I need help with the topic for Film Sudy class. Many thank! The classical Hollyw
ID: 3456229 • Letter: I
Question
I need help with the topic for Film Sudy class. Many thank!
The classical Hollywood studios customized the way reality was represented on film. In Casablanca, for example, standardized formulas for editing were used to build the final famous scene between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (and he was not even supposed to play the part originally.) The scene starts with a wide shot, then moves into close-ups of the two protagonists and over-the-shoulder shots. There are re-establishing shots (where the two are seen together in the frame) as well. The style is seamless. The idea is that the viewer is drawn into the action and made to believe that s/he is watching a naturalized event even though the building blocks are highly crafted and constructed. You are not supposed to pay any attention to the editing. The narrative and style make the viewer believe that everything unfolds naturally. Steven Soderbergh reshot this scene for his pseudo-noir remake in post-war Germany, The Good German (2006).
Why did the studios follow this narrative and the stylistic norm? Discuss the reasons behind the Hollywood studio style?
Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.
(Answer) In most cases of Hollywood films, the reason for a particular kind of shot is simply to establish perspective. For instance, the scene described in ‘Casablanca’ is shot in that particular way, so as to make the audience feel that they are a part of that conversation.
In a horror film like Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’, the famous “shower-killing” scene is shot from the perspective of the killer. This is where the camera work is stealthy and makes the audience feel like a perpetrator is sneaking up on the victim. This is known as a POV shot (point-of-view). It is also used several times in the film ‘Jaws’ to give the audience the true effect of the shark sneaking up on its victim.
In this case, the purpose of the shot is to make the audience feel as scared and vulnerable as the victim. Therefore, certain emotions are evoked in the mind of the audience through a particular perspective of a camera shot. The ‘over the shoulder shot’ is followed again in the film ‘The Good German’ because it gives the audience the feeling that they are a part of the conversations that are taking place. It makes the audience find the scenes relatable by simply using the right angles.