Exploring Film Techniques

Harold and Maude

The imagery depicted in the clips that were shown in class were very striking in the way each scene visually contrasted against each other to reflect a deeper meaning. In the scene where Harold and Maude are discussing what they like to do for fun, Harold takes Maude to a dumpster where things are being crushed and destroyed. In contrast Maude takes Harold to a greenhouse because she likes to watch things grow. These scenes depicted the differences between Harold’s focus on death and Maude’s focus on life. Another scene of contrast was shown when Maude takes Harold to a field of flowers and she teaches him about how each flower is different. Maude states  “most of the world’s sorrow comes from being this to be treated like that.” As the conversation continues the camera’s depth of focus is farther out of the field of flowers but then switches into a shallow focus honing in on the difference of each flower. In this conversation Maude brings to light on the issue of how many people treat each other with the mentality of being one of the many. Representing how sad it is to treat each other as indifferent when each person is unique.

Northfork

This film was very distinct in its color palette which was very blue and grey. The neutral tones of the film reflected a very morbid atmosphere. In the scene where the church had an open wild life backdrop this reflected a stark contrast between the two. The visual of the church may have represented what it is like to put God in a box. But the wild backdrop with the rugged mountains and free roaming buffalo reflect how God cannot be contained. He is much more than what we can contain and his presence is much larger than what we can imagine. But may be best depicted in the wilderness because of how wide and expansive it is.

Bunny

In the beginning of the film the moth is flying towards the light which usually means that it is about to die. In the opening scene the heavenly light transitions into a moth flying towards the kitchen light. Underneath there is an elderly bunny who is about to cook something in the oven. The moth continues to annoy the bunny and she tries to put it out of the house but it continually comes back to fly towards the light. The photograph of the bunny and her husband on the wall is hit as the bunny battles the moth. The photo shows how old the photograph is showing how her husband had passed away awhile ago. During the final scene the oven explodes open revealing a light and a vision of a tunnel. The bunny goes towards the light as she crawls into the oven. Which may represent how death is a way of transformation.

Paris Texas

In the beginning scene Travis is roaming in the desert looking like he is searching for something. There are a lot of symbolic imagery such as the phone lines. Phone lines are strewn across the roads which are both depictions of connection. The imagery of the phone lines later parallel with Travis trying to communicate and reconnect with his wife who is stuck in a brothel and can only communicate through a telephone. The road is usually a connection to a place and the phone is usually a way of connection to a person. The freeway was a consistent imagery often depicted to represent connection. In the scene where Travis and his son are eating underneath the freeway overpass this reflected Travis desire to reconnect with his son even though he had been out of touch with him for a long time.  Themes of communication and journeys are depicted throughout the film. Imagery such as the lines of shoes represent the idea of travel and journey to a particular destination. Another scene that was particularly interesting was Travis walk across the bridge on the freeway. The visual was very intriguing because it looked like the screaming voice was coming from Travis thoughts but then later the camera pans over to a man screaming over the freeway. The screaming man represents his attempts to get the people’s attention as vain because everyone is boxed in their cars moving from place to place and therefore would not be able to hear him. There is a lot of high contrast in lighting depicted in the scenes between Travis and his wife. When speaking to each other through the window there is a use of light and dark contrast to create a mood of depth and intimacy. In the last scene where Travis wife discovers that he is her husband she wants to see him so she turns off the light, When she turns off the light she can see her husband which could be symbolic of her turning off her present reality in order to face her past.

Pink Floyd

The use of color is used throughout the film especially in the animations of war. The red blood dripping from the crosses seeping into the ground reflect the violence and gruesome side of war. The soldiers are illustrated as walking skeletons which is symbolic of death and how quickly war can rob people of life. I was really disturbed by the human like creatures wearing the gas masks. The figures looked like it was a human but it also didn’t in the way the body was depicted. These creatures in the gas masks represented to me what wallowing in fear would look like. The symbolic imagery of the wall was very evident of the walls built up in Pink Floyd because of his hardships with developing intimate relationships with others. In the scene where the flowers are blooming and then one of the flowers severely destroys the other flower represents Pink Floyd’s relationships quickly turning into abusive and destructive relationships. The blood dripping from the flowers and the teeth searing  into the other flower was a use of strong colors to visually represent Floyd’s destructive relationships.