Does a particular sound element recur in ways that direct our attention? How does the film manipulate basic elements of sound like timbre, loudness, rhythms? OR 2. Color: What kind of color palette does the film have?

Assignment Question

3 Prompts. Chose 1 1. Sound: How does the filmmaker use sound to portray space and time? Does the soundtrack create a different set of cues from the image? In general, how do the soundtrack and image interact with one another?

How does the film use music (both diegetic, that is, music from the world of the film, and non-diegetic, i.e. the composer’s off-camera score)?

Does a particular sound element recur in ways that direct our attention? How does the film manipulate basic elements of sound like timbre, loudness, rhythms? OR 2. Color: What kind of color palette does the film have?

Is it bright and hard like a jukebox? Soft pastels? Autumnal colors? Hot colors, cold colors? Does the director set up oppositions in the colors, or does s/he draw our attention to a specific color scheme? Does s/he associate a color with a particular state of mind?

Does s/he use the color of an object to draw attention to it, to give it prominence in the frame and, thereby, more emotional resonance? How does the use of color affect our understanding of screen space? Does the film use a particular rhythmic relationship of colors (for example, the director might cut abruptly between radically different color schemes as a shock effect or, conversely, s/he might try to move as gently as possible from shot to shot)? OR 3. Camera movement and the use of long takes: Does the film utilize all six areas of off-screen space; when and how? How does camera movement reveal off-screen space? What is the relation between characters and camera movement?

How do characters get on and off screen; are they moving freely, are they trapped by the camera? Talk about the rhythm and speed of camera movement; is it fairly constant and, if not, how does it change and to what purpose? If a film uses long takes, it gives greater importance to cutting because there’s less of it; when the director does cut, why?

I am thinking of choosing The Cabinet of Dr Caligari 1919 and Nosferatu 1922 and the prompt would be Camera movement and use of long take. But I want also you to review the syllabus and pick out 2 ( One hour or longer) films and decide which prompt works best for the 2 films. If you think Dr Caligari and Nosferatu works, then we can write on it. But do check the syllabus list of film and see if you think there would be easier 2 films for you to pick out. Do let me know if you see 2 films you like and a prompt that fits it. Let’s discuss this first.