Watch Chaplin's The Gold Rush and compare and contrast it with Keaton's The General. Think about everything you've learned thus far in terms of reading film. Discuss open/closed framing, kinesis, narrative, etc. Refer to your textbook if you need assistance with the vocabulary. Use at least one quote from the articles I gave you in your response.
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The Gold Rush
The General
Keaton’s The General and Chaplin’s The Gold Rush were both monumental in silent comedy during the early 20th century. Both films incorporate advanced usage of narrative and kinesis. In The General, the narrative revolves around a train conductor who is not admitted to the southern military, but is later caught in a dilemma in which he must return a stolen train and also rescue the love of his life. The Gold Rush’s narrative is similar to keaton’s film because it is also about a man’s quest to find something that holds a great value as well as finding love. The narratives differ among the details. For example, the goal in The General was to get the train back while in The Gold Rush the quest was for gold and to become rich. The female interest in The General disowns the protagonist when he becomes an outsider but in gold rush the lone prospector is embraced as one by his love interest…”Must the tramp, as outcast and outsider, also be disqualified from the consummation of love, which in our society is formalized by marriage?” Kinesis is another difference between the two films. The General focuses on the movement of the train while Gold Rush scopes more towards the movement of people. Filming locations played an important role in kinesis because with the ability to film outside of a studio, the filmmaker has far less limitations and is able to display more movement among objects. Due to the fact that The General was filmed on location… “the film is distinctive for its Civil War setting and location setting,” the action sequences were far more advanced due to the area in which they were allowed to move. In contrast, Gold Rush was filmed in the studio making the narrative more people driven as opposed to an object such as a train to be the focal the point of kinesis. Ultimately, both films carry a great significance among the silent film era due to their innovative ways of kinesis and also keeping the narrative engaging and comedic.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush and Buster Keaton’s The General are similar films in the sense that they are both silent comedies, but they differ in the ways certain elements are utilized to create meaning and invoke a reaction from the audience. While they differ in framing, kinesis, and the techniques used, both films share a similar narrative; a quirky and unconventional protagonist who comes across humorous difficulties in search of their love interest. Because both films are silent, they also both rely on physical comedy and action rather than dialogue to convey the narrative and characterization.
ReplyDeleteIn The Gold Rush, both open and closed framing is utilized to emphasize what the main character, the Little Tramp, is feeling at the moment. For example, when he is in the dancing hall the framing is closed, suggesting that he feels less comfortable, in an unfamiliar environment, and restricted. The dancing hall is also the same place the Tramp is made a fool of-- accidentally dragging around a dog while dancing, constantly pulling up his pants, and tripping over Jack Cameron’s feet-- as opposed to the open framing of other scenes, in which he is the amusing hero, and manages to find Georgia in the end. In contrast, much of the framing in The General is open because much of the film is set on the train tracks. The framing suggests that this environment is familiar to Johnnie, which allows him to feel more at ease and furthermore indicates that there are endless possibilities for the narrative.
The kinesis in The Gold Rush differs from that of The General because in The Gold Rush, the actors are moving around on the screen in an exaggerated manner for comedic effect. The main difference between these two films is “that the camera in Chaplin’s films was used mainly to record body or facial movements of its pantomime hero, while in Keaton’s film the comedy often depends on special placement of the camera” (Joseph Milicia). When the camera moves in The Gold Rush, it is to keep focus on a certain character or to display setting or environment. The kinesis in The General differs from The Gold Rush because much of the movie is filmed with the camera on a moving train to capture the action. This renders the camera more motionless than in The Gold Rush, but does not detract from the narrative or meaning of the film.
“The General” and “The Gold Rush” are films that greatly impacted the world of cinema in the 1920s. Although the films shared the concept of being silent comedies that often relied on slapstick jokes and visual keys in order to convey the stories, there were notable differences in film technique and the narratives that shaped each of their tones. “The General” was shot in Oregon, constantly switching locations as Keaton’s character, Johnnie Gray, pursued his train which had been stolen by Northern soldiers. The plot was set to occur during the Civil War, and had surprised certain audiences due to the ability to add comedy in such a serious situation. Throughout the film, the comedy was derived from the slightly awkward and clumsy movements of Gray, and these moments were enhanced by the specific placement of the camera in certain scenes (“...the comedy often depends on the special placement of the camera, or on special visual effects”). Due to the nature of the comedy and the concept of a train chase, the film included multiple open framed, long shots, perhaps to display how much space was being used and the amount of time passed. However, in Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush”, closed shots are often used to convey the main character’s feeling of being trapped. In the first portion of the movie, Chaplin’s character, the Little Tramp, finds himself stuck in a stranger’s cabin in order to avoid the snowstorm outside. The scenes within the cabin are often shot with a closed frame, excluding the occasional close-ups to show the expressions of the characters in detail. There are a few scenes in which the Tramp has his life threatened, whether it be McKay attempting to kill him after hallucinating from hunger, or the scene with McKay and the Black Larsen fighting over a rifle. Once the three men finally leave the cabin and head into town, the Tramp falls in love with Georgia. The Tramp often embarasses himself with clumsy movements, so the frame remains closed and somewhat cluttered to imply these feelings and thoughts. This style may also be due to the filming set. As opposed to films shot outside in “The General”, “The Gold Rush” was shot in a studio with smaller sets ("Compare, for contrast, the studio look of Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush' made at about the same time"), and as stated previously, focuses on character expressions rather than larger objects such as the train. Overall, while both films have similarities in genre, they differ greatly when it comes to kinesis, narrative, and framing.
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The Gold Rush and The General are both very similar in the sense that they use the same sort of comedy; physical. Due to the lack of dialogue, both films rely heavily on exaggerated movements and actions to highlight moments of comedy. For example, Charlie Chaplin eating a shoe or Buster Keaton’s (several) attempts at enlisting in the Civil War. Both films rely on certain shot types and camera angles to progress the film. In The Gold Rush, the Dutch angle is used to show disorder and also show the house as it teeters on the edge of a cliff. As the house tilts, the camera does with it. At 1:04:00, the characters are shown laying on the ground. This is a medium shot with a Dutch angle. It conveys the way the house is situated on the edge of the cliff. The camera is close enough to show the characters’ actions and reactions, which is important when using physical comedy, but it also shows the floor that they lay upon and how it is “tilted”. “The camera in Chaplin’s films was used mainly to record the body or facial movements” (article on The General) is something that is displayed in this scene. This, combined with cutting back and forth to a shot of the house (or a figurine version) helps achieve verisimilitude as the viewers believe the house really is tilted. In The General, around the 40 minute mark, Buster Keaton is shown at a high angle as he frantically tries to chop wood to keep the train running. The Northern army, however, is shown with a extreme long shot at a low angle as their train sits on top of a bridge. The high angle denotes the power that they hold over Keaton’s character and the extreme long shot shows how high up their train is. It also enables the viewer to see Keaton’s train come through beneath them, thus creating suspense as the train approaches in its vulnerable spot. Around the 50 minute mark, The General creates a frame around Keaton’s character and his love interest through a hole in the tablecloth. This helps establish point of view. The tablecloth frames Keaton’s eye to show that he is looking from under the table, then to his love interest through the hole in the tablecloth, and back to his eye. This shows that Keaton’s character knows of her whereabouts and sets up the next scene where he rescues her.
ReplyDeleteUnlike films we watch today, the early films are presented almost as if you are watching a play, due to the fact that the cameras allowed for little motion to take place and often remained stationary. The old sets were much like that of a play as well, hand painted when they wanted to show something mystical, or give the illusion of depth in a shot, which was illustrated in The Impossible Voyage. The director often made you focus on the characters in the center of the frame, and maybe one single prop that played an essential role in the plot, which was often seen in The Impossible Voyage with the rocket ship, as well as The Great Train Robbery. Obviously in present day, filmmakers can use the camera to convey deeper emotion with the use of close-ups and different angles, but since early filmmakers lacked the tools we have today such as editing, sound, and other advanced technologies, we don’t see such things being utilized. In order to keep verisimilitude for the people of that time, they always had to be showing them a wider frame. This is the reasoning behind the early documentary like films that The Lumiere’s put out such as The Arrival of a Train, that simply showed the action the middle of the screen and nothing more, which differed from the work that Melies was putting out, which relied more heavily on the imagination of the viewer as the characters journeyed into space, and the movement of the characters bodies and they reacted to what other chactacters were doing or “saying.”
ReplyDeleteThe films “The Gold Rush”written By Charlie Chaplin and “The General”written and directed by Buster Keaton Both share a comedic character resembling that of a modern Romantic Comedy.Although both movies follow the clumsy and romantically enamored young main characters who ,through a series of embarrassing yet humorous mistakes, achieve the status needed to impress their love interests ,the form these films take on cinematically gives each their unique charm.In Buster Keaton’s film , “The General”,The kinetics of the camera and the train ,which often move at the same time ,enriches the film with charismatic and often nervous momentum.Because both of these films are silent films the expression of their jokes must be physical which is why the scenes are highly entertaining.In the General by moving the train and tracking it with a camera restlessness , fatigue , and room for error are exaggerated .Along with this, the experience of the character is often frantic thus contributing to humor.More over “The General” creates a dramatic tone of suspense by using kinesis in combination with other elements.In chase scenes in which The protagonist,jonathan,chases down the train engine that contains the kidnaped young lady , knieses of the train where John has to stop his engine causes us to be uncertain of his goal and likewise when the other train stops the audience is inspired with excitement in shared anticipation of John’s goal.The last noteable detail about the moving camera is that it creates a closed frame , by always tracking the train engine John is not allowed to leave as he runs back and forth.In this instance he is literally being guided by an inanimate force , the train tracks, and he also overwhelmed by the pressure of war.
ReplyDeleteIn Charlie Chaplin’s “ The Gold Rush” The frame is open.In contrast to The General “The Gold Rush”employs suprise far more frequently than suspense.By allowing people and objects to move in and out of the frame we are often presented with the unexpected.For instance ,as the doors blow open into the cabin in which the protagonist inhabits we are not expecting him to be blown out of the frame.As he blows away he moves through several frames which do not track him.The open frame in Gold Rush may have also been used instead of close framed because the film was shot in a studio.In an open frame the same set can be used for longer. if different characters can move in and out of the frame than much of the plot can occur in one frame as well.Because this is a studio kinesis of the camera is far less common as it is far easier to create incomplete sets.The “Gold Rush” and “The General” aren’t complete opposites however the “General” uses open frame and “Gold Rush”use closed frame. “While Charlie, shown isolated with in the frame, stands outside their circle of friendship and observes”.In this instance closed frame is used to establish a less humorous tone when the protagonist isn’t interacting.