Back in the mid 18th century the Western frontier was spreading quickly. Life in these parts was rumored to be marked by lawlessness, gunfights, and thieves. In these dark horizons authors created fictional stories where heroes take law into their own hands to uphold justice or revenge no matter what the cost. This basic element would later give way to the more modern action films such as James Wan's Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon.
Death Sentence opens up in a suburban civilized city where the main character (Kevin Bacon) has an almost perfect family. But one night changed everything when a "lawless" street gang kills his son at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Deciding to let this terrible crime off the hook because of legal complications, he takes law into his own hands and kills the boy that killed his son. Later throughout the film Kevin Bacon's character becomes more detached from society and more intertwined with the gang lackey that he killed. Eventually guns, bars, and a huge wild west style shoot helps to resolve these conflicts just like the old westerns.
Today many people will tell you that the western genre is pretty much dead. This isn't true because we can see from modern day movies that the genre has mixed and become part of the action series. Although the films might not take place in a desert as empty as the heroes soul, you'll find the setting in the ghettos where even the police are afraid to venture. Other elements stay the same such as bars and shoot outs where viewers get to experience several minutes of massive or individual fire fights.
When you go to the movies to see films with actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Chuck Norris you expect an action film. The reason you expect this is based upon the actors previous success and the genres they've played. If the star was in a lot of horror films, you would expect the movie their in to be in that genre also. Hollywood calls this process of categorizing actors typecasting and uses it constantly when planning roles for actors.
When it was announced that Jim Carrey was playing the lead role in horror film "The Number 23," people were shocked! The actors name brought to mind comedies such as "Ace Ventura: Per Detective" and "Dumb and Dumber," not horror films. Although he had done a few more mellow roles such as "Eternal Sunshine in the Spotless Mind" and "The Truman Show," audiences were still skeptical of such a different role. This is because his image had been so overly typecasted that it was hurting his chances of expanding his career.
Typecasting is usually harmful to a star's success when they want to try different roles or genres. Although playing the same field has created major success for actors like Will Ferrel, because their movies are stereotyped as being good just because of the actors success in that genre. Actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Owen Wilson, and Mark Hamil have experienced little success though when trying to act in different areas. Typecasting has it's harmful effects, but without it fans wouldn't know what to expect from actors and would hurt the star's persona.
In case you haven't seen it here's the trailer for the Number 23. It felt so weird to see Jim Carrie in this movie that he actually seemed out of place. He did a phenomenal job though.
Back in the early years of studio production, stars in silent films would secure acting roles for two or three pictures with every contract. As time progressed and studios became more powerful they started making the contracts for several years instead of several pictures. This demonstrated that the studio itself had gained control over the actors life and was powerful enough to force long term signings with their monopolies. Studios would then use these actors as a resource for whatever films they thought the actor could fill. The contracts were very strict and limited the actors rights, but gave them protection and stability in their career.
When an actor signed onto a studio contract, they couldn't appear in other films by different studios. This guaranteed the studio that they would always have access to certain stars for pre-written parts. Although studios would sometimes rent out their actors for pictures they didn't create. When under contract, actors were also required to maintain a certain code of conduct. It wasn't uncommon for studios to forge fake relationships to cover up violations of this section. Although these contracts may seem quite strict, they guaranteed the actor many benefits.
By operating under contract the actor was guaranteed roles in movies and pay regardless of their career's success. This gave the actor security and the ability to try different roles in films. This way if the film they were placed into flopped they would still be secured into future movies. Although these things may seem great, the weight the contracts pulled on actors was enough to kill someone. They were forced into a hole of dictation by their studio and expected to pull 14 hours, six days a week. Luckily modern day actors usually never have to face contracts like these since the major studios were sued for developing a monopoly. Which took away much of their power over the actors and what films were being released.
Throughout film's advancements in technology, lighting has never lost its place as one of the most important aspects of production. Lighting helps convey characterization, mood, and many other aspects of the theatrical process. Many film critics also claim that the legendary film Citizen Kane wouldn't have been so successful without its amazing cinematography by Gregg Toland. Stars themselves go as far as having their own lighting specialists to make their appearance the best possible. A few of the major elements that make up the lighting in Hollywood are high-key, low-key, and star.
High key lighting uses a large amount of light to illuminate the set and actors. This helps to reduce shadows and make the picture more clear to the audience. By doing so the film creates a more jubilant and upbeat mood thats usually seen in comedies and family films. Companies like Walt Disney usually use these high key lighting elements for all of their children's movies. Their film "The Chronicles of Narnia" primarily used high key lighting since a large portion of the scenes were originally filmed inside of a black out box (equivalent of a gigantic surrounding green screen).
Many films with dark story lines and strong dramatic elements tend to use shadows to depict the mood and personality of it's characters. The film industry refers to these darker sides of lighting as low-key systems. These uneven distributions of light help to set the mood for film genres such as mystery, suspense, drama, noir, science fiction, and horror. A famous shot using this dark lighting scheme from Citizen Kane depicts Kane's shadow towering over his wife Susan during an argument. This symbolically emphasis Kane's dominance over her and the uneven distribution of power in their relationship.
When the audience is unable to distinguish character expressions and features, the audience can get lost in translation. For instance, if you couldn't see that a character was smiling while they said "I hate you" you might interpret it as malice, sarcasm, or flirting. This is where star lighting comes into play. Star lighting singles out particular characteristics by concentrating light on more areas of a person then others. This allows the director to single out areas on characters that help to tell the story better or symbolize some kind of meaning. This form of lighting has also been used to make the stars themselves seem more "luminescent" or lively. This is done by focusing excessive amounts of light on the star to make them shine unrealistically.
The three systems of lighting (high, low, and star) all have their purposes for depicting mood in films. Although the styles all seem different, it would be quite unusual to experience any of these elements independently from another. Although some movies will use primarily high or low key lighting, almost every movie makes use of all three elements. This helps to make a more balanced and interesting experience for the audience.
The release and production of Orsen Welles' Citizen Kane marked a new era in film history. Before the films release, Hollywood followed a strict style of film editing and acting. This mold would be broken and shattered by the unique aspects the film brought to the silver screen. The picture didn't catch on to the movie industry as an amazing achievement until several years after its release. Today the film is ranked as the British Film Institutes's top movie and heralded by critics such as Robert Ebert as one of the greatest defining films of modern day cinema.
Throughout the film several areas of classic movie rules that were considered "cemented" in Hollywood were broken. One of the largest areas and defining aspects of Citizen Kane was the cinematography. Before the film's release, shots that kept the entire picture on screen in focus were almost unheard of. Lens technology of that time didn't have the ability to properly focus the camera and keep everything clear without fading. To counteract this, the movies cinematographer Gregg Toland would develop composite shots (two shots mixed together) with special coated lenses to create a more overall focused shot. To further this, he used the same technique with different shots to create scenes with multiple layers such as one of Kane's most famous shots of medicine on the counter, Susan sleeping, and the back room wall all in different levels of focus.
By writing such an experimental and different film in a conservative age, Orson Wells was putting his entire career on the line. He had made several other successful movies at this point. But this was the first time that the studio had granted him supreme power over all aspects of a movie. If the movie itself went under, then the rest of his directing career would sink with him. Wells took an even greater risk by basing the movie on America's most powerful man William Randolph Hearst. Shortly after the movies release it seemed that everything that could go possibly wrong was set in motion. Wells career was never as successful but he slowly recovered after several years as did Citizen Kane. It was then that the film suddenly gained public interest and was upheld as a phenomenal picture. Today Orson Wells' movie is considered one of, if not the greatest film ever made by many film organizations, institutes, and critics.
One of the most beloved film genres of the classic American cinema is the Western. These pictures were successfully produced for several decades and have roots that reach out into many modern day movies such as Four Brothers. One of the most unique and first films ever created in this genre was Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery. Upon its release, it was considered one of the most technologically advanced and unique movies of its time. It's basic elements of main characters, narrative, and conflict/resolution may seem typical and unimportant today. But this movie helped to set the standards for all Western and future films throughout history.
When The Great Train Robbery opens the main characters walk in wearing completely black clothing and large hats drooping over their faces. These characters immediately show a strong contrast to the only other man (a clerk) in the room wearing a white and brown business suit. This classic film and novel technique uses coloring to separate the characters into categories of good and evil. The two ominous men quickly engage in unchivalrously behavior by hitting the clerk from behind and tying him up. One of the basic elements of villains in films are their associations with cheating and backstabbing behaviors. As the film progresses these characters slowly sink lower and create a characterization of the villains that the audience can hate. This is one of the first cemented conflicts of good and evil throughout a film.
As them movie follows the two scoundrels robbing and shooting people throughout the train. The audience is told the story through a third person perspective that switches between the good and bad guys. Camera shots don't follow a logical time frame of consistency, but use several angles to create a story. This gives the director more power over the audiences interpretation and reaction to the film. As things progress further the story transfers to another group of people in a separate area that react to the criminals injustice. This narration of multiple plots helps to further engross the audience with a story telling technique never used before.
Throughout the film several conflicts arise and come to an overall conclusion. The film begins with the atrocities of murder and anarchy raised by the villains. They then begin a typical fight of good and evil by battling their way through the train to steal money stored on bored. To counter their actions the townspeople retaliate by taking law into their own hands and eventually shooting the criminals. This conflict/resolution situation is meant to be happy, but simply shooting the criminals doesn't simply serve justice for all of the people they murdered. Although the story abruptly ends here, many future western films attempt to deal with the injustices created by corruption in society.
So you might be thinking "Wow, this information is interesting, but I already know all that!" But the main point here isn't that these are groundbreaking film techniques today, but the first time techniques like this were ever implemented. Future film makers have all used this pieces basic foundation elements (camera work, story, narration, plot, characterization, ect.) willing or unwillingly, to create their films. During its release The Great Train Robber was heralded as one of the greatest films of its time. People who still see it today might not think the same, but that doesn't mean we cannot learn from its success to better understand what we already know about film.
Back in the mid 18th century the Western frontier was spreading quickly. Life in these parts was rumored to be marked by lawlessness, gunfights, and thieves. In these dark horizons authors created fictional stories where heroes take law into their own hands to uphold justice or revenge no matter what the cost. This basic element would later give way to the more modern action films such as James Wan's Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon.
Death Sentence opens up in a suburban civilized city where the main character (Kevin Bacon) has an almost perfect family. But one night changed everything when a "lawless" street gang kills his son at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Deciding to let this terrible crime off the hook because of legal complications, he takes law into his own hands and kills the boy that killed his son. Later throughout the film Kevin Bacon's character becomes more detached from society and more intertwined with the gang lackey that he killed. Eventually guns, bars, and a huge wild west style shoot helps to resolve these conflicts just like the old westerns.
