FAMST 96 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Fishing Rod, Soviet Montage Theory, Telephoto Lens
9 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Questions about spatial organization in this film
•
Starts very loud
•
Political parade going on, reporter and camera crew
Reporter = Lee Carter
○
•
Parade passing closely and quickly from left to right -- shows us that there is
more coming in from offscreen although we don’t know how long this parade is
or where it's coming from
•
Lowness of the camera angle looking up at the senator and his wife
•
We hear applause and multitude of people but never see them because we are
presumably with them
•
Space needle and relation to social class
The higher-ups are dining high up
○
•
Assassination! Erupts into complete chaos
•
Camera even shakes as if the cameraman is being rushed and trampled
•
Silence of the tackling of the assassinator -- comedic effect
He falls off the building and we assume he's dead….
Later in the film we can figure out that there's another assassin who
left the scene armed and unnoticed
§
○
•
Sunset and the swell of the score, closeups and tighter shot of the needle
•
Senator Caroll -- "assassinated by Thomas(?)" ….
•
Illumination of the press desk and that alone -- blackness around it and the
zooming of the camera
What's around the illuminated area?
○
How large is the room they are in?
○
•
Opening credits on a freeze frame of the panel
•
Three years later title frame
•
Camera outside the door frame of a home (like we are there as a guest as well)
•
Conversation/arguments in the office - lots of voices coming in from offscreen
without the camera immediately panning to those speaking
•
Lots of straight cuts -- maybe because of difference in lighting but it seems very
obvious to the eye
•
Main character Joseph Frady -- man was at the assassination; journalist•
Trying to figure out if there was another assassin involved in shooting Senator
Caroll
Reporter Lee Carter who witnessed thinks that the same assassin is out to
kill her because 6/18 of the people who were there that day have died
since
○
•
Probably not important but the drama raises he question of who the woman
was that came out of the bathroom, and where she disappeared to
Which we never find out and it wasn't significant, but it pointed to the
fact that Reporter Lee Carter was Joseph Frady's ex-girlfriend
○
•
Carter ends up dead in next shot!!
"Accidental" drug overdose
○
Now we're cued to paranoia
○
•
Offscreen narrator "Now would you call it a possible homicide? Face it, some
people wanna die."
Who is this speaking? The killer?
○
Excellent moment that even makes the audience participate in the
conspiracies
○
•
Small stillness of the autopsy room.. Cold, blue, our view is restricted to only her
head
•
Train ride, use of shadows and silhouettes, cant see much detail of people and
faces
•
Camera follows the movement of the train -- the cameraman is on the ride as
well
This type of consistent camera movement makes it feel like the audience
is there to… then cuts come in and our imagination is interrupted with
reality
○
•
Crowds of people are always left offscreen•
Comedic elements•
Moments of chaos - now a bar fight
Rapid movements of the camera and quickness of cuts
○
•
Camera movements make it seem like we're involved, but then it pulls out of
the action and we feel like spectators along with everyone else again
•
Music plays and everyone goes back to what they were doing before this
disastrous fight
•
Sheriff takes Joe to where witness Judge Bridges "drowned"
Loudness and closeness of the dam's warning horns
○
Sheriff tries to kill Joe but he fights back with his fishing rod, and sheriff
dies
○
The dam and river obviously seem much more large and grand than our
characters and where we are in relation to it
However, it does seem very narrow because of what we are shown
(rock walls lining the side of the frame)
§
○
•
Establishing shot of a forest road (police car coming from the right of the
screen) -- distance
Joe's stolen the car
○
•
We know something the characters don’t (go back to find the term for this
concept)
Split screen by the brick wall
○
Main guy on left, sheriff on right
○
Division of space to effectively convey information
○
•
Joe finds out that the Parallax Corporation is recruiting political assassins
Just like he thought
○
•
Inside of grocery store right before crash
Because we are inside before the car crashes, we have a very brief
moment to suspect that the car will crash into the front doors of the store
○
Another example of a moment of predictability
○
•
Need to find who is killing off the witnesses, so Joe goes to interview Senator
Caroll's aide Austin Tucker
Meet on the boat
○
Boat blows up
○
Tucker and the other person on the boat dies
○
•
Back to newspaper editor Bill's (last name?) office
Comedic effect of Joe always narrowly escaping death, harm, arrest, etc.
○
"aren't you supposed to be dead" - Bill to Joe
○
Newspaper reads "Three Dead", referring to the boat explosion, but only
two died
○
•
Demanding a reopening of the Caroll investigation
Joe wants to head this thing by himself and feels that he could get more
information than government agencies can
Also the theory that government is covering things up
§
○
•
Joe gets a response for Parallax testing after submitting an application under a
false name
The recruiter [Jack Younger] comes to Joe's house to visit
○
Joe puts on an act like he is aggressive and maybe emotionally unstable
This act sparks something in Jack Younger even more and he tells
Joe that he is definitely the kind of guy they're looking for
§
○
•
Darkness and shadows of the sides of the frame in moments of conversation•
Illumination is typically centralized… one key source of light•
Interrogation, darkness of the testing/interrogation room
Before surrounding lights come, it seems like the room is HUGE
○
Then lights come on and we can see that the room is much smaller than
anticipated
○
•
Parallax testing begins on Joe
The slides being sown in testing are exactly what we see in fullscreen, as if
we too were being tested
Think about the effect it would have if we were shown the slides
any smaller than they were shown
§
We wouldn’t feel involved, we would feel removed from the
situation like spectators
§
What is our psychological involvement at this point? How are we
being mentally affected by being engaged in this testing right
alongside Joe?
Also think about being in chairs in the theater
We experience the same darkness that Joe does
®
We feel somewhat alone in the sense that we aren't
interacting with those around us
®
□
§
○
•
Same darkness of the room as the testing stops
Joe seems small compared to the chair and maybe this is all assumed
from what we can't see
○
Light creates many shadows
○
Spotlight
○
Dissolve/dimming of the light
○
•
Joe goes to Parallax offices to meet Younger
Sees someone he recognizes?
It was the second assassin from the Senator's assassination
§
○
•
Joe follows the assassin to yet another "mission"
Camera angles set up so we focus on one specific thing (intended)
Heavy focus on the briefcase as it travels through various spaces
§
As the first suitcase goes onto the plane, it goes out of focus while
our "special" briefcase and yellow luggage tag do not lose our
attention
§
○
As the plane moves we are awkwardly positioned to not see the entirety
of the plane… very close-up
Camera angle puts us behind the corner of a wall, like where the
man is looking from
§
Again, the audience is placed in the scene and we are there in the
moment
§
○
•
Joe introduces himself as Richard Paley (who is that? Random name again.)•
Joe moves throughout the plane probably looking for the assassin
Notices that a senator is onboard
○
•
Showing of space contributes to audience predictability again
When he goes to the bathroom, we predict the flight attendant will come
back to give him change and he'll be gone
○
•
Writes "there is a bomb on this plane" on the mirror which only we know
Also suspected way earlier because the intense focus on the briefcase and
it being loaded onto the plane.. Without a passenger along with it
○
Confirmation of something we could have faithfully assumed
○
•
We never really see the faces of characters we don’t need to know … limit of
excess (there isn't much excess as Bordwell would put it)
•
Focus on the stack of napkins.. Note on it probably says there's a bomb since
the mirror plan didn't work
•
Flight attendant sees note, takes it elsewhere, then pilot announces the flight
will be returning to LA
Brief second where we don't know who she's taking it to but logically,
she'd be taking it to the pilot… then we hear the pilot's announcement
and our thoughts are confirmed again
○
•
Offscreen "boom" and shaking of the camera, light smoke while the camera
focuses in one spot on the runway
We never see the pane, but we know that it's just blown up
○
Camera shaking again like we were there, just as the camera shook when
we were at Senator Caroll's assassination
○
•
Was anybody hurt or was everyone evacuated quickly enough?•
Darkness occurs a lot, where we cant see what's around the illuminated part•
Jack Younger pays Joe a visit again and confronts him about not being who he
said he was (Richard Paley)… the real Richard Paley is dead
•
"I wouldn't step outside that door"
Element of safety and knowledge that lies inside the room we see
○
Like the darkness, the unknown lies outside that door
○
Division of space in which one side represents safety and knowledge while
the other side is unknown and especially dangerous
○
•
Joe says he had to use a fake name because of trouble with the law, Younger
believes this new fake identity as well
•
Back at editor Bill's office
Lunch delivery is a bomb or something to kill him.. All based on visual cues
and the intense camera focus on the lunch bag
"oh you're new aren't you" to the delivery man…. Then revealed
that he's the assassin
§
○
•
Ominous music points us to believe that the meal is poisoned and Bill will soon
die
•
Bill is dead, as expected
The secret tapes of the conversation between Joe and Jack are taken, and
now there's pretty much no evidence left behind that the Parallax
Corporation recruits political assassins
○
•
Use of curtains and light to hide what's on the other side of doors
Happens three times?
○
•
No telling about what lies in the dark without at least a tiny bit of illumination•
Joe goes to see Jack Younger, notices he's leaving his office and follows him
End up at a political rally for an unnamed senator
Senator George Hammond
§
○
•
Above the auditorium space, walking the beams
Darkness and slits of light
○
Seems like a large area although we can only see a little
This is because I have seen above an auditorium before (prior
knowledge creating cues)
§
○
•
There are Parallax agents posing as security guards in this space, Joe notices and
tries to follow one of the men back down to the auditorium
Joe locked inside, now his actions and intelligence are inhibited
○
•
Gunshots ringing out.. Yet another assassination of another Senator
Immediately met with the comedic relief of the golf-cart driving into the
tables
○
Senator Hammonds killer goes unseen
Someone "recognizes" Joe as the killer when he really isn't… but he
can't really clear that up because he's stuck above the auditorium
§
○
•
Joe runs into a really bright white space
Cant even see out the door even though we get closer
Realize that the door was opened again
§
○
Silhouette then shots… Joe Frady shot
○
•
Back to the "announcement"… "not a press conference, strictly an
announcement, no questions allowed"
Same panel that investigated Senator Caroll's assassination investigated
the assassination of Senator George Hammond
○
Starting from close up to the panel and camera moves back
○
They announce that Senator Hammond was assassinated by Joseph Frady
(which is untrue)
Real assassin still goes unfound
§
Government knows who the real assassin is (?)
§
○
Panel says that this verdict should end all conspiracy theories about
political assassinations
Trying to cover up
§
○
Same central illuminated object and darkness around
○
•
LECTURE DISCUSSION
Multiple political assassinations
Paramount Studio film -- controversial for Hollywood industry to mix with
politics
○
•
Separation of space
Glass separations
○
Wall divisions
○
One side = safety, one side = danger or chaos
○
•
Use of symmetry in space•
Sound cues•
Close-ups•
Perspective of the needle•
Space creating a sense of paranoia
Giving you the information you need, but there are still gaps
○
Our understanding creates a heightened sense of awareness which
"freaks us out"
More anticipation
§
i.e. the suitcase/bomb sequence
§
○
•
Fast cuts, tight shots in moments of chaos•
Intellectual montage editing•
Long distance created by telephoto lens
i.e. sequence at the dam
○
Individuals being reduced to small figures in front of significantly larger
*things*
○
•
Increasingly estranged sense of balance (use of diagonals, etc.)
Contributes to paranoia
Also our paranoia is connected with Joe's "paranoia" that the
committee said was his motive for assassinating Senator Hammond
§
○
•
Offscreen sonic spaces and cues•
Lecture 11: The Parallax View (1974)
Monday, May 7, 2018
2:01 PM
Questions about spatial organization in this film•
Starts very loud•
Political parade going on, reporter and camera crew
Reporter = Lee Carter
○
•
Parade passing closely and quickly from left to right -- shows us that there is
more coming in from offscreen although we don’t know how long this parade is
or where it's coming from
•
Lowness of the camera angle looking up at the senator and his wife•
We hear applause and multitude of people but never see them because we are
presumably with them
•
Space needle and relation to social class
The higher-ups are dining high up
○
•
Assassination! Erupts into complete chaos•
Camera even shakes as if the cameraman is being rushed and trampled•
Silence of the tackling of the assassinator -- comedic effect
He falls off the building and we assume he's dead….
Later in the film we can figure out that there's another assassin who
left the scene armed and unnoticed
§
○
•
Sunset and the swell of the score, closeups and tighter shot of the needle•
Senator Caroll -- "assassinated by Thomas(?)" ….•
Illumination of the press desk and that alone -- blackness around it and the
zooming of the camera
What's around the illuminated area?
○
How large is the room they are in?
○
•
Opening credits on a freeze frame of the panel•
Three years later title frame•
Camera outside the door frame of a home (like we are there as a guest as well)•
Conversation/arguments in the office - lots of voices coming in from offscreen
without the camera immediately panning to those speaking
•
Lots of straight cuts -- maybe because of difference in lighting but it seems very
obvious to the eye
•
Main character Joseph Frady -- man was at the assassination; journalist
•
Trying to figure out if there was another assassin involved in shooting Senator
Caroll
Reporter Lee Carter who witnessed thinks that the same assassin is out to
kill her because 6/18 of the people who were there that day have died
since
○
•
Probably not important but the drama raises he question of who the woman
was that came out of the bathroom, and where she disappeared to
Which we never find out and it wasn't significant, but it pointed to the
fact that Reporter Lee Carter was Joseph Frady's ex-girlfriend
○
•
Carter ends up dead in next shot!!
"Accidental" drug overdose
○
Now we're cued to paranoia
○
•
Offscreen narrator "Now would you call it a possible homicide? Face it, some
people wanna die."
Who is this speaking? The killer?
○
Excellent moment that even makes the audience participate in the
conspiracies
○
•
Small stillness of the autopsy room.. Cold, blue, our view is restricted to only her
head
•
Train ride, use of shadows and silhouettes, cant see much detail of people and
faces
•
Camera follows the movement of the train -- the cameraman is on the ride as
well
This type of consistent camera movement makes it feel like the audience
is there to… then cuts come in and our imagination is interrupted with
reality
○
•
Crowds of people are always left offscreen
•
Comedic elements
•
Moments of chaos - now a bar fight
Rapid movements of the camera and quickness of cuts
○
•
Camera movements make it seem like we're involved, but then it pulls out of
the action and we feel like spectators along with everyone else again
•
Music plays and everyone goes back to what they were doing before this
disastrous fight
•
Sheriff takes Joe to where witness Judge Bridges "drowned"
Loudness and closeness of the dam's warning horns
○
Sheriff tries to kill Joe but he fights back with his fishing rod, and sheriff
dies
○
The dam and river obviously seem much more large and grand than our
characters and where we are in relation to it
However, it does seem very narrow because of what we are shown
(rock walls lining the side of the frame)
§
○
•
Establishing shot of a forest road (police car coming from the right of the
screen) -- distance
Joe's stolen the car
○
•
We know something the characters don’t (go back to find the term for this
concept)
Split screen by the brick wall
○
Main guy on left, sheriff on right
○
Division of space to effectively convey information
○
•
Joe finds out that the Parallax Corporation is recruiting political assassins
Just like he thought
○
•
Inside of grocery store right before crash
Because we are inside before the car crashes, we have a very brief
moment to suspect that the car will crash into the front doors of the store
○
Another example of a moment of predictability
○
•
Need to find who is killing off the witnesses, so Joe goes to interview Senator
Caroll's aide Austin Tucker
Meet on the boat
○
Boat blows up
○
Tucker and the other person on the boat dies
○
•
Back to newspaper editor Bill's (last name?) office
Comedic effect of Joe always narrowly escaping death, harm, arrest, etc.
○
"aren't you supposed to be dead" - Bill to Joe
○
Newspaper reads "Three Dead", referring to the boat explosion, but only
two died
○
•
Demanding a reopening of the Caroll investigation
Joe wants to head this thing by himself and feels that he could get more
information than government agencies can
Also the theory that government is covering things up
§
○
•
Joe gets a response for Parallax testing after submitting an application under a
false name
The recruiter [Jack Younger] comes to Joe's house to visit
○
Joe puts on an act like he is aggressive and maybe emotionally unstable
This act sparks something in Jack Younger even more and he tells
Joe that he is definitely the kind of guy they're looking for
§
○
•
Darkness and shadows of the sides of the frame in moments of conversation•
Illumination is typically centralized… one key source of light•
Interrogation, darkness of the testing/interrogation room
Before surrounding lights come, it seems like the room is HUGE
○
Then lights come on and we can see that the room is much smaller than
anticipated
○
•
Parallax testing begins on Joe
The slides being sown in testing are exactly what we see in fullscreen, as if
we too were being tested
Think about the effect it would have if we were shown the slides
any smaller than they were shown
§
We wouldn’t feel involved, we would feel removed from the
situation like spectators
§
What is our psychological involvement at this point? How are we
being mentally affected by being engaged in this testing right
alongside Joe?
Also think about being in chairs in the theater
We experience the same darkness that Joe does
®
We feel somewhat alone in the sense that we aren't
interacting with those around us
®
□
§
○
•
Same darkness of the room as the testing stops
Joe seems small compared to the chair and maybe this is all assumed
from what we can't see
○
Light creates many shadows
○
Spotlight
○
Dissolve/dimming of the light
○
•
Joe goes to Parallax offices to meet Younger
Sees someone he recognizes?
It was the second assassin from the Senator's assassination
§
○
•
Joe follows the assassin to yet another "mission"
Camera angles set up so we focus on one specific thing (intended)
Heavy focus on the briefcase as it travels through various spaces
§
As the first suitcase goes onto the plane, it goes out of focus while
our "special" briefcase and yellow luggage tag do not lose our
attention
§
○
As the plane moves we are awkwardly positioned to not see the entirety
of the plane… very close-up
Camera angle puts us behind the corner of a wall, like where the
man is looking from
§
Again, the audience is placed in the scene and we are there in the
moment
§
○
•
Joe introduces himself as Richard Paley (who is that? Random name again.)•
Joe moves throughout the plane probably looking for the assassin
Notices that a senator is onboard
○
•
Showing of space contributes to audience predictability again
When he goes to the bathroom, we predict the flight attendant will come
back to give him change and he'll be gone
○
•
Writes "there is a bomb on this plane" on the mirror which only we know
Also suspected way earlier because the intense focus on the briefcase and
it being loaded onto the plane.. Without a passenger along with it
○
Confirmation of something we could have faithfully assumed
○
•
We never really see the faces of characters we don’t need to know … limit of
excess (there isn't much excess as Bordwell would put it)
•
Focus on the stack of napkins.. Note on it probably says there's a bomb since
the mirror plan didn't work
•
Flight attendant sees note, takes it elsewhere, then pilot announces the flight
will be returning to LA
Brief second where we don't know who she's taking it to but logically,
she'd be taking it to the pilot… then we hear the pilot's announcement
and our thoughts are confirmed again
○
•
Offscreen "boom" and shaking of the camera, light smoke while the camera
focuses in one spot on the runway
We never see the pane, but we know that it's just blown up
○
Camera shaking again like we were there, just as the camera shook when
we were at Senator Caroll's assassination
○
•
Was anybody hurt or was everyone evacuated quickly enough?•
Darkness occurs a lot, where we cant see what's around the illuminated part•
Jack Younger pays Joe a visit again and confronts him about not being who he
said he was (Richard Paley)… the real Richard Paley is dead
•
"I wouldn't step outside that door"
Element of safety and knowledge that lies inside the room we see
○
Like the darkness, the unknown lies outside that door
○
Division of space in which one side represents safety and knowledge while
the other side is unknown and especially dangerous
○
•
Joe says he had to use a fake name because of trouble with the law, Younger
believes this new fake identity as well
•
Back at editor Bill's office
Lunch delivery is a bomb or something to kill him.. All based on visual cues
and the intense camera focus on the lunch bag
"oh you're new aren't you" to the delivery man…. Then revealed
that he's the assassin
§
○
•
Ominous music points us to believe that the meal is poisoned and Bill will soon
die
•
Bill is dead, as expected
The secret tapes of the conversation between Joe and Jack are taken, and
now there's pretty much no evidence left behind that the Parallax
Corporation recruits political assassins
○
•
Use of curtains and light to hide what's on the other side of doors
Happens three times?
○
•
No telling about what lies in the dark without at least a tiny bit of illumination•
Joe goes to see Jack Younger, notices he's leaving his office and follows him
End up at a political rally for an unnamed senator
Senator George Hammond
§
○
•
Above the auditorium space, walking the beams
Darkness and slits of light
○
Seems like a large area although we can only see a little
This is because I have seen above an auditorium before (prior
knowledge creating cues)
§
○
•
There are Parallax agents posing as security guards in this space, Joe notices and
tries to follow one of the men back down to the auditorium
Joe locked inside, now his actions and intelligence are inhibited
○
•
Gunshots ringing out.. Yet another assassination of another Senator
Immediately met with the comedic relief of the golf-cart driving into the
tables
○
Senator Hammonds killer goes unseen
Someone "recognizes" Joe as the killer when he really isn't… but he
can't really clear that up because he's stuck above the auditorium
§
○
•
Joe runs into a really bright white space
Cant even see out the door even though we get closer
Realize that the door was opened again
§
○
Silhouette then shots… Joe Frady shot
○
•
Back to the "announcement"… "not a press conference, strictly an
announcement, no questions allowed"
Same panel that investigated Senator Caroll's assassination investigated
the assassination of Senator George Hammond
○
Starting from close up to the panel and camera moves back
○
They announce that Senator Hammond was assassinated by Joseph Frady
(which is untrue)
Real assassin still goes unfound
§
Government knows who the real assassin is (?)
§
○
Panel says that this verdict should end all conspiracy theories about
political assassinations
Trying to cover up
§
○
Same central illuminated object and darkness around
○
•
LECTURE DISCUSSION
Multiple political assassinations
Paramount Studio film -- controversial for Hollywood industry to mix with
politics
○
•
Separation of space
Glass separations
○
Wall divisions
○
One side = safety, one side = danger or chaos
○
•
Use of symmetry in space•
Sound cues•
Close-ups•
Perspective of the needle•
Space creating a sense of paranoia
Giving you the information you need, but there are still gaps
○
Our understanding creates a heightened sense of awareness which
"freaks us out"
More anticipation
§
i.e. the suitcase/bomb sequence
§
○
•
Fast cuts, tight shots in moments of chaos•
Intellectual montage editing•
Long distance created by telephoto lens
i.e. sequence at the dam
○
Individuals being reduced to small figures in front of significantly larger
*things*
○
•
Increasingly estranged sense of balance (use of diagonals, etc.)
Contributes to paranoia
Also our paranoia is connected with Joe's "paranoia" that the
committee said was his motive for assassinating Senator Hammond
§
○
•
Offscreen sonic spaces and cues•
Lecture 11: The Parallax View (1974)
Monday, May 7, 2018 2:01 PM
Questions about spatial organization in this film•
Starts very loud•
Political parade going on, reporter and camera crew
Reporter = Lee Carter
○
•
Parade passing closely and quickly from left to right -- shows us that there is
more coming in from offscreen although we don’t know how long this parade is
or where it's coming from
•
Lowness of the camera angle looking up at the senator and his wife•
We hear applause and multitude of people but never see them because we are
presumably with them
•
Space needle and relation to social class
The higher-ups are dining high up
○
•
Assassination! Erupts into complete chaos•
Camera even shakes as if the cameraman is being rushed and trampled•
Silence of the tackling of the assassinator -- comedic effect
He falls off the building and we assume he's dead….
Later in the film we can figure out that there's another assassin who
left the scene armed and unnoticed
§
○
•
Sunset and the swell of the score, closeups and tighter shot of the needle•
Senator Caroll -- "assassinated by Thomas(?)" ….•
Illumination of the press desk and that alone -- blackness around it and the
zooming of the camera
What's around the illuminated area?
○
How large is the room they are in?
○
•
Opening credits on a freeze frame of the panel•
Three years later title frame•
Camera outside the door frame of a home (like we are there as a guest as well)•
Conversation/arguments in the office - lots of voices coming in from offscreen
without the camera immediately panning to those speaking
•
Lots of straight cuts -- maybe because of difference in lighting but it seems very
obvious to the eye
•
Main character Joseph Frady -- man was at the assassination; journalist•
Trying to figure out if there was another assassin involved in shooting Senator
Caroll
Reporter Lee Carter who witnessed thinks that the same assassin is out to
kill her because 6/18 of the people who were there that day have died
since
○
•
Probably not important but the drama raises he question of who the woman
was that came out of the bathroom, and where she disappeared to
Which we never find out and it wasn't significant, but it pointed to the
fact that Reporter Lee Carter was Joseph Frady's ex-girlfriend
○
•
Carter ends up dead in next shot!!
"Accidental" drug overdose
○
Now we're cued to paranoia
○
•
Offscreen narrator "Now would you call it a possible homicide? Face it, some
people wanna die."
Who is this speaking? The killer?
○
Excellent moment that even makes the audience participate in the
conspiracies
○
•
Small stillness of the autopsy room.. Cold, blue, our view is restricted to only her
head
•
Train ride, use of shadows and silhouettes, cant see much detail of people and
faces
•
Camera follows the movement of the train -- the cameraman is on the ride as
well
This type of consistent camera movement makes it feel like the audience
is there to… then cuts come in and our imagination is interrupted with
reality
○
•
Crowds of people are always left offscreen•
Comedic elements•
Moments of chaos - now a bar fight
Rapid movements of the camera and quickness of cuts
○
•
Camera movements make it seem like we're involved, but then it pulls out of
the action and we feel like spectators along with everyone else again
•
Music plays and everyone goes back to what they were doing before this
disastrous fight
•
Sheriff takes Joe to where witness Judge Bridges "drowned"
Loudness and closeness of the dam's warning horns
○
Sheriff tries to kill Joe but he fights back with his fishing rod, and sheriff
dies
○
The dam and river obviously seem much more large and grand than our
characters and where we are in relation to it
However, it does seem very narrow because of what we are shown
(rock walls lining the side of the frame)
§
○
•
Establishing shot of a forest road (police car coming from the right of the
screen) -- distance
Joe's stolen the car
○
•
We know something the characters don’t (go back to find the term for this
concept)
Split screen by the brick wall
○
Main guy on left, sheriff on right
○
Division of space to effectively convey information
○
•
Joe finds out that the Parallax Corporation is recruiting political assassins
Just like he thought
○
•
Inside of grocery store right before crash
Because we are inside before the car crashes, we have a very brief
moment to suspect that the car will crash into the front doors of the store
○
Another example of a moment of predictability
○
•
Need to find who is killing off the witnesses, so Joe goes to interview Senator
Caroll's aide Austin Tucker
Meet on the boat
○
Boat blows up
○
Tucker and the other person on the boat dies
○
•
Back to newspaper editor Bill's (last name?) office
Comedic effect of Joe always narrowly escaping death, harm, arrest, etc.
○
"aren't you supposed to be dead" - Bill to Joe
○
Newspaper reads "Three Dead", referring to the boat explosion, but only
two died
○
•
Demanding a reopening of the Caroll investigation
Joe wants to head this thing by himself and feels that he could get more
information than government agencies can
Also the theory that government is covering things up
§
○
•
Joe gets a response for Parallax testing after submitting an application under a
false name
The recruiter [Jack Younger] comes to Joe's house to visit
○
Joe puts on an act like he is aggressive and maybe emotionally unstable
This act sparks something in Jack Younger even more and he tells
Joe that he is definitely the kind of guy they're looking for
§
○
•
Darkness and shadows of the sides of the frame in moments of conversation•
Illumination is typically centralized… one key source of light•
Interrogation, darkness of the testing/interrogation room
Before surrounding lights come, it seems like the room is HUGE
○
Then lights come on and we can see that the room is much smaller than
anticipated
○
•
Parallax testing begins on Joe
The slides being sown in testing are exactly what we see in fullscreen, as if
we too were being tested
Think about the effect it would have if we were shown the slides
any smaller than they were shown
§
We wouldn’t feel involved, we would feel removed from the
situation like spectators
§
What is our psychological involvement at this point? How are we
being mentally affected by being engaged in this testing right
alongside Joe?
Also think about being in chairs in the theater
We experience the same darkness that Joe does
®
We feel somewhat alone in the sense that we aren't
interacting with those around us
®
□
§
○
•
Same darkness of the room as the testing stops
Joe seems small compared to the chair and maybe this is all assumed
from what we can't see
○
Light creates many shadows
○
Spotlight
○
Dissolve/dimming of the light
○
•
Joe goes to Parallax offices to meet Younger
Sees someone he recognizes?
It was the second assassin from the Senator's assassination
§
○
•
Joe follows the assassin to yet another "mission"
Camera angles set up so we focus on one specific thing (intended)
Heavy focus on the briefcase as it travels through various spaces
§
As the first suitcase goes onto the plane, it goes out of focus while
our "special" briefcase and yellow luggage tag do not lose our
attention
§
○
As the plane moves we are awkwardly positioned to not see the entirety
of the plane… very close-up
Camera angle puts us behind the corner of a wall, like where the
man is looking from
§
Again, the audience is placed in the scene and we are there in the
moment
§
○
•
Joe introduces himself as Richard Paley (who is that? Random name again.)•
Joe moves throughout the plane probably looking for the assassin
Notices that a senator is onboard
○
•
Showing of space contributes to audience predictability again
When he goes to the bathroom, we predict the flight attendant will come
back to give him change and he'll be gone
○
•
Writes "there is a bomb on this plane" on the mirror which only we know
Also suspected way earlier because the intense focus on the briefcase and
it being loaded onto the plane.. Without a passenger along with it
○
Confirmation of something we could have faithfully assumed
○
•
We never really see the faces of characters we don’t need to know … limit of
excess (there isn't much excess as Bordwell would put it)
•
Focus on the stack of napkins.. Note on it probably says there's a bomb since
the mirror plan didn't work
•
Flight attendant sees note, takes it elsewhere, then pilot announces the flight
will be returning to LA
Brief second where we don't know who she's taking it to but logically,
she'd be taking it to the pilot… then we hear the pilot's announcement
and our thoughts are confirmed again
○
•
Offscreen "boom" and shaking of the camera, light smoke while the camera
focuses in one spot on the runway
We never see the pane, but we know that it's just blown up
○
Camera shaking again like we were there, just as the camera shook when
we were at Senator Caroll's assassination
○
•
Was anybody hurt or was everyone evacuated quickly enough?•
Darkness occurs a lot, where we cant see what's around the illuminated part•
Jack Younger pays Joe a visit again and confronts him about not being who he
said he was (Richard Paley)… the real Richard Paley is dead
•
"I wouldn't step outside that door"
Element of safety and knowledge that lies inside the room we see
○
Like the darkness, the unknown lies outside that door
○
Division of space in which one side represents safety and knowledge while
the other side is unknown and especially dangerous
○
•
Joe says he had to use a fake name because of trouble with the law, Younger
believes this new fake identity as well
•
Back at editor Bill's office
Lunch delivery is a bomb or something to kill him.. All based on visual cues
and the intense camera focus on the lunch bag
"oh you're new aren't you" to the delivery man…. Then revealed
that he's the assassin
§
○
•
Ominous music points us to believe that the meal is poisoned and Bill will soon
die
•
Bill is dead, as expected
The secret tapes of the conversation between Joe and Jack are taken, and
now there's pretty much no evidence left behind that the Parallax
Corporation recruits political assassins
○
•
Use of curtains and light to hide what's on the other side of doors
Happens three times?
○
•
No telling about what lies in the dark without at least a tiny bit of illumination•
Joe goes to see Jack Younger, notices he's leaving his office and follows him
End up at a political rally for an unnamed senator
Senator George Hammond
§
○
•
Above the auditorium space, walking the beams
Darkness and slits of light
○
Seems like a large area although we can only see a little
This is because I have seen above an auditorium before (prior
knowledge creating cues)
§
○
•
There are Parallax agents posing as security guards in this space, Joe notices and
tries to follow one of the men back down to the auditorium
Joe locked inside, now his actions and intelligence are inhibited
○
•
Gunshots ringing out.. Yet another assassination of another Senator
Immediately met with the comedic relief of the golf-cart driving into the
tables
○
Senator Hammonds killer goes unseen
Someone "recognizes" Joe as the killer when he really isn't… but he
can't really clear that up because he's stuck above the auditorium
§
○
•
Joe runs into a really bright white space
Cant even see out the door even though we get closer
Realize that the door was opened again
§
○
Silhouette then shots… Joe Frady shot
○
•
Back to the "announcement"… "not a press conference, strictly an
announcement, no questions allowed"
Same panel that investigated Senator Caroll's assassination investigated
the assassination of Senator George Hammond
○
Starting from close up to the panel and camera moves back
○
They announce that Senator Hammond was assassinated by Joseph Frady
(which is untrue)
Real assassin still goes unfound
§
Government knows who the real assassin is (?)
§
○
Panel says that this verdict should end all conspiracy theories about
political assassinations
Trying to cover up
§
○
Same central illuminated object and darkness around
○
•
LECTURE DISCUSSION
Multiple political assassinations
Paramount Studio film -- controversial for Hollywood industry to mix with
politics
○
•
Separation of space
Glass separations
○
Wall divisions
○
One side = safety, one side = danger or chaos
○
•
Use of symmetry in space•
Sound cues•
Close-ups•
Perspective of the needle•
Space creating a sense of paranoia
Giving you the information you need, but there are still gaps
○
Our understanding creates a heightened sense of awareness which
"freaks us out"
More anticipation
§
i.e. the suitcase/bomb sequence
§
○
•
Fast cuts, tight shots in moments of chaos•
Intellectual montage editing•
Long distance created by telephoto lens
i.e. sequence at the dam
○
Individuals being reduced to small figures in front of significantly larger
*things*
○
•
Increasingly estranged sense of balance (use of diagonals, etc.)
Contributes to paranoia
Also our paranoia is connected with Joe's "paranoia" that the
committee said was his motive for assassinating Senator Hammond
§
○
•
Offscreen sonic spaces and cues•
Lecture 11: The Parallax View (1974)
Monday, May 7, 2018 2:01 PM
Document Summary
Political parade going on, reporter and camera crew. Parade passing closely and quickly from left to right -- shows us that there is more coming in from offscreen although we don"t know how long this parade is or where it"s coming from. Lowness of the camera angle looking up at the senator and his wife. We hear applause and multitude of people but never see them because we are presumably with them. Camera even shakes as if the cameraman is being rushed and trampled. Silence of the tackling of the assassinator -- comedic effect. He falls off the building and we assume he"s dead . Later in the film we can figure out that there"s another assassin who left the scene armed and unnoticed. Sunset and the swell of the score, closeups and tighter shot of the needle. Illumination of the press desk and that alone -- blackness around it and the zooming of the camera.
