The Searchers

The Searchers is a western film which came out in 1956 and made an impact on the entire western genre. It is a pretty classic representation of a western when someone thinks about what goes into making one. The cowboys, Native Americans, chase scenes on horseback and of course the multiple firing of gun shots. The Searchers did not stray from these western genre traits at all and that is possibly what makes this film a classic western film.

In the Engagine Cinema book, it explains a slight difference between realism and hollywood realism and I think The Searchers is an example of hollywood realism. The book defines it as something that "revolves around situations and events that are plausible within the terms and conventions of a given kind of world" (182). The events that take place in this film are plausible in relation to the storyline and the context of the film but at the same time would not really take place in real life events. This somewhat connects to what The Western movie (that we watched on Monday) talked about. It explained how the whole idea of "The West" is made up and does not actually exist. So this movie is as real as possible even though the actual place and time of the film is made up.

In Laurie Boeder's review on The Searchers, she talks a lot about the racial aspects of this movie. It is evident through Ethan and Martin's interactions that Ethan holds it against him that he is part Native American. Also, toward the end when they find Debbie with the Native Americans, Ethan wants to kill her because he feels she has somehow been tainted just by being around them. This theme is not difficult to point out and according to the review "Most film critics see this as director John Ford’s tentative exploration of racism and miscegenation in the American West set against the real-world battle for civil rights for African Americans in 1956". During the time this film came out this might have been a very relevant subject but when we watch it now it just seems like a lot of racial issues.

For having never really watched a western film before I have to say this is pretty much what I expected them to be like. It was interesting to see the differences and similarities between different movie genres between the 1940's and 1950's. It is interesting to see what different genres and techniques could be accomplished in film during a time when it was just getting started.

The review I read said John Wayne's line, "That'll be the day" inspired this song by Buddy Holly. The lyrics dont really relate other than this line but I thought it was interesting. It shows the impact of the film at the time.

The Panama Deception

The Panama Deception is a documentary film which focuses on the relationship between Panama and the United States in the year 1989. Through a collage of many different shots, the documentary tells the story of the involvement of the US and Panama governments as well as diving into what the people of Panama were feeling during the time this took place.

While watching this documentary, it was easy to pick up on the parts where the filmmaker was trying to persuade the viewers one way or another. The different topics they addressed, like how the people of Panama reacted to the situation, were specifically geared to have the viewer feel sorry for them and to get angry at the United States government.  Engaging Cinema says "Documentaries seek to engage the viewer persuasively by emotional or persuasive means"(99). The Panama Deception is a prime example of this definition of what documentaries are supposed to do. By showing vidoe clips of mass graves and bombs going off in Panama, the film definitely toys with people's emotions. The video clips of some of the politicians and what they have to say about the ordeal adds to how persuasive the movie is. The specific clips the director chooses to put in the documentary will effect what the viewer takes away from the film.

Along with persuasiveness, the book always talks about the "Three C's" of documentaries and I think this film for the most part exhibits them quite nicely. The first one is to establish credibility of the filmmaker. This documentary fullfils this requirement because of the footage they included in the film. There were many shots of live footage which makes for a credible video because the filmmakers were actually on the scene. Also, the use of news footage and political speeches gives credibility because it is raw information. If the narrator repeated what the President of the US said, it would not be as credible as actually showing the President making his speech. The second "c" is convincing. The same thing which makes this film credible also makes it convincing. It appears as though the viewers of this documentary are getting the true story through all of the raw footage. Whether it is true or not can be debated somewhat but for the most part the documenatary was very convincing when it comes to telling the story of the invasion in Panama. The last one is compelling. This may be the most important because whether or not the documentary is compelling could depend on how many people watch it and take into consideration the ideas brought up in the film. A compelling film, which I beileve this one to be, could be the breaking point of whether people believe the story to be true or not.

The article in the Washington Post explains whether or not what was said in this film is actually true or not. It explains how we may never really know which things are true and which our false but the directors of this documentary definitely make a strong defense for their thoughts and ideas on the matter. The Post states, "there's the possibility that both sides are engaging in a propaganda war. But "The Panama Deception" does a superb job of documenting its case". I thought this statement was important because when looking at the content of the documentary it may be debateable about what was going on but when you analyze the way the film was made there is no doubt that the filmmakers were very persuasive in their attempts at unveiling this situation.

Citizen Kane

     Citizen Kane is a film directed by Orson Welles and exhibits very strong technical skills. After watching the film I feel like the technical aspects are most important. Through different shots, lighting techniques and sounds, Welles creates different moods depending on the certain scenes.     

   
     Throughout the entire film, it seemed like sound was a big part to this film. Whether the mood was mysterious or light hearted, there was constantly music. In the opening scene the music is very eerie and fits perfectly to what is being shown in the scene. It shows a close-up on a fence before moving to a scene showing a dark house. If it werent for this type of extra-diegetic sound the feeling of the opening scene would not have been the same. The same goes for the other scenes when the mood is more exciting and it is the sound which gives the viewer that kind of feel. During the first part of the movie there is a narrator talking while the camera shot is of newspapers and other scenes that are taking place. This is a good example of diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is sound that actually applies to the story and often narrations are included in this category. There is also an example in this film of voice-off sound. It is only a small part but when Kane is on the street all dirty you can hear a woman laughing even though she is not in the shot. I thought that this film utilized the techniques of sound more than in some other films.

     Another technique Welles uses is that of different lighting set ups. Durring the scene where the men are talking after watching something on a projector, there is an example of backlighting. It shows a man talking with the projector light behind him which then makes the man a silhoette. You cannot see anything besides his outline which draws the attention then to what he is saying. Another example of a lighting technique used in this film is the rim or kick light. During the scene in a big room with a table right in the middle, the woman at the table is almost completely shadowed. Only a little part of her is not. This type of lighting gives a dramatic effect to the scene.

     Citizen Kane also exhibits a lot of different types of shots throughout the entire film. One shot which occured in many different scenes is the two shot. This shot is when only two people are in the scene and i'm sure this happens in a lot of different films without anyone really knowing it is a certain type of shot. During the scene where Kane is dancing with a bunch of girls, the shot switches to two men talking and Kane and the girls are completely in view in the background. This is an example of an open frame because the view is not closed off. The room behind the two men talking elongates the shot. One other type of shot which is prevalent in this film is the deep focus shot. One specific example of this is the scene where Kane is by the window while another man in the foreground is reading something. Kane in the background is somewhat out of focus until he walks into the foreground. There are many other shots but these three examples are ones that I thought made the film more interesting.

     In the New York Times article which was published in May 1941 says, " 'Citizen Kane' is far and away the most surprising and cinematically exciting motion picture to be seen here in many a moon. As a matter of fact, it comes close to being the most sensational film ever made in Hollywood". I thought this was interesting to see how the people felt about it during the time this movie debuted. To us it just seems like some old black and white film but to the people of that time it was one of the best films ever made. It would be interesting to see what these people think about movies we have today.