La Boheme

"Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score.” Right? And film “emcompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form and when these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring.”

As I watched Mimi and Rodolfo sing their tragic song in the snow, I am gripped all at once by: the terrible camera work; the beauty of their voices; amazement at how bad their acting is (dramatic reaction face, check, kneeling in the snow despairing at life and justly expressing anguish at being poor/dying/being in love, check); the exquisite arrangement of the black costumes surrounded by pure white snow and I didn't know how to react to such a beautiful story being slashed, ruined, hacked, chainsawed, chopped, gutted and altogether destroyed by 'romantic' crossovers, flipped mirror images and about a thousand close up of 'reactions' to something we all know about but are waiting for them to actually SAY it. My, my.

You see, I was very excited to think that an opera had been turned into a film but the singing had been kept. Unfortunately it seems that Robert Dornhelm had failed to see how to marry the two lovely things together and ended up stumbling between a theatrical set and film set. There are rules, dear Dornhelm, when it comes to the two different things, and they must be kept to. It's about just as obvious as the rule 'don't run with scissors.'

I don't mean to rant and I certainly don't want to give the impression that there weren't some utterly lovely moments such as the second last shot of the entire film – it breaks your heart when she dies.

But back to that scene in the snow. In my opinion simplicity is the key, especially when the main attractions of La Boheme are the voices and the tragic story. Therefore the focus needs to be on the voices but whilst being able to move the story forward in a realistic way in that the time frames feel right and that the events which occur provide an appropriate sequence to the ultimate ending. That wasn't achieved in that scene, nor in any other scene really, because at the insistence trying to show the audience the pained expressions of both Mimi and Rodolfo in so many different shots as possible in such a short time. I think it would have worked better if just three angles had been used to show the dialogue between the two. The effect of their black clothes and black hair against the snow (their poverty blackens the beauty of the white and pure snow around them) and their voices would have been enough, perfect even.

It was clear that the positions they used and movements would have worked on the stage (they part and come together, again and again when singing) but on the screen it was stilted. And so they tried to cover it up by breaking it up with lots of different angles instead of biting the bullet by actually taking a step further and getting the actors to move in a fluid manner – and that could've been achieved by cutting some of the dialogue and shortening it as it hampered the 'real' passage of time.

It was like watching something in slow motion but then the characters would move in real time and then the whole world would melt. Then the puzzlement would magnify when the subtitles said that Rodolfo had really just taken 2 minutes to say 5 words. Oh, how awful it would have been if one of them had garlic for lunch.

Am I making sense here?

Basically what I'm trying to say is a film is a film and a opera is an opera. You can't have both and so if you want to tell the story of La Boheme on screen, you have to use the film rules. Bring in longer sequences – forget using the act layout so literally – cut down the long winded nature of the singing (especially if you're translating from another language) so that the audience's attention can be retained as you develop each character and their relationships. We only got to see snippets of each person's personality and I was often confused as they changed so much. The acting – to be a broad actor works well on stage. On screen you see everything. There's no point in standing motionless and blank faced when you discover Mimi is dying, do something!

By making it complicated (ironically by over-simplifying it) you'll lose the new audience that you need to make back the money. I would imagine that La Boheme was a gamble and no one will be too happy if it doesn't sell well.

I would love to get my hands on it and give the opera the interpretation it deserves! Some of it was just so beautiful, I was really quite sad about the whole thing.

nearly the end of term...

After the summative meeting with Andy about the assessments we have had so far yesterday morning, I feel much better. It's true I haven't been blogging enough and so over the next few weeks with vegetarian mince pies and my remote at the ready I'll be posting much more about what I think about the course, what I'm watching (finally I'll be able to feast on TV programmes, even the word documentary makes me terribly happy) and what I'm reading!

So far I've had a great time, but the course hasn't been without its up and downs! The first few weeks were mainly about settling in and getting to know our small and quirky DFTV family (and with 7 birthdays so far we've had a lot of cakes and celebration!) and I'm still so excited about spending the next three years working with everybody's different styles and collaborating with them as well as working with other courses.

But then it was to work...Mondays have been devoted to plant pots and premises and I think I've enjoyed this the most so far. I've always loved writing short stories and so the screenwriting classes have been comforting in that I know what I'm doing. Richard has definitely slyly led us into thinking about things I never thought of before and my favourite exercise has been postsecret. Making my postcards made me able to face to some secrets and more (I had an alarming 5 pages worth of secrets!) but in a good way, because it gave a chance to start moving on from them. Sometimes I wish I could've kept mine, but I know Richard is looking after them, and there is something good about physically letting go of them. What I've really gained from these Mondays so far is the realisation that I can share anything and someone, somewhere will be able to identify with it. That person might be someone who you would never stop to talk to, or even look at but equally it may be the person you call your best friend but the thing you're both thinking is never talked about. But film can change that because as soon as you turn it into a fictional person's story others are able to move forward and connect with that character and by doing that you can give so many more people a feeling of togetherness than you could ever do just by yourself.

My stories, I hope, will start to improve as well and I'm hoping to start working together my fiction and my own personal experiences into convincing scripts in the new year and I want to try out different styles so I can work out what else works for me.

Having Ray for camera has been good fun :) if not a tad complicated for me! I've learned I'm not too great with buttons and finding them, but once I do and when I know the purpose behind it I get much more confident about using it. I need to be taking the kit out and playing about with it though (I'm hoping to do an hour this week before we all leave for Christmas) to really get to grips with it and hopefully I won't be so scared of the equipment next term. I'd also like to go on a shoot to watch the 2^nd years work with the equipment and see how it all works, but maybe that would be too complicated...

In post production, if I'm completely honest, the bits I've liked the most have been the assessments! This is because with Part A (when we had to answer 50 questions about keyboard shortcuts and technical things) I was able to read it all over, highlight the key points and then apply the answer to the question in detail. I haven't felt like I've been able to do this in class and a lot of the information has just washed over me. What Gavin was doing on the projected screen never has seemed to happen on mine and I've often been confused.

A different thing happened with Part B (when we had to edit one minute's worth of footage .. “It's a Ducati..” {woman gazes into the sunset} haha) in that I was able to be creative in the DTU, but I still was much happier than I have been in class. I know it's important to get to grips with the technical stuff but I've fallen behind and it's frustrating when I know editing can be so much fun. I love building up a visual story and experimenting with the tone and mood of a piece.

Over the Christmas holidays I'm going to read over the booklet again and write down the key facts and print out the diagrams (which really help) into a nice notebook titled 'Post Production' and so hopefully the theory and the action will click next term. (:

I really like Adam's classes as well. Working on my premises has been an interesting process. I sometimes feel like I'm one of those board games when at the throw of the dice I could either move forward one step with a good premise or move backwards 5 spaces with a bad one! I find the trouble is compressing it but at the same time keeping the attraction of the idea there, the “sexiness” as Adam likes to say! I like writing them though, so I'll just keep working at them until I know I can throw a good number on the dice each time.

In Andy's classes we've been treated to painful episodes of Coronation Street (but hey, they're only 22 mins) and upsetting group exercises. Only kidding, I have enjoyed CCS1 with all of its marketing facts and the way the film industry works. The classes have given me a good background which we need to keep in mind when we're being creative because essentially our careers will be based on selling at TV programme or a film. What I've learned most from Andy so far is that TV is huger part of my life than I ever thought....I've really missed watching television and when I am at home, I'm amazed at how often I switch it on and how much of an impact adverts have on me, when I always used to dismiss them.

Finally on Fridays we've been able to kick back and watch a variety of films this term. I have to say I've enjoyed Chaplin's films the most and the film about him as well (this was the first time I'd watched Robert Downey Jr and now I'm in love)! Everything about The Kid in particular appealed to me and it deeply moved me as well. The way it was shot was really impressive given that it was made in 1921, and as Andy said, Charlie Chaplin really knew how to manipulate film and how to use timing to great effect (for example when he is running over the rooftops to catch up with the van, the van is always in a realistic place for the time supposed to have lapsed.)

I guess appreciating Chaplin's sense of humour helps as well and I was just as entertained by him than I would've been watching a modern comedic film, maybe even more so because his humour was stripped down to simple facial expressions, body movement and timing without even the help of dialogue. Jackie Coogan's performance as the 'orphan' was stunning though, and I was really surprised at his capacity to act at such a young age.

I think what helped make me love the film even more was that I'd watched Chaplin before The Kid and so I knew about Charlie's own childhood. In addition to that, being without a father whilst growing up has made me more aware of how people can forge their own personal relationships with people who aren't necessarily relatives and one of the father figures in my own life is called Charlie, so even though the film is 88 years old and the situation is different, I can still relate to it.

Overall it's been a great term altogether but I'm going to address the things I've been struggling with like the frequency of blogging, my timekeeping and being able to submit my ideas more confidently! As I can't wait to get back home for Christmas and relax, I know I can't wait to get back again refreshed and ready to go again!

Merry Christmas my lovelies :) XOXO

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari…Creepy, creepy, creepy

Even after reading an intellectual synopsis online, my mind boggled at the storyline and the metaphorical theories attached to each character (is Cesare a representation of Francis's desire for Jane; and is Alan meant to symbolise anything that prevents Francis from winning Jane's affection?) but then I realised that I would never really want to – as much as I like dissecting metaphorical theories within films and assessing the relationships between the characters, this time I preferred watching and enjoying the production design and each scene as itself. The art deco images individually captured my attention, as well as my imagination to a huge extent.

What first struck me was that I was immediately distanced from the emotional potential of the film. This happened through the use of the colours and the cartoon like presentation of the plaques (the words looked handwritten, and the backgrounds resembled a comic strip.) The lurid colours made me think of looking at things from the viewpoint of a bug, or an alien – or as I later thought as a madman, the slides with writing reminded me of Brechtian plays in which the audience were actively distanced from the emotional potential because they were being told what was happening in a written form, and before the event happened – and not simply in dialogue. Which brings me to mention the effect the silence of the film had on me. For me there is something particularly romantic and fascinating about seeing people speaking and not being able to hear them, indeed when are you are so used to be able to in modern cinema. The actors' expressions are so vivid and strong (verging on melodramatic) that their faces were enough for me to look at, never mind the story. I'm always left thinking what they're really thinking, and why they are saying that, when they're clearly thinking something different…or how sometimes how hard or easy it is read people. Accordingly, as is often the case with silent films, watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was like being a spectator of a moving picture storybook. (This is also emphasised by the fact the reality of time is constantly broken by the use of the written slides.) Again, I'm given the sense, when this happens, that I'm seeing a world, a history, a life that I can't quite touch because I can't hear them and therefore they're not real..

Another thing I was very aware of (but something articulate exactly) is that I was watching something, not from, but IN the past. Did anyone else feel this?

I enjoyed it very much, and though the subject matter of madness always makes me extremely uncomfortable as it forces me to assess where the lines of sanity and insanity cross over (strangely, I always get this feeling a little when watching Willy Wonka and seeing fairs and rides always creep me out slightly..In fact, so did Hunger – in a very big way – I don't like madness.) Anyway, I liked watching the visual artistry of the film and the soundtrack was beautiful (it echoed the romanticism, and the emotions felt by the characters perfectly.)

ching and enjoying the production design and each scene as itself. The art deco images individually captured my attention, as well as my imagination to a huge extent.

What first struck me was that I was immediately distanced from the emotional potential of the film. This happened through the use of the colours and the cartoon like presentation of the plaques (the words looked handwritten, and the backgrounds resembled a comic strip.) The lurid colours made me think of looking at things from the viewpoint of a bug, or an alien – or as I later thought as a madman, the slides with writing reminded me of Brechtian plays in which the audience were actively distanced from the emotional potential because they were being told what was happening in a written form, and before the event happened – and not simply in dialogue. Which brings me to mention the effect the silence of the film had on me. For me there is something particularly romantic and fascinating about seeing people speaking and not being able to hear them, indeed when are you are so used to be able to in modern cinema. The actors' expressions are so vivid and strong (verging on melodramatic) that their faces were enough for me to look at, never mind the story. Accordingly, as is often the case with silent films, watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was like being a spectator of a moving picture storybook. (This is also emphasised by the fact the reality of time is constantly broken by the use of the written slides.)

Another thing I was very aware of (but something I can't articulate exactly) is that I was watching something, not from, but IN the past. Did anyone else feel this?

I enjoyed it very much, and though the subject matter of madness always makes me extremely uncomfortable as it forces me to assess where the lines of sanity and insanity cross over (strangely, I always get this feeling a little when watching Willy Wonka and seeing fairs and rides always creep me out slightly..In fact, so did Hunger – in a very big way – ok, I don't like madness.) Anyway, I liked watching the visual artistry of the film and the soundtrack was beautiful (it echoed the romanticism, and the emotions felt by the characters perfectly.)

Coronation Street

Coronation Street is known to be 'The Nation's Street' and it was first aired on 9 December 1960. It continues to be the most watched soap opera on British television and it is the longest running as well.

I watched Friday's episode (4th December 2009) on STV Player and it was clear that the show is based on family relationships, and the structure of the community. The episode opened on a grandparent having a conversation with their grandchild, and this, for me, introduced the family based theme. This was reinterated by a scene showing the strained relationship between Steve and his daughter – both scenes are realistic and reflect true life which will make the audience empathise with the characters.

The relationships between the communities members are complex and within one episode included controversy, manipulation, pretence and love. All these make a good viewing. There was obvious friction between the two characters Ken and Peter, as Ken tried (unsuccessfully) to get Peter to go back on his proposal of a new bar. Scandal is not amiss either when Steve and a young girl secretly kiss and she presses for him to go public about their 'relationship'. There was also a touch of lighthearted comedy – the rehearsals for the Rovers Xmas Panto begin and ends up with a brawl between two characters (both women) but they are comically very pleased with their 'acting' efforts!

From seeing one episode, it was clear that Coronation Street is a success by adhereing to a format which involves the audience to empathise with the characters (family themes) and by creating conflict and exciting, taboo plots. All ages can watch The Street because it's characters represent each generation, as well as both the working class and the middle class.

Paranormal Activity

'The entire auditorium was freaked out of their minds.. people were physically shaken.'

- Dread Central

Paranormal Activity is the new Blair Witch Project and it's currently taking the cinemas by storm as people freak out and argue online about whether it is real or not...

Yes, I jumped and I freaked (but I didn't scream) when she is dragged out of bed by an invisible force, when there are random loud bangs and the door moves by itself, and shadows move when they're not supposed to...but what I enjoyed most was the editing! I knew from the start that it couldn't be a real film and so I really liked how they constructed the film and through that invited everybody to imagine how it could easily be them. The budget was only $15,000 and they have, so far, grossed $100 million, making it the most profitable independent film ever made. The shooting was completed in 7 days - "It was a very intense week," Peli recalled, stating that the film would be shot day and night, edited at the same time, and would have the visual effects applied to it as the footage was being finalized by the actors whom Peli called, "unbelievably professional and smart" throughout, adding that they surpassed being actors and became true "storytellers." - but it took more than 2 years to reach Cineworld down the road.

(It got taken to Slamdance Festival in 2007 but it spent a few years being tossed between Miramax, Dreamworks and Paramount Pictures. Eventually when the film was screened in Santa Monica with a sold out crowd of teenagers (mostly), its reputation was cemented and Peli and Blum sold its international rights to 52 different countries. The buzz generated from this convinced Adam Goodman (Paramount's main executive) to release the film on the fall schedule. At one point it also received 1,000,000 demands on ParanormalMovie.com and it then jumped over the pond to my wee Glasgow and beyond!)

The set was Peli's own home but he refurbished to suit the setting but the young couple's set up is nothing unusual and they're “engaged to be engaged.” Living in a two-storey house – which is something that's identifiable with people all over the world. – they buy a camera to record what goes on while they sleep...

The editing creates a lot of the tension that build up gradually throughout the film – there is a sense of equilibrium at the beginning (and the inciting incident is when the door moves by itself on the third night of filming) but the end is the peak incident and there is no equilibrium achieved, which is what makes the last shot so terrifying.The night vision forces us to see things in a more alien environment – we are not used to that because we are usually sleeping too when it's dark with no lights on. The power in being able to see the things that happen when Katie and Micha can't is scary in itself. There is no warning as to when the next fright is going to come along because they are in the most vulnerable human state – asleep. There's no constant “what was that?”, no “let's get the gun and find them”, and this helps generate pure fear when we hear the loud bangs and unnatural growls as and when the characters do. The only warning that is given is when digits stop fast forwarding and play – the anticipation in that was huge – because we knew we were about to see something awful, or scary, or incomprehensible. By remaining stationary and flicking through the hours and minutes and seconds made me feel time and the night was out of my control but somehow the demon was – because the only reason why the clock would stop is when the demon was present.

The special effects were impressive I gotta say that – the shadows moving with no lead got to me the most – every human being in this world has a shadow which follows them with no exception – so to see that in such a realistic environment creeped me out!

There are three endings for Paranormal Activity and I think a combination would've worked well. In the original cut there was an extended scene about the possessed girl they found on the internet and footage is shown of her chewing off her own arm. (Ewww...) The ending for the original cut doesn't show Micha's body being thrown at the camera, but instead Katie coming back to the bedroom holding a knife with blood on her top. She then rocks back and forth on the floor and stays there for the day. A message is left on the phone by her friend Amber, who then comes to the house to find Micha's body downstairs. Katie is then shot by the police when they arrive as she comes out of her catatonic state, but when the door slams behind them the police let fire. The movie ends with audo of the police discovering the camera as the credits roll. The third ending, according to Oren Peli, was shown at only one public viewing and Katie returns to the bedroom with the knife and slitting her own throat in view of the camera.

The audience was interesting as well. The theatre was full (around 600 seats) with adults in their 20s, 30s, 40 and 50s to teenagers ages 12-19. A lot of teenagers came in large groups and they were typical of the working class Glaswegian culture in the way they dressed and acted. (I felt almost embarrassed at the 'arty' trailers as I knew plenty were not interested, or taking the mick.) They were extremely interactive – when the lights went down a big 'oooh' went up and when the timer stopped everyone tensed up and you could hear people muttering “oh my god”. Mainly though, there was just a lot of screaming. Especially from the to girls in my row – it got to the point I didn't even know what screams were coming from the screen or from the audience!

I enjoyed PA for its use of camerawork, editing and the seco poo nd last frame of the film – Micha's body being thrown at the camera delivers a shock because you literally don't see it coming – however, this is let down by the poor anaesthetics (the blood on her shirt looks like tie-dye!) and the shot of her lunging at the camera – its not realistic.

Barely three stars for the end product, 5 stars for the idea.

P.S There is a number 2 in the pipeline....