CIN201Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Hermann Warm
T.A.: Daniel Laurin Dec. 2, 2016
CIN201 TUTORIAL 12
ARNHEIM & “JOAN OF ARC”
ARNHEIM
• Medium Specificity what the medium does best is what it showed focus on, such as
differentiating theatre from cinema
- Limit = mechanical link to reality, not the same transformation (like painting, but
with film there is an artistic choice to produce an essence, not just a mechanical
representation of reality
- Perspective in film, you lack constant view, perception is being shifted, so this
also has artistic potential
• Thinks that film wasn’t always art (Lumière, Edison wasn’t art)
- Takes a conscious decision
- The differences from film to reality are what allowed film to make art
- Despite the ability of the camera to record, the filmmaker cannot rest content with a
simple reproduction (must strengthen, contemplate, and interpret what is filmed)
Ex. you can take a picture of jus a table, but angle and lighting makes a big difference
- Film has a tendency to flatten things, but organizing objects in front of each other
(such as Superimposition) can create more depth
- A lack of sound is not an artistic limitation, because cinema can use silence
evocatively (by using something visual to strengthen something auditory, the effect
can actually be strengthened)
- The “complete film” = closer to reality (the camera is treated as a recording device)
Stereoscopic film (we have two eyes which allow us to see 3D, but film only
has one—when this improves, it will become more real and less artistic)
“JOAN OF ARC”
- Has a distinctive stylistic system
- Very different from other films at this time
- Cinematographic choices reinforce Mise-En-Scène choices reinforce Editing
choices
- Subject of the film is Joan’s anguish (focuses so much on her face)
- Oddity in camera distance Close-ups are so prominent that it seems as though it
was in Close-up the whole time (however, other things give us the sense of tightness
and discomfort)
- First shot in which Joan is seen she appears out of nowhere, bottom half of frame,
not sure where she is in relation to the other characters (there are few visual cues,
eyeline matches, skews the pre-conceived idea we have of perspective and scale, no
sense of depth, establishing show is not helpful, etc.)
- Set went over budget in design, Hermann Warm did the design (also did Dr. Caligari)
and these choices were all deliberate very high windows, spears, staggered
windows, lots of walls, uneven lines, whitewashed walls done give a sense of space
- Film can play with perspective (size is used to do this a lot throughout the film)
In this case, camera movement fails to follow the character and provide clarity
most movements that have not been assigned to a character
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Arnheim: medium specificity what the medium does best is what it showed focus on, such as differentiating theatre from cinema. Limit = mechanical link to reality, not the same transformation (like painting, but with film there is an artistic choice to produce an essence, not just a mechanical representation of reality. Perspective in film, you lack constant view, perception is being shifted, so this also has artistic potential: thinks that film wasn"t always art (lumi re, edison wasn"t art) The differences from film to reality are what allowed film to make art. Despite the ability of the camera to record, the filmmaker cannot rest content with a simple reproduction (must strengthen, contemplate, and interpret what is filmed) Ex. you can take a picture of jus a table, but angle and lighting makes a big difference. Film has a tendency to flatten things, but organizing objects in front of each other (such as superimposition) can create more depth.
