everything has a purpose

 

“The array of choices is dazzling, and as with mise-en-scene, decision making is at the center of film artistry. Forced to choose one way or another, the filmmaker pursues options that will give the viewer a specific experience.”

– Introduction to Cinema Studies textbook, Pg 177

Whenever I am given a piece of film to analyze, I always approach each scene with the mindset that everything has a purpose. There must be a reason why the director chose to have those props, there must be a reason why that type of music is played, there must be a reason why the camera is positioned that way, and so on. Nowadays, especially with the luxuries filmmakers have with technology, new cameras, 3D printers and such, I have noticed that some films often have too much within a scene. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I believe a truly great director is able to use very little filmic techniques to communicate a strong message. After watching 1927 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by F.W. Murnau, as a silent film I thought I was in for a good nap. However, to my surprise, I could not tear my eyes away from the screen. It was the lack of audio, and the lack of extreme camera shots and quick cuts that drew me into the scenes. There were beautiful shots of the Man or the Wife who would just walk into the screen, and just by a few selected gestures and facial expressions, I knew what the character was thinking and how they were feeling. In contrast to films nowadays where the use of cuts are often quite abused, I feel that the use of cuts and changes within shot types of Sunrise have their own unique and obvious function to strongly communicate the story. Take for example, the scene where the Man is about to murder his Wife. There is a point of view shot from the Wife’s perspective looking at her husband’s reaching hands and then to his murderous expression. That one shot that seemed to linger for hours in my mind perfectly communicated in the simplest of ways, the horror and betrayal the Wife must have been feeling.