ipl-logo

Analysis Of Bela Balazs: A Close-Up

913 Words4 Pages

he said that it 'becomes like photographing words'. He believed that Eisenstein and other Swedish silent film directors were a lot more visual than any recent films.(Nykvist 1998)
The close-up shot is often taken for granted and is used everywhere and sometimes used for no particular reason other than being a safety shot. However, it has only been taken for granted after decades of establishment. "It(close-up) does not only reveal new things but gives meaning to the old"(Balazs 2009).One of the most obvious functions of a close up that a close up does is that it makes one notice elements not noticed before and by doing that it is more revealing of things that one takes for granted. A close-up could give a new perspective on things just by opening …show more content…

It does so without using dialogue. It also does this with help of other elements in the frame or with a relation to other shots as well. Bela Balazs was a Hungarian film critic. Bela Balazs wrote about the 'polyphonic play on features' which is having an additional change in a facial expression even if it is a subtle one could even tell the whole story. A close-up can exist without any relation to the space itself. It could be a scene of its own without actually relating to the mis-en-scene. When a face is isolated from the space it is present in and therefore looking at a close-up and understanding its expressiveness. The feelings and emotions do not have to pertain to the space even if that is what triggers them. A close-up of the face is like a silent soliloquy. While a soliloquy is an element of theatre, it therefore seems unnatural in cinema. A soliloquy externalizes the mental state of the character similarly a close-up, in its isolation can reveal the mental state of the person, the internal storm of the character. Like how a novelist is able to capture the internal conflict of a character in a book a close-up can be used for a similar function as well. It reveals more than just surface drama. When close-ups of objects are shown they are related to human behaviour, certain ways the objects are shown give more meaning to the human expression itself, Balasz refers to this as 'visual anthropomorphism'.(Balazs 2009) In Ingmar Bergman's 'Persona'(Bergman 1966) one of the protagonist Elisabeth Vogler, is admitted in a mental facility as she is unable to talk after a particular incident. Her nurse leaves the radio on for her and while the light is shut, and the camera goes to a close-up of her face, one can feel the mental state of the character when her eyes glint in the dark and she stay wide awake just listening to the radio. The glint in her eyes is one of the most powerful images in the film. In the Kuleshov

Show More
Related

The Mise-En-Scene Analysis Of Casablanca

511 Words | 3 Pages

Moreover, the film depicts the relationship as reminiscent of another time, often with the use of medium close up shots as the two interact in a disengaged demeanor. However, once Rick and Ilsa converse passionately, the shot distance converts to a close up in order to capture the tension between them. The

Read More

Archetypes In The Movie Hugo Cabret

954 Words | 4 Pages

The film reflects on the fact that the audience assumes the role of voyeurs to the screen exhibition because it plays on emotion through the character of Hugo and his

Read More

Cinematic Techniques In Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange

1712 Words | 7 Pages

“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can convey emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” The written word and the moving image have always had their entwining roots deeply entrenched in similar narrative codes, both functioning at the level of implication, connotation and referentiality. But ever since the advent of cinema, they have been pitted against each other over formal and cultural peculiarities – hence engaging in a relationship deemed “overtly compatible, secretly hostile” (Bluestone 2).

Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window Analysis

1431 Words | 6 Pages

With Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock proved himself to be one of the best directors of suspense thrillers filled with mystery and humour. He himself called the film his most cinematic one because it was told only in visual terms (Morrow), but it was also a challenging “editing experiment” as the entire film was shot from one place, Jeff’s apartment that overlooked his backyard. The Film follows L.B. Jeffries “Jeff” (James Stewart), a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment after breaking his leg at work. He spends his days watching his neighbours and eventually suspects that one of them killed his wife. His caretaker, his girlfriend Lisa and his detective friend, at first unconvinced of his suspicion, eventually join him in his voyeurism and help him to solve the crime.

Read More

German Expressionism In Weimar Cinema

1068 Words | 5 Pages

Over the fifteen weeks of the first semester of film school, we were taught many interesting types and styles of early world cinema which were extremely informative and influenced the filmmaking style of the whole class and made us better filmmakers instantly. One such ‘ism’ which inspired me the most was German Expressionism which is a unique characteristic of Weimar Cinema. In this essay I am going to talk about the history of this ‘ism’, its impact on cinema, some significant works and how it inspired me and influenced my filmmaking style. German Expressionism is one of the earliest artistic genres to influence filmmaking, and one that ostensibly prepared for some other cutting edge artistic styles and techniques. It is an artistic genre

Read More

Essay On Rear Window

934 Words | 4 Pages

She argues that the act of moviegoing satisfies these voyeuristic desires in people. She writes, “The mass of mainstream film portray a hermetically sealed world which unwinds magically, indifferent to the presence of the audience, producing for them a sense of separation and playing on their voyeuristic fantasy,” (pg. 186). In this essay, I will further discuss her viewpoints on cinema and voyeurism, and how it connects to the film Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock. Rear Window is a film that follows the

Read More

Psychoanalysis In The Wizard Of Oz

1135 Words | 5 Pages

Revealing the character’s inner conscious, I believe helps reveal the

Read More

Social Isolation In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

1225 Words | 5 Pages

The 1954 film Rear Window discusses those within society who feel isolated. In showing those who are isolated by society 's expectations, and contrasting the way in which individuals put up a façade in public, Hitchcock demonstrates the impact of isolation. However, Hitchcock also illustrates through the progression of the film how people can

Read More

Self-Discovery In V For Vendetta

784 Words | 4 Pages

This is effectively communicated in Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening’ through its use of imagery and dark sensory associations, portraying a pessimistic life of an individual. The catalyst of the reflective lake extrapolates that discovery does not need to be momentous, but merely reflective, allowing him to renew and re-engage with his own sense of reality. Furthermore this is efficaciously demonstrated in James McTeigue’s ‘V for Vendetta’ through high camera shots and low lighting to convey vulnerability and isolation. The hellish torture and the brutality of the government Evey endured behaved as a platform upon which she discovered and renewed her perception of herself and the world around her. Thus both texts are effectual in communicating that discovery and a change of perspective is made possible when we remove ourselves to a place of solace and reflection.

Read More

Cinematic Language In The Wizard Of Oz

1101 Words | 5 Pages

The cinematic language that we hear in modern day movies would not be as it is today if we hadn 't had synchronous sound recordings from the beginning of film. Cinematic Language is the systematic method by which movies communicate with the viewer. Some examples of cinematic language are, Mise-en-scène, camera angles, the use of long takes, & depth of field. Barthes theory of Expressionism, the use of lighting techniques, montage and elaborate props push to make The Wizard of Oz appear to be a spectacle of realism.

Read More

The Theme Of Epiphany In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

860 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and

Read More

The Blind Side Rhetorical Analysis

2057 Words | 9 Pages

“Honey, you are changing that boy’s life.” A friend of Leigh Anne’s exclaimed. Leigh Anne grinned and said, “No, he’s changing mine.” This exchange of words comes from the film trailer of an award-winning film, The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, released on November 20th, 2009. This film puts emphasis on a homeless, black teen, Michael Oher, who has had no stability or support in his life thus far.

Read More

The Ontology Of The Photographic Image Analysis

1223 Words | 5 Pages

Film takes photography to another level. Film, or the cinema “is objectivity in time.” For the first time with film “the image of things is likewise the image of their duration, change mummified as it were”. Bazin argues "only the impassive lens, stripping its object of all those ways of seeing it, those piled- up preconceptions, that spiritual dust and grime with which my eyes have covered it, are able to present it in all its virginal purity to my attention and consequently to my love.

Read More

Hidden Figures Mise-En-Scene Analysis

1465 Words | 6 Pages

The movie Hidden Figures by Theodore Melfi is talking about the civil rights and equality of men and women in 1970 's to 1990’s. The Mise-en-scene means "setting up a scene. " There are six elements that make up mise-en-scene acting, costume and make-up, setting, lighting, composition or space and lastly. In Hidden Figures, the mise-en-scene helps audiences to become closer to the story and have the same feeling as those main characters. The director uses many different kind of shout angles to show the unbalanced between black people and white people at that time and the color and lighting also help the director can present the emotions that the characters are facing different kind of events or people.

Read More

Analysis Of Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt

2415 Words | 10 Pages

Many scenes would have been deemed irrelevant in typical films, such as the small talks Lucas has with Theo, Marcus, and others. However, The Hunt uses these scenes as a way of displaying how normal, relatable and real the story can be in everyday life. The common phrase “stand in my shoes” thus becomes essential in film when a spectator seeks to understand a character. Introducing a point-of-view (POV) helps in relating one’s self to the role that is played on the movie screen, therefore fabricating a connection between viewer and character. Per Persson (n.d., 64) asserts that the range of view or eye line matching shots play an influential role in placing the spectator in the character’s position.

Read More

More about Analysis Of Bela Balazs: A Close-Up

Related Topics

Open Document