an audience over time.



CONSEQUENCESRE- APPRAISAL OF STUDIO DIRECTORS & GENRES

ie: Howard Hawks 1896 -1977

Bringing Up Baby, 1938 Screwball ComedyGentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953 MusicalRed River, 1948 WesternLand of the Pharoes, 1955 Biblical Epic



Or...HITCHCOCK1. 52 films2. Personal vision within given genres3. Self-defined auteur4. Director and producer5. Consistent collaborators 6. Developmental motifs and themes



HITCHCOCKS DISAPPEARING WOMEN

THE LADY VANISHES (1938) She is there, she dis-appears,

returns aliveREBECCA (1940)

His wife lives, but dies. He (re) marries Rebecca



Hitchcock‘s Disappearing Women

VERTIGO (1958) She is there, she dies, returns, then dies again

PSYCHO (1961) She lives, she dies. Her sister returns

MARNIE (1964) She is dead inside and emerges into life



Auteur Theory – Problems

1. Filmmaking a collaborative process

2. Structuralist theory, the problem of meaning and the death of the author, (1970s – 1980s).

3. Genius....or repetition?

4. Meaning and value....in who‘s eyes?

5. Corporate appropriation by the industry for marketing



GENRE THEORY The Principle of Repetition and Difference in1. narrative conventions 2. visual, aural codesAUDIENCE 1. pleasure and control2. recognitionPRODUCER 1. marketing and distribution2. standardisation of output

TEXT



HISTORICAL CYCLE Model One

Growth

Development

Decay

Model Two

Experimental Classic Elaboration Self-Referential



For the Writers/Directors/Producers

“To anticipate the anticipations of your audience you must master your genre and its conventions….”

Robert McGee, STORY



COMPARATIVE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

1933 - The Man From Utah1952 - Shane.. Stevens1955 - The Searchers.....Ford

1961 - Ride the High Country...Peckinpah1964 - Fistful of Dollars....Leone

1969 - The Wild Bunch.........Peckinpah



Sequence Analysis - Genre

THEWESTERN

THE MAN FROM UTAH

THE SEARCHERS1955

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY1961

FISTFUL DOLLARS1964

THE WILD BUNCH1969

ActionIconographic ElementsSimilarities & Differences



The Artist and the Rules

AUTEUR THEORY and GENRE

We must be prepared to entertain the idea that auteurs grow, and that genre can help to crystallize preoccupations and contribute

actively to development... Kitses 1969

GROUP DISCUSSIONq & a

NEXT UP: STRUCTURALISM

[email protected], November, 2008

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