The Fountain: Narrative.

                                                  

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDp-F3Y97ZQ

“ Film Narratives are important for two reasons: they describe the different temporal experiences of individuals, and they reflect and reveal the shapes and patterns of larger social histories (of nations, communities, and cultures)” – Corrigan and White. (The Film Experience. An Introduction. The Significance of Film Narrative p. 259)

“Multiple narrations are found in films that use several different narrative perspectives for a single story or two different stories in a movie that loosely fits these perspectives together”- Corrigan and White. (The Film Experience. An introduction. Multiple Narratives p. 258)

Darren Aronofsky’s 2006 film, The Fountain, is a perfect example of a multiple narration. The film uses of three parallel stories that are based around two characters that exist in the present but are also embodied into imaginary characters of other time and dimension, invented and historic.

 The three layers united by a single symbol, which is the tree of life. Each narrative is invented to tell the story from the perspectives of:

A) Reality

B) Izzy’s Imagination

C) Tommy’s Imagination.

The story takes place during the most difficult trial of Tommy and Izzy’s relationship, at its very end, as Dizzy is deathly ill and Tommy seeks a cure for her condition.

   The narrative that is set in reality tells a tragic story of Tommy’s loss of touch with his wife as he becomes obsessed with finding the cure to her disease. His research consists or extracting cancer fighting chemicals out of tree bark. He becomes so determined to save Izzy that he misses out on the rest of time that she has left on this eath.

   The second part of the narrative is based on a fictional novel that Izzy is writing. The novel is based on historic facts from the 16^th century, where Tommy takes a role of a conquistador that searches for a tree of life that will bring power and eternal youth to his queen, aka Izzy. The Novel represents her desire of Tommy’s loyalty and determination. Through it she fantasizes of being reunited with her husband, because in reality he is always too occupied to spend time with her.

 The third part of the narrative tells a story of Tommy’s emotional and spiritual imagination. He envisions himself not as a scientist but as a man of spiritual belief, floating through space in a dimension where miracles are not unlikely. Tommy’s imaginary self exists in a floating sphere where he is the only human-like creature. Tommy’s only companion is a god-like tree that keeps him alive as he keeps eating it’s bark to remain alive. Both Tommy and the tree await a miracle that will save them.  Occasional visits from Izzy’s spirit distract them, because they force Tommy to see the reality of things.

    The tree in the first two narratives represents the cure for Izzy’s condition, however in Tommy’s narrative it represents Izzy, and the cure for Tommy’s misery in case of Izzy’s death. He must selfishly continue to eat the bark from the tree of life, similarly to the way me he must selfishly find a cure to Izzy’s cancer, because without her he is as good as dead. The tree if life and eternal life are impossible to reach. Death cannot be cheater. One must learn to love life and to cope with death. 

Works Cited

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

"The Fountain (2006) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 116 June 2011. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/>.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 16 June 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-OF_k2OclHDluENrq7XxvQr4hDMirej8-Z1comzq1oy491-TM4Bkk2z6Wg_gy3IOp7nyUvwXWuMj1EYBFRw3mCgQxz3kIqPiJdv8APgfteUA7-ovOyiWt-xbKBpyHiD6bzW9jv2x9baB/s1600/the_fountain.jpg>.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 16 June 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/trailer1/images/fountain_apple_05.jpg>.

"YouTube - ‪The Fountain Trailer‬‏." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 16 June 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDp-F3Y97ZQ>.

War of the World: Character Development of Ray Ferrier

        

                              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJYnHA2OzfA

“ As we have seen, characters as presented in film narratives are a product of certain physical, psychological, or cultural elements that we as viewers must attend to and recognize as we are encouraged to regard these characters as individuals. In addition, certain character types reflect recognizable traits and actions derived from cultural, historical and cinematic conventions. Finally, film characters usually change over the course of a realist film and thus require us to evaluate and revise our understanding of them as they develop.”– Corrigan and White. (The Film Experience: An Introduction. Character Development pp. 244-245)

   According to Corrigan and White, there are four ways to measure Character Development

• External Change
• Internal Change
• Progressive Development
• Regressive Development

   External Change refers to the physical transformation of a character throughout time. Examples of which would be: aging, illness, adaptation of a new image, etc.

   Internal Change measures the character’s alteration of inner self. It is usually associated with the chain of events that take place before the evaluation is made. An example of an internal change is one’s loss of interest in someone that was once dear to the character’s heart after a certain amount of negativity had been released into the relationship. Progressive Character Development occurs when a character goes through a significant transformation, which results into a positive improvement or an epiphany of some sort. Regressive Character Development usually means the opposite of that. It is defined by a transformation, which leads to a negative shift within the characters qualities. (Corrigan and White. The Film Experience3 An introduction. Character Development p. 245.)

    Steven Spielberg’s 2005 feature War of the Worlds provides a great example of Progressive Character Development. In the film, the leading man Jack (Tom Cruz’s character) experiences out of worldly hardship, which eventually leads to drastic changes within his perceptions of his family.

    When Jack is first introduced to the viewers, he is represented as an arrogant, self-centered loner with little interest in his family. He enjoys living a life of a bachelor and being responsible for no one but himself. He fails to fill the norms of a father figure and shares little to no connection with his teenage son and his preteen daughter. After the city that he lives in, along with the rest of the world is attacked by an alien race, he begins to rapidly realize his failures and tries to improve the relationships with his children, while fighting to save their lives from human genocide. It pains him to discover that his children feel though they cannon rely on him, and have very little respect for him. Being thrown in the middle of death and distraction, and fearing for his children’s lives, he becomes aware of all the things that he was not present for while his children were growing up.  The change within him leads to the strengthening of his character. He feels the need to redeem himself for the mistakes of the past; he becomes driven to be the adult that he always needed to be and to lead his children to safety.

                           Work Cited

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia Barry. The Film Experience: an Introduction.

           Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 15 June 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/War-of-the-Worlds-movie-Blu-ray.jpg>.

Sound in Silent Cinema. The General

Silent Films: The General by Buster Keaton. 1926

    The importance of sound in colorless, silent cinema should not be underestimated. The experience of watching a film without a supporting musical score or any audio element would be dry and impersonal. The ability to hear the rhythm of the characters’ voices helps the viewers to pick up on the emotional atmosphere of the film. Just the use of visually displayed dialogue, in silent cinema, would not be enough to fully demonstrate the true essence of what the characters are feeling, and how they are expressing it. It would also make it difficult to understand the overall mood that is suggested within the scenes.

  According to Silent Era:  

      “Early age cinema production companies, while presenting professional silent film screenings, used instruments like piano, theatre organ, and even chamber ensemble symphony orchestra accompaniments to provide their audience with a potent experience of sound.”

   While researching Buster Keaton’s 1926 film, The General, I found that it is unrealistic to recover its original supporting score. The DVD versions of Buster Keaton’s blockbuster use a score that was added by its distributor years after the film had been released. (The Internet Movie Database.)

  While watching the film, I was completely taken away by cinematography, camera work and Buster Keaton’s incredible performance. The score by Carl Davis proved to be truthful to the scenes, even though it was designed decades after the film’s release.

  After viewing of the film and listening to the Carl Davis’s score during two separate occasions, I discovered a very interesting relationship between the two. Though I truly enjoyed the sound of the orchestra as I was viewing the film, at times, I was slightly distracted by what I was hearing. Certain musical moments and scenes did not seem to match up. I was originally under the impression that the film’s soundtrack consisted of separately selected musical compositions, and not an intentionally designed score. However several weeks down the road, I reviewed just the recording of the film’s score. I was pleased to find out that the sound narration was just as powerful as the visual narration. Without any visual help, I was able to follow the music and let my imagination do the work. Carl Davis’s representation of the characters through the sound was outstanding. I could easily figure out which composition was designed for which character and which scene. I felt though the overall score was a fantastic fit for a comedy intended to take place during the Civil War era. The sound was not only light on the ear and emotionally uplifting, but also dramatic and powerful, which is the best sound one can imagine for a silent comedy.

    Today, purchasing silent film DVD’s can be a bit tricky, due to the fact that it is not always easy to find a film with a musical accompaniment that properly fits the scenes.            

    The Internet Movie Database states:

“The quality of music in silent film DVDs varies from distributor to distributor. Some record original scores, some carefully piece together a score from public domain sources, and some slap on an irrelevant soundtracks.”

                                                        Work Cited

"The General (1926) - FAQ." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 1 June 2011. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017925/faq>.

"Silent Era : People : Composers and Musicians : Dennis James." Silent Era : The Silent Film Website. Web. 1 June 2011. <http://www.silentera.com/people/musicians/James-Dennis.html>.

"Carl Davis Pic - Image of Carl Davis - AllStarPics.Net." All Star Pics, Pictures of the Stars, Celebrity Pics, Entertainment Photos. Web. 1 June 2011. <http://www.allstarpics.net/0067965/012651838/carl-davis-pic.html>.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 1 June 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rjbuffalo.com/images/buster/gen-quiet.jpg>.