Shoot the Piano Player – Francois Truffaut
Ikiru – Akira Kurosawa
Rebel Without a Cause – Nicholas Ray
Riffi Chez Les Hommes – Jules Dassin
Laputa, Castle in the Sky – Hayao Miyazaki
Chushingura – Hiroshi Inagaki
Breathless – Jean-Luc Godard
Chloe in the Afternoon – Eric Rohmer
Manhattan – Woody Allen
Bicycle Thieves – Vittorio De Sica
Touch of Evil – Orson Welles
Reading these posts has made me happier than I’ve been at 4 am in a long time.
I’m a 21 year old director in my last year at drama conservatory. My favorite genres are New Wave and Samurai. I’m hoping to find an aesthetic that will bridge those two worlds.
The Coming of age film that really rocked me is a short by Ermanno Olmi called “La Cotta” (The Crush). It’s on the criterion Il Posto DVD. Watch it ASAP!
What’s interesting about the long shots used in much of early cinema is that the screen becomes like a theater’s proscenium. If you look at a movie like the 1910 “Frankenstein,” it’s clear that staging techniques, rather than close ups or focus, are used to direct the audience’s attention.
In my view, the greatest directors still employ long shots with theatrical blocking as one means of storytelling. Kurosawa used this to control our attention in the last battle of “Seven Samurai” also, if you look at many of the group dialogue scenes, you’ll be able to see most of the samurai in a given frame, our attention is directed by where they look or if one moves while the others are still.
I haven’t found a dvd of it, but the whole film is there.
In using the term ‘theatrical blocking,’ I was referring to movement that directs an audience’s eye within a frame. A theatre director cannot cut, rack focus, pan, zoom, etc. so blocking is used to control where an audience will look. A great example of this in the Edison Frankenstein can be seen at 7:47. Victor sits in his chair and Charles Ogle appears in the mirror. The blocking directs our focus in the way a cut would, but the frame is unchanged. Within that frame, all sorts of action takes place and there is never a cut or a moment’s doubt as to where we should be looking. In addition to this, the relationships between the characters are clearly indicated through spatial relationships.
I’d agree with steve about length feeling very relative. When I watched THE SETUP or DUCK SOUP, I invested a little under or over one hour (72 or 58 minutes), and in that time had an experience on the level of watching SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE.
I wouldn’t say one length is preferable to the other, but that the brevity of THE SETUP is as essential to its aesthetic as the length of SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE.
Whats the scariest film ever or some of ur favorites over 3 years ago
Les Diaboliques!
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Which film has changed your life forever? over 3 years ago
Man, I love this forum!
For me:
Shoot the Piano Player – Francois Truffaut
Ikiru – Akira Kurosawa
Rebel Without a Cause – Nicholas Ray
Riffi Chez Les Hommes – Jules Dassin
Laputa, Castle in the Sky – Hayao Miyazaki
Chushingura – Hiroshi Inagaki
Breathless – Jean-Luc Godard
Chloe in the Afternoon – Eric Rohmer
Manhattan – Woody Allen
Bicycle Thieves – Vittorio De Sica
Touch of Evil – Orson Welles
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Best camerawork in a movie...handheld or otherwise. Or best use of the camera to convey the scene's intention. over 3 years ago
NIGHT AND THE CITY
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Help make The Auteurs totally awesome over 3 years ago
I’d like to be able to search for people, not just filmmakers. I’d also like to have the favorite auteurs linked to the page about each auteur.
MANY THANKS FOR AN AMAZING WEBSITE!
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What was the first Criterion movie you watched? over 3 years ago
Hard Boiled
Awesome…
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The longest movie you've ever sat through over 3 years ago
I guess the Bondarchuk “War and Peace” would be mine, however “Something’s Gotta Give” felt much longer.
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New to The Auteurs? You Belong Here over 3 years ago
Reading these posts has made me happier than I’ve been at 4 am in a long time.
I’m a 21 year old director in my last year at drama conservatory. My favorite genres are New Wave and Samurai. I’m hoping to find an aesthetic that will bridge those two worlds.
Keep rocking!
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Favorite auteurs missing from the profile selection box. over 3 years ago
Hiroshi Inagaki
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Favorite plays turned into films over 3 years ago
I like Casablanca and Ran very much.
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VILLAINS. over 3 years ago
Orson Welles in “Touch of Evil”
Peter Lorre in “M”
Tatsuya Nakadai in “Yojimbo” and “Sanjuro”
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Best of Coming-Of-Age Cinema over 3 years ago
The Coming of age film that really rocked me is a short by Ermanno Olmi called “La Cotta” (The Crush). It’s on the criterion Il Posto DVD. Watch it ASAP!
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Temporality and Space in Primitive Cinema over 3 years ago
What’s interesting about the long shots used in much of early cinema is that the screen becomes like a theater’s proscenium. If you look at a movie like the 1910 “Frankenstein,” it’s clear that staging techniques, rather than close ups or focus, are used to direct the audience’s attention.
In my view, the greatest directors still employ long shots with theatrical blocking as one means of storytelling. Kurosawa used this to control our attention in the last battle of “Seven Samurai” also, if you look at many of the group dialogue scenes, you’ll be able to see most of the samurai in a given frame, our attention is directed by where they look or if one moves while the others are still.
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Your favorite title sequence over 3 years ago
One of my favorites is L’Avventura. It’s very simple, but the music really sets the tone of the movie and brings us to a new level of cool.
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Temporality and Space in Primitive Cinema over 3 years ago
I’ll have to post back a few times! But for starters, Here is a link to the online copy of Edison’s Frankenstein.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=edison%20frankenstein&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#
I haven’t found a dvd of it, but the whole film is there.
In using the term ‘theatrical blocking,’ I was referring to movement that directs an audience’s eye within a frame. A theatre director cannot cut, rack focus, pan, zoom, etc. so blocking is used to control where an audience will look. A great example of this in the Edison Frankenstein can be seen at 7:47. Victor sits in his chair and Charles Ogle appears in the mirror. The blocking directs our focus in the way a cut would, but the frame is unchanged. Within that frame, all sorts of action takes place and there is never a cut or a moment’s doubt as to where we should be looking. In addition to this, the relationships between the characters are clearly indicated through spatial relationships.
Many thanks!
-j
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Movie runtime? over 3 years ago
I’d agree with steve about length feeling very relative. When I watched THE SETUP or DUCK SOUP, I invested a little under or over one hour (72 or 58 minutes), and in that time had an experience on the level of watching SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE.
I wouldn’t say one length is preferable to the other, but that the brevity of THE SETUP is as essential to its aesthetic as the length of SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE.
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GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S NEW NOVEL THE STRAIN about 3 years ago
Check out this trailer on wired.com for Guillermo Del Toro’s new vampire novel. It comes out in a week and I am pumped!
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/05/vampirism-goes-viral-in-del-toros-the-strain/
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