Film is a very powerful tool that can be used in many different ways, good and bad. We learned that with the Kuleshov Effect we can juxtapose two images together to create a brand new emotional connection that previously didn’t exist. There is a very strange reaction that we all have to movies, and that reaction is an emotion. In essence, when we go to see a movie all we are doing is sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers and staring at pictures on a wall.
Strange, isn’t it?
It is very strange. Somehow, these pictures are able to conjure an emotional response out of us. We feel fear, sadness, and hope for characters that typically don’t even exist.
Many people have used this power for evil. During World War II, Hitler commissioned a film called “Triumph des Willens” also known as “Triumph of the Will.” This propaganda piece displayed Hitler as a heroic figure and triumphed the ideals of the Nazis. You can watch it here:
Triumph of the Will
Some filmmakers know exactly how to manipulate their audience to heighten emotions and elements of scenes. Take Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” for example. In this clip, Spielberg has done something really smart in order to manipulate the audience and make this scene a lot better. If you think about the scene it makes no sense and yet we are so amazed in seeing a t-rex come to life that we don’t even notice it. Watch this scene and see if you can pick up on what I am talking about. In your comment see if you can guess what it is I’m talking about.
Jurassic Park Scene
Can you think of another moment in a film where you felt you were being intentionally decieved by the filmmaker in order to elicit a certain response? Please include a clip if you can.
After watching the "Jurassic Park" clip, my guess would have to be when the girl uses the flashlight. I felt annoyed with the girl for making such a stupid decision but that thought only lasted for a second as my attention turned back to the T-Rex. My two examples of deception being used to elicit a certain response are from the film "Fright Night" and TV show "The Walking Dead". In "Fright Night" I believe the deception was used to create a feeling of safety and in "The Walking Dead" I think the deception was trying to get the viewer to feel tranquil in a world otherwise filled with chaos. - Teddy Porter
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfO5xlfqhxw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQT3MmOjMK4
I think i know what it is but that's only because you used this as an example in my class two years ago. in the beginning of the scene, when the t-rex appears on the other side of the fence, he's level with the people in the van. then after all the action occurs, everyone kind of forgets to care about the fence (since there's a giant dinosaur on the screen) and it suddenly turns into this huge hundred foot drop. i cannot for the life of me think of a specific example. i mean this one was kind of designed not to be noticed
ReplyDeleteBrian Bieman
ReplyDeleteMy guess would have to be how Spielberg has the T-Rex looking eye to eye with the characters, though it is clearly a much larger creature than a human. I feel that Spielberg did this in order to get the point of how close the dinosaur was to the children and other characters. In actuality, it doesn't make sense for the T-Rex to be able t contort its body to look the characters eye to eye, though it does create more horror.
A film in which I felt intentionally deceived by the film makers:
It may not be appropriate but its the first thing that came to mind---
South Park Wheel of Fortune
Spielberg takes a scene, in which a T-Rex emerges from a jungle to attack a caravan of refugees, and completely changes its setting. In the beginning there are three layers to this scene: jungle, fence, and road. At the end there are also three layers, but the jungle is replaced by a cliff. Because his entire audience is focused on the survival of the movie's characters, Spielberg has the power to change aspects of the flim that undergo less focus. I think this is effective only because the T-Rex spins the car around, making it seem like a new direction, when it in fact a different set altogether.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is very generic, but a movie in which I felt intentionally deceived was Inception, because of how many 'layers' and storylines that the film took on, the confusion was mandatory, and a deliberate aspect of the movie.
Nick Manis
ReplyDeleteIn this scene iIthink Spielburg used manipulation to create a more drama and intensity in the t-Rex scene. He had the car fall off a cliff which had not existed a minute before. By stealthy adding a cliff, and making the car hang off the side of it, Spielburg trucks the viewer into believing the cliff had been in the scene all along.
Last year in Film 1 you showed us the same Jurassic Park clip showing us that the director can change the entire setting without the viewer even noticing. Like Hartin said, in the Jurassic Park clip at one point there is a jungle behind the group of people but then it shows the T-rex attacking the car and then suddenly there is a mysterious cliff behind them. The audience is so preoccupied with the survival of the characters that they don't even notice the scene change.
ReplyDeleteJoe Kotler
ReplyDeleteWithout reading what you said i would've never noticed that the setting changes out of nowhere. Spielberg does a great job of gaining the focus of the viewer by giving them something intense and horrific to look at, which allows him to change things in the backround without anyone noticing. What he does here is sort of something a magician would do; give the audience something to keep their focus on while he secretely does something in the backround.
Although i could be wrong, i think the Insidious Face of Fire scene uses this. The director puts you through a series of images while the 3 people are holding a conversation at the table. Not really focused on whats going on at the table, and more focusing on the images makes the viewer feel safe during the table conversation because the real scary parts are the images. But then last second it flashes back to the table and theres a demon or something behind the guy's head and it really startles you and catches you off guard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFuylvwXGi4
I have seen Jurassic Park multiply times and every time I have seen it i have never noticed that the back ground chance when the T-rex comes out. Since something as crazy as a T-rex is coming out the viewers are not going to know that the location has changed
ReplyDeleteI think another time this is used is in inception when everything is happening so fast and so quickly that even if the audience does not pick up on the scene changes because they are so tied into what is actually happening in the movie