Film is an art form that has the power to move its audience emotionally and intellectually by creating impactful messages. Martin Scorsese creates depth and meaning in his 1976 film, Taxi Driver by employing various film techniques. There are many theories on the film Taxi Driver and its intended meaning. The films mise-en-scène invites the audience to enter Travis’ state of mind, arousing an array of interpretations on Travis, and consequently the central message of the film. However, I would argue that there is a dominant message of loneliness and alienation that is made particularly clear by the camerawork in the first scene in the night diner when Travis joins the other taxi drivers. In this scene, Scorsese utilizes the mise-en-scène, editing, …show more content…
As the camera follows Travis’ point of view, we see his withdraw visually. However, Scorsese uses psychoacoustics to further establish Travis’ withdraw. The audience is encouraged to cross over into Travis’ private universe when he opens a container of Alka-Seltzer tablets and drops it into his drink. The tablet fizzles and the fizzling sound eventually grows so loud that it overshadows all the other ambient sound around him. Loudness is often used to perceive distance; therefore, Travis’ proximity to the drink becomes exaggerated. However, when the camera cuts away from the Alka-Seltzer and to Travis watching it, the audience sees his proximity has not changed. Therefore, the increase in loudness did not result in Travis coming closer to the drink but rather him falling farther away from reality. The sound in this shot is significant to the films message of loneliness and alienation because it signifies Travis becoming increasingly closer to his isolation, and farther away from the world around him. It is a dreamlike example of Travis’ inner mind slowly losing its grip on …show more content…
The camera often takes on Travis’ point of view. By taking on Travis’ point of view the camera invites the audience into Travis’ mindset, which as a result, empathizes his disconnect from society. Travis’ attention often wanders in this scene and consequently, the camera wanders as well. After Travis gets done with his, first and only, contribution to the conversation by telling a story of a man who got his ear cut off, the camera cuts from a shot of Wizards point of view at an eye-level angle, to a close up of Travis at a higher angle tilted slightly downward. The difference in the two shots provides a feeling of disorientation, which was used strategically to suggest Travis is disoriented. Then the camera takes on Travis’ point of view in a tracking shot, which pans right, showing two pimps sitting across from him; it is slow and deliberate. The shot changes and pans left, stopping once the frame includes Travis, who seems oblivious to the conversations around him. This sequence of shots shows how Travis's attention is apart from the conversation and reiterates Travis’ inability to engage with others. Moreover, the camera continues to follow observed details by Travis as the scene progresses. There is a high angle shot of Travis as he drops an Alka-Seltzer tablet into a glass. As Travis’ attention becomes consumed by the fizzling glass of
Tommy’s rising music career takes him on the road and into the world of drugs. He eventually
Travis enjoyed getting out of his comfort zone.Travis lives back in his hometown with two kids and his own playground.He lives the life that others only dream of.Travis Pastrana has broken many bones and many records.Travis Pastrana’s life is different from from most more dangerous and more
Lee Daniels’ ‘The Butler’ is a biographical drama depicting the story of Cecil Gaines, a man who escaped a life of slavery and oppression to serve for eight presidents as a butler in the White House.
The film Rear Window effectively and heavily implements all four aspects of mise-en-scene in order to create themes that can easily be understood and broken down by and for its’ viewers. Sound and lack thereof is also used successfully especially in scenes where conversations cannot be made out either because music is used to deafen the audience or simply because the conversations are seen from Jeff’s perspective in which case he is simply too far away to hear anything. The primary setting of Rear Window as well as the important costumes and props that are present in this film are what allow this film to flow so well. Character movements and performances in Rear Window leave viewers with enigmas as well as reveal motifs that will be constantly seen or mentioned throughout the film. Lighting and sound are certainly key as they add to the suspense of Rear Window and offer even more enigmas.
Notably, the film Goodfellas is a classic film that is recognized as one of the greatest films of all time in regards to the crime genre. Indeed, the film Goodfellas is about American citizens who partake in criminal activity in order to make money. Furthermore, another film was made, shortly after Goodfellas achieved great success in the box office. Additionally, another film titled “The Real Goodfella” is the uncensored documentary explaining the reality behind Goodfellas, and gives a practical insight of the real dangers that could not be shown in Goodfellas. Also there are two articles that explain the explicit truth behind the criminal activity that mobsters justify as work. These sources show that mobsters have a hard time. Mobsters classify as above working class because they constantly have to steal, murder, and deal drugs just to stay alive and have money.
One of the main concepts when it comes to understanding film noir, first is the understanding of the definition. Film noir is “a cycle of postwar films that employed low key lighting and were literally dark” (Nichols, 500). In this particular genre, we are in a world where there is a lack of honesty and trust, many cases of seduction and betrayal, and darkness submerges people (Nichols, 250). Moreover, film noir reflects a tone of darkness, “exploring themes of seduction, betrayal, and murder” (Nichols, 58). In this film, we will learn more of how seduction and betrayal is used to express the darkness of the film. Some other traits of film noir that should be understood before exploring the two scenes is understanding the setting. In most cases, “film noir takes place in public spaces such as urban streets, cafes,
Mise-en-scene is the principle by which a piece of film will derive its meaning wholly from what happens in the single shot and not from the relationship between two shots. For example the director might include shots with various composition, angle, depth, movement, and lighting.
The star-studded romantic comedy Midnight in Paris is one of Woody Allen’s most recent films which he did both, wrote and directed. It is a film about a man named Gil (Owen Wilson) who travels to Paris with his fiancée’s parents in order to expand his imagination and he ends up embarking on a journey to the 1920s while walking the streets of Paris at night. Not only is this film engaging and witty, but it also manages to provide both, overt and covert examples of postmodernism in film. By analyzing Woody Allen’s 2011film Midnight in Paris, we can identify the presence of many underlying motifs in both the narrative and the characterization of the film when using some of Frederic Jameson and Jean Baudrillard’s concepts on postmodernism.
He starts off with a medium shot of the individual in the center of the screen; they start rapidly listing off racial slurs and stereotypes and the camera zooms in which emphasizes how violent it is. By the end of the rampage, the shot is an extreme close-up of the character’s face and you can feel the anger and hatred they have for that particular race. The climactic buildup at the end of the film was full of canted angles, shadowy lighting, dozens of fast shot/reverse shots that in full only lasted less than two minutes. The scene at the end of the movie, the hierarchy of confrontations and tensions between the characters, is a canted low angle shot of Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out after they stormed into Sal’s Pizza Shop makes them appear more powerful and intimidating than Sal. All the shots of Sal are a counterclockwise tilt high angle, causing him to look inferior. The quick cuts back and forth between the two gives the film a sense of the tensions and anger. It is not until Sal rises up to the plate and smashes the radio, that he is being filmed at a leveled angle to show that he is not inferior anymore, but at the same
In Taxi Driver, Scorsese manages his camera angles and editing to emphasize Travis seeing the world through glass or mirrors, especially the windshield and rear-view mirror of the taxi, through which all major characters enter Taxi Driver: Betsy through the panes of an all-- glass office; Palantine through his rear-view mirror; and Iris and Sport in a fleeting glance in his mirror. As Travis meets with a black-market gun dealer, and in this scene the weapon literally becomes the organ of perception. Scorsese situates his camera on Travis' arm as that arm takes the weapon and slowly pans it across the window looking down on the street below. Finally, in the scene which has made Travis Bickle a cinematic icon ("Are you talking to me?"), Travis looks into his mirror, challenges imaginary adversaries, and draws his various weapons in assault. The ambiguity of the image is poignant: Travis looks into a mirror and makes a self-destructive gesture foreshadowing his attempted suicide at the climax of the film, and Travis peers through the looking glass and
In Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, I believe the movie's design has a unified feel. By understanding Anderson's approach to cinematography, we can tell that the costume and visual designs ensemble a true Wes Anderson's film. In fact, he is indulged with patterns and lively colors. His plot mainly reflects an old- fashioned, nostalgic feel and he is a bit playful with camerawork. On the other hand, the Grand Budapest really feel like a lively, happy hotel. The use of colors and contrasting hues made the setting almost looks like a painting. For example, the frame narrative where the Grand Budapest Hotel became the setting, the mise-en-scène and the lighting of the film become almost too symmetrical and mannered, especially during the
Taxi Driver (1976) follows Travis Bickle’s life in New York after being honorably discharged. The film is a psychological thriller that deals with Travis Bickle’s mental instability and desire to do something meaningful with his life. The narrative centers around Travis’ loneliness and disconnect from society.
In the Film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski. We witness a scene where Szpilman is injured, filthy and starving he rummages around looking for anything to sustain himself. He finds a can of gherkins which he struggles to open he finds some fire stoking equipment and begins opening the can however due to the state of Szpilman he drops the can and the contents falls and drains at the soldier 's feet. In the Hosenfeld scene Points which will be covered are the visual aspects, the aural elements, the mise en scene aspects and post production elements and how all these elements relate to the “big Idea” of having something or someone to hold onto can make you stay focussed and not give up.
As the audience knows well already since the very first scene, Sunset Boulevard does not have what one would call a “happy ending.” In this sense, the movie gives itself away as film noir considering the fact that all such works of cinema which fall in this style category are known to have dark themes predominantly sending a message of hopelessness and meaningless existence. With Joe’s lifeless body floating around in a swimming pool in mind throughout the entire movie, audiences of this motion picture are filled with a sense of pointlessness for Joe’s life, since his personal resolutions and growth as a
The character of Travis Bickle roams the nights in his taxi cab, and witnesses all of this “open sewer”,