Lost in Translation: Sophia's Farce??

The article here is only the first post from Imomus.com. The article is title "Lost on Me" and contains a great deal of insight into the acting of the characters in Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation. The following quote is taken from the article explaining Bill Murray's comedy:

Does Murray's charisma have to come at the expense of someone else all the
time? (Let's not even talk about the portrayal of the prostitute or the
commercial director.) In a hospital scene, an old lady asks Murray why he took
this long trip to Japan. Murray responds again by playing to the gallery, miming
her as if she were doing a ludicrous choreographed song. He's the odd one out,
the foreigner, and yet he's treating those around him as if they were
foreigners. This is bad manners and bad traveller etiquette. It prompts the
question, is it possible to be American and foreign? I suspect the answer is
'No', at least if one is in an American film, wherever it may be set.

The author describes, in great detail, the other actors and actresses and they're strong points and weaknesses in the film. There is also a great deal of ideological analysis which analyzes the socialogical behavior in the film.

Examining And Writing About A Film Through Formalism

The included article was written by Ted Wing, a professor at Langara College. This is an interesting article due to the fact that it gives helpful tips on how to write a formalistic essay on any film. He does a great job by giving suggestions about what to specifically look for in a film, and he also provides examples. He makes formalistic allusions to films such as Metropolis, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Player. The following quote is an example of what this article can offer a film student.

A classic example of a formalist film from an earlier era is Metropolis, Fritz Lang's 1926 silent movie, which abounds with symbolism and visual exaggeration. It shows workers, dwelling in an underground city and so exploited by the capitalist system that they have turned into automata as they service the machines of industry.

Formalism in Film

This article in the Wikipedia encyclopedia discusses formalist film theory, which is "a theory of film study that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of colour, shot composition, and editing. It is a major theory of film study today." This page talks about formalism in general, formalism in an ideological sense, and formalism in auteur theory, and also discussing the difference between ideological formalism and auteur theory.

Formalist Approach

Answers.com is a website to answer various questions that you could have about anything. This website on answers.com talks about the the formalist approach and how a viewer would analyze a movie according to the technical elements in a movie like color and editing. Answers.com goes into the different theories of Formalism and the different approaches of Formalism.

Formalism Theory

This is a link to a the Wikipedia website which defines the theory of formalism in terms of its use in film. It provides a basic definition, however, it also goes into a little more detail by looking at ideological formalism as well as formalism in auteur theory. It particularly looks at the work of Alfred Hicthcock. I have provided some interesting quotes below.

Formalism, at its most general, considers the synthesis (or lack of synthesis) of the multiple elements of film production, and the effects, emotional and intellectual, of that synthesis and of the individual elements

Hitchcock is more or less universally lauded, his films dissected shot-by-shot, his work celebrated as being that of a master. And the study of this style, his variations, and obsessions all falls quite neatly under the umbrella of formalist film theory

Glossary of Film Terms

This website is consisted of an A-Z list of various film terms. The terms and their definitions are are from Bordwell/Thompson's Film Art and Monaco's How to Read a Film. Some of the terms are linked to another resourceful site with either more information about that term or images to support the defintion.

Formalism

In the Wikipidia website article, the term formalism is discussed in detail. It tells us that formalism is a trait in film making. It states that formalism includes editing, shot composition, camera movement, set design, and more.

Formalism in "Pulp Fiction"

In this link Jonanthan L. Bowen gives a review of "Pulp Fiction," but gives more of a formalist view on the film. He talks about the opening scenes and how Tarantino uses the same scence to open the film and also end with. Bowen gives details to the different shots that Tarantino uses and what kind of effect it has on the film. It is a good formalist review, but at the same time describes the what the film is about. "Much like Citizen Kane, Tarantino's techniques in Pulp Fiction are not totally new, unique inventions, but the way he combines numerous unusual elements into a single production makes the film simply unlike any movie viewers had seen previously." Enjoy!

Film Dictionary

This site has all types of definitions for many formalist terms. It actially has examples for each term. Each example is a screen shot and if you have Quicktime, it will actually play part of a movie that uses this term. It is actually very interesting, and I suggest that everyone take a look at it because it's one thing to learn about it, and another to actually see it in a movie.

A Formal-Aesthetic Approach to Film

This article discusses both the idea of formalism and aestheticism in film. First, the writer gives a definition of both approaches and then describes how they combine to create one approach to film studies: formal-aesthetic. The writer explains how these two different approaches are similar through the way they both concentrate on a film's "internal elements" rather than viewing it from a cultural or political context.

The writer explains formalism by mentioning the same ideas that we have discussed in class, "Formalist analysis concentrates on matters of structure and style (thematic development, narrative structure, shot composition, recurring motifs) and ways in which a film organizes those elements in patterns that give meaning to the whole." So if a director wanted to communicate a character's superiority over another, he would demonstrate this idea through a certain camera angle that structures the scene in a way where one character will appear larger than the other. The director may also place the superior character near certain elements in the scene that will signify his dominance.

Dictionary of film terms

The website is a link to the Filmsite's Film Terms Glossary were used, with permission and with some modification, as the basis for the Independent Film Channel's (IFC) Film School Multimedia Glossary (IFC's Film School Glossary), created by students for students so that they could learn terms used in the filmmaking industry by actually seeing video clips of those terms "in action."

The film terms range from describing the film and film types to the different camera angles that are used when making any movie.

Formalism and its Discontents......

In this article by Dana B. Cohen she discusses about formalist in it having some discontents in the contemporary media. Media which includes a variety of Western and Foreign cinema. Cohen goes on to touch on other topics of film theory also.

Dana says, "Formalism is two fold. it grants force to a practice on the basis of internal qualities of that practice.....
then second formalism assumes that the force which it has thus imputed to a form will tend to be the same for spectators."

Film terms

Here's a site I came to by chance. The webpage is by Pennsylvania State University and gives a long list of camera shots and actions. It explains them and gives definitions of other film terms.

LARGE Glossary of Film Terms

This website has a ton of film terms!! It;s a long A-Z list of film terms and you should be able to find almost any that you don't understand. It's by Joel Schlemowitz through New School Film Production. A very credible and useful website to understand film terminology in your articles, as well as analyze your movie yourself and write your paper.

Film Terms from Corrigan

I actually found a Corrigan website with film terms, abbreviations, and actualy pictures to help understand any film terms. The class is obviously supposed to have Corrigan's book, but if you don't, this site should be helpful. It is also nice to see actual picture's to help explain some film terms, such as close-up. This a great site to look at when you just want to look at the pure definitions and main points in Corrigan's book as well.

Formalist Themes in Kubrik's Films,

The article that I found to fufill a formalist approcah to film was from a website for Stanley Kubrick, a well known director in Hollywood. The article, for the most part, deals with different elements of mise-en-scene in many of Kubrick's films. Different items are mentioned and their significance explained.

On board of the B-52 bomber piloted by Major T.J. "King" Kong in DR. STRANGELOVE Stanley Kubrick placed as a symbol of the Cold War the curious Survival Kit. During a security check on the flight Major Kong reads out loud the list of the Kit's contents: "Survival Kit contents check. In them you will find: one 45 caliber automatic, two boxes of ammunition, four day's concentrated emergency rations, one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills, one miniature combination Rooshan phrase book and Bible, one hundred dollars in rubles, one hundred dollars in gold, nine packs of chewing gum, one issue of prophylactics, three lipsticks, three pairs of nylon stockings - shoot, a fellah could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff ...".

The article is formalist because of the mise-en-scence, in this case the "survival kit", relates the film to the feelings of the era, the Cold War. Kubrick is well known for inserting either a character or an object that somehow relates the film to present day feelings on present day world moods. Full Metal Jacket is an example of such a film, with the attitude of the soliders, in some cases madness, reflecting the mood of many American GIs who were serving in the war.

Formalism in Walk the Line

This link to an article in Film Comment is a review on Walk the Line by Chris Norris. The beginning describes the first scene and the theme of a "Great American Bada**".

The movie opens to the faint stomping and cheering a crowd, as the camera slowly moves down a long hallway of empty prison cells. In the next shot a rowdy group of inmates clap their hands awaiting Johnny Cash. The following scene is the back room where Johnny Cash is waiting to go on stage. The warden asks him if he could try not to remind the inmates that they are in prison, and Cash responds, "You think they forgot."

The prison represent the themes of sin, criminals, and possibly fear and Cash's attitude toward the warden represents rebellion because when Cash goes on stage he praises the inmates for having to drink with the nasty looking water of Folsom Prison.

Formalism in Psycho

This website talks about Hitchcock's "artistry in lighting, camera angle, and mise-en-scene."

The scene Michael Schmidt looks at is the parlor scene. In this scene he describes some of the fine details from the parlor itself to the objects on the wall. What is interesting is how Michael mentions how the actors and actresses are placed versus the background setting to emphasize the main theme of the movie. Michael also defines the different formalistic features of the film and how that relates to the theme of the movie and what Hitchcock's intent was do so.

Formalism in films

This article that I am linking to is a good reference that talks about what a formalist approach to a movie is. It also gives some definitions that describes different types of formalism. The article describes it as "a theory of film study that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of colour, shot composition, and editing." The article gives a summary of formalism and talks about how it is used in films. I think this would be a good article to look at for anyone who still finds trouble understanding formalism. Clicking on the link above should take you to the article.

What Does That Mean???

I found a great website that lists film terms and their definitions that contextualize "formalism." The website that I used was created by students for students from Independent Film Channel's (IFC) Film School. Students from IFC received permission to publish their information using the Film Terms Glossary.
I found this website to be a very informative guide since I, like most of the students, do not have a background in the technicalities and term of the film industry. The website contains illustration and examples for the terms, which help to further comprehend the meaning of the word. According to Independent Film Channel's (IFC) Film School,

In order to be knowledgeable about film-making, the vocabulary of film studies and the techniques of cinema, some of the most basic and common terms must be defined.

In addition, the site includes tips on how to critically view a film; therefore, becoming more aware of the mise-en-scene to get a better understanding.