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Please choose one essay prompt and write at least 2-3 well-developed paragraphs.
Essay #1 From Roger Ebert's essay on The Passion of Joan of Arc:
"There is not one single establishing shot in all of 'The Passion of Joan of Arc,' which is filmed entirely in closeups and medium shots, creating fearful intimacy between Joan and her tormentors. Nor are there easily read visual links between shots. In his brilliant shot-by-shot analysis of the film, David Bordwell of the University of Wisconsin concludes: 'Of the film's over 1,500 cuts, fewer than 30 carry a figure or object over from one shot to another, and fewer than 15 constitute genuine matches on action.'"
Many avant garde films also do not have matches on action or carryover shots. Compare The Passion of Joan of Arc to one of the avant garde films we watched in regards to editing and mise-en-scene. Use cinematic evidence to back up whatever you state.
Essay #2 From Ib Monty's essay:
"When the film was released, the close-up technique was regarded as shocking. Dreyer defended his method by stating: 'The records give a shattering impression on the ways in which the trial was a conspiracy of the judges against the solitary Jeanne, bravely defending herself against men who displayed a devilish cunning to trap her in their net. This conspiracy could be conveyed on the screen only through the huge close-ups, that exposed, with merciless realism, the callous cynicism of the judges hidden behind hypocritical compassion--and on the other hand there had to be equally huge close-ups of Jeanne, whose pure features would reveal that she alone found strength in her faith in God.' As in all of Dreyer's major films the style grew out of the theme of the film. In La passion de Jeanne d'Arc Dreyer wanted 'to move the audience so that they would themselves feel the suffering that Jeanne endured.' It was by using close-ups that Dreyer could 'lead the audience all the way into the hearts and guts of Jeanne and the judges.'"
Agree or disagree with this quote. Use cinematic evidence to back up whatever you state.
Essay 2 Response:
ReplyDeleteThe cinematography in The Passion of Joan of Arc was powerful in the sense that it didn’t shy away from the emotions being shown on the screen. As Ib Monty notes in his essay, closeups expose “with merciless realism, the callous cynicism of the judges” throughout the film. The closeups also offer a more personal perspective of what Joan was experiencing at the time. If Dreyer had used a less-bold option, say a medium shot or something even further away, the drama of the scene would be lost. It is difficult to watch someone desperate for their life, but the closeup doesn't give the audience an option to look away or even to find anything else in the frame to focus on. Of course, the closeup was not a commonly used technique at the time, and the shots that cut back and forth between the faces of the judges and Joan show just how close the camera is to the actress’s face. While the closeups of the judges are still revolutionary for their time– Dreyer is considered to be one of the first (if not the first) directors to use this technique– the shots of just Joan are even closer. Perhaps this was to show how stubborn and immobile the judges’ minds are, and further, how inescapable Joan’s circumstances are.
Additionally, the lack of variety in shots has been highlighted as the uncomfortable proximity of the close up is predominantly used through the first hour and fifteen minutes of the film. Only when Joan’s fate has been 100% decided and she is being sent to the stake to burn is when the shots finally leave the realm of the closeup and ventures into more varied shots. The close up is completely abandoned for the remainder of the film when Joan is burning on the stake. This, combined with shots of birds flying overhead, crying spectators, and burning logs finalizes the end of Joan’s life that has been debated with scrutiny for the entire film. The use of closeups was a revolutionary tactic used by Dreyer to convey an extreme sense of emotion that would immediately reach and affect those watching.
Within “The Passion of Joan of Arc”, close ups were generously used when focusing on Joan, while more distanced shots are mostly shown near the end of the film or occasionally if there are multiple characters. For instance, at the start of the film, Joan was briefly shown from a distance as she was brought into the courtroom but asides from the few shots showing how small she figuratively and literally was in comparison to the courtroom, the rest of the shots on her face or the chains around her ankles were close up. The heavy use of close up shots forces viewers to focus on Joan and her range of emotions in contrast to the cold, aloof demeanor of the judges. It immerses the viewer as opposed to observing the trial from a distance, which could potentially cause a disconnect between Joan and the audience.
ReplyDeleteAs the film progressed, less close up shots were used in order to show the crowd’s reaction to Joan’s execution. As the crowd began to riot, the camera was kept at a distance, allowing the audience to view the chaos in full. After Joan dies, the connection between her and the audience is broken, and despite the crowd, the sudden abundance of space gives weight to her absence. Overall, Ib Monty’s quote accurately observes the elements of the film and contains points that can be agreed with.
-Taggart
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ReplyDeleteThe passion of Joan of arc is a film about the fear of a 19 year old girl as she is inescapably sentenced to her own execution.The story is told with only medium and close up shots with no establishing shots.As the tension build’s scenes cut from one claustrophobic close up to another often from those of Joan’s mortified countinace to several more of the judges who erupt with growing furry.In these shots the story is being told in the small frame where the only possible center of attention are the highly detailed faces of Joans mortal fear and those of the resentful judges whose faces are rotten with wrinkles and spots.The effect is described as “where emotion is conveyed by dialogue and action more than by faces, a film like "The Passion of Joan of Arc” is an unsettling experience”.In another avant garde film “Meshes of the afternoon”The same technique is sometimes used.The final shot at the end of the film when The nameless protagonist is found on a chair with her throat slit after being left home alone is a medium close up which holds on her dismembered face for 6 seconds.While incredibly dramatic the scene isn’t preceded by a long stretch of close up facials which express the potential distress which may have caused such an event.In that aspect The Passion of Joan of Arc is more disturbing.
ReplyDeleteIn the mise en scene , while more deocrated , Meshes of the Afternoon can often share the same effective distortion that the Passion of the Joan of Arc has.In the torture scene The jaded shapes of the bending room which appear behind the judges as the camera pans by them resemble that of the spinning stairwell in “Meshes of the afternoon”.In that scene from Meshes in the After noon , The white walls and stair wells appear to spin around the womans head and she appears over wealmed.While this is actually acheived by spinning the camera it just as the jaded architecture in The passion matches the distressed emotions of Joan.