Image and Sound essay 2 - Grade: B PDF

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Clip 1 Frances Ha – Samantha Domett Thoughtful film techniques are carefully crafted to help develop storylines and captivate an audience. Directors enthrall us through actions, events and characters in order for the viewer to understand the development and progression that takes place in films. The film Frances Ha directed by Noah Baumbach 2012 (co-written by main actress Greta Gerwig), is a technically striking black and white romance comedy. It stars Greta Gerwig as Frances, a young woman with no sense of self control but endless amounts of sweet charm. Mickey Sumner, who plays Sophie her best friend, is maturing at an upward level compared to Frances, who is still holding onto her childish ways. The film is set in New York through the eyes of Frances, (an up and coming dancer) and her experiences. The film tugs and pins you in, by using film techniques such as cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene, dialogue and soundtrack, this helps the characters and the film develop throughout the entire story. The strength of friendships and relationships as a theme/theory in this film explores how people grow apart as they grow up and mature, they tie themselves down quicker than the average young adult. For the ones left behind such as Frances, it creates a humorous disenfranchised emotional way of life. Frances Ha is an interpersonal film which does not focus on events driving the film, but where the characters and the dialogue are the focus. A scene in Frances Ha which effectively uses relevant film techniques uncovers the closeness of friendship that Frances holds towards Sophie (compared to that of her boyfriend Dan), occurs in one of the first scenes in the film. We see Dan and Frances in his apartment where he shows her a photograph of cats as a segway for enticing Frances to move in with him. This clip outlines their relationship, we see the character’s behaviors and actions, the way they hold themselves, their feelings expressed throughout the scene. The character's objectives and intentions are made clear through the moving image techniques resulting by engaging the audience with a deeper depth of the characters and the story's development. Mise-en-scene represents all of the components that are in the lens, such as setting, lighting, props, costumes/clothes and characters behaviors, everything that goes into the final shot. Mise-en-scene is the easiest technique for viewers to spot, many of our memories from a film are formed by mise-en-scene (Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K 2008). Mise-en-scene is effective in clip one (Dan and Frances discussing moving in together where Frances misinterprets Dan’s words to mean they are breaking up) it allows the audience to see the inconsistent communication between the two characters. As discussed by Lorena PiattiFarnell 2012, clothes are not simply pieces of fabric, they are able to communicate reason, meaning and their intimate relationship. The framing of Brumbach’s, film Frances Ha is so successful because it supports and expands the story of Sophie and Frances’s relationship. It demonstrates how you can show distance in a relationship between two people, for example, clothing/costumes depict the level of maturity. Dan is wearing a plain t-shirt showing his straight minded narrow way of thinking. Whereas, Frances wears a polka dotted dress, messy bun and leggings, it is a relaxed carefree look, revealing her immature nature. Frances’s body language visibly changes in her response to Dan’s question with an awkwardness, in other scenes this is represented in flinging gestures and pulling back. Props are easily overlooked, they come in all shapes and sizes they are so much more than objects in a scene. The prop photos of the cats are shown in an up close shot, this prop outlines to the viewer exactly what Dan is visualizing when describing the cats. The interruption of Sophie’s phone call changes the energy of the conversation between Dan and Frances, Sophie is clearly more important than Dan, Frances’s response is over acted in a loud frivolous nature which sees Dan move. By Baumbach using an up-close shot of the photos, it shows the viewer what to focus on, giving us time to analyse the pictures in shot which is normally overlooked. The lighting used 1

in this scene looks natural giving a realistic feel to the audience, making it more believable instead of artificial lights (commonly used in Hollywood films). It is carried throughout the film making us believe we are watching more of a documentary of Frances’s life, instead of a film. Baumbach made the background “naked” as it allows the audience to focus more on the body, language and dialogue, otherwise the background could pull away from important parts of the scene. Baumbach uses these techniques as clues for the viewer to pick up the character’s way of thinking, towards one another and how it establishes their relationship further. Editing is the art of selection and amalgamation, it plays a pivotal element in film. (Ryan & Lenos 2012). It is a post-production process used to connect the story on screen so the film flows seamlessly. When the film is ready to edit the editor eliminates unwanted footage. She/he joins the chosen clips to the end of one to the beginning of the next. As stated by Ryan & Lenos 2012, editing allows the filmmakers to form the viewer's perception by serving an ideological objective, by merging different parts of a film into sequences, that decide how the audience sees the situation and the actors. In terms of Frances Ha, the scene Baumbach wanted us to focus on heavily involved actions and dialogue, so the cutting between each clip flowed seamlessly and it did not distract the viewer when watching the film. This was in order for us to understand the character's moods and relationships between one another. Jennifer Lame (the editor of Frances Ha) used a long cut at the beginning of the scene to illustrate to us that the characters were comfortable with each other’s company until, the argument arose, then faster cut clips started, including, the dialogue becoming shorter and quicker compared to the beginning, when it was slow and relaxed. By Jennifer Lame editing the film and by increasing the transition time for each clip, it not only built up suspense between the two characters, but allowed the viewer to uncover the character's emotion, therefore using the editing as an advantage. Bordwell, D & Thompson, K. 2008, states that cinematography writing in movement is not only about how we capture an action on screen but, how we show that action to the audience, meaning that cinematography is all about communicating to the viewer. It is not just about the information of what is happening on screen. The elements of cinematography include camera angles and camera shots. Frances Ha is filmed in black and white, which provided great freedom and simplicity, emphasizing architecture silvery tones and shapes. In order for the film to be just as captivating as a colour film, the director had to take advantage of close ups, to draw the audience into the attached emotion from the characters. For example, when close ups are shown of Dan and Frances it engages us to focus on their facial expressions and emotions, instead of medium or long shots where we focus more on the background. The close-up intensifies Dan’s feelings towards Frances who makes up excuses not to move in with him, which allows us to see Dan’s full reaction to the situation. In this clip they are firstly shown in the same shots together and then move to shots of separate isolation shots after Frances response. By Brumbach applying this element it shows the audience just by the camera angles and shots, the quick distance between the two characters that forms in this scene. Another example where this style is also used in this film is at the beginning of the montage between Sophie and Frances, where again they are shown in the same shots until Sophie brings up her boyfriend, where, Frances physically stands out the frame. This again shows the relationship/friend idea in the film. “Cinematic soundtrack is that which does not simply add to but, multiplies two or three times the effect of the image” Akira Kurosawa (Famous film maker). There are two main types of sounds for films diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sound emanates from the story world 2

such as dialogue, sound effect and background sound. Non-diegetic is sound added in after editing such as voiceovers, music which helps add more depth to the film. What the audience hears is determined by the needs of narrative (Lacey, N 2005). For example, in Frances Ha clever diegetic sound such as dialogue is used to capture the audience's attention. The dialogue is quirky and smart, this is shown in the scene where she uses quick answers to add an uncertainty to the conversation whereas, Dan has straight forward answers. Non-diegetic sound makes no feature in this clip except for background sound that could of been added in in the editing process. Frances Ha was filmed in Canon EOS 5D, the 5D holds grain in reality it is video noise mirrors film grain. However, many different soundtracks and pop songs are used within the film to emphasize moods and emotions in the characters supporting the story. In conclusion, friendship and relationships play a crucial role in this film, they carry the theme of the film throughout allowing the audience to understand the narrative. This interpersonal film uses film techniques that help us see the development across the film and growth of the characters. Each technique is so important as it shapes the film to what it is today. The mise-en-scene allows the audience to understand the setting and have a deeper insight to the scenery, editing allows the film to flow seamlessly and develop the characters. Black and white cinematography helps to fully involve the viewers in the film as well as the characters. Soundtrack shapes the impression of the characters and contributes to the narrative. All of these techniques help inform the audience of key themes/ideas such as relationships and friendships, in order to show the viewer, the story is essential to the narrative and character presentation.

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References: Bordwell, D & Thompson, K (2008) Film Art (pp.112 -263) Lacy N (2005) Introduction to Film (pp.16-22) Lorna Piatti-Farnell (2012) In the guise of Characters: Chapter 15 Ryan & Lenos (2012) Film Analysis (pp.75-95)

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