SUNSET BOULEVARD Investigated the Bizarre and Tragic Life of a Once Famous Silent Movie Star
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Mise-en-scene •The elements of filmmaking that are akin to staging a play •Settings •Subjects being filmed •Figure Behavior •Composition •Arrangement of settings, lighting, and subjects •Designer, Production Designer: Person responsible for the appearance of what is photographed •Cinematography Director is credited as Mise-en-scène in Europe •Sound stage vs Location •Loose Framing •Tight Framing •Costume Revealing Character •Versatile Acting High Key vs Low Key Lighting • High Key = Low Contrast • Low Key = High Contrast Billy Wilder • Over 50 films an 6 academy awards • Born June 22, 1906 Samuel Wilder, grew up Austro-Hungarian Empire • Father, Max died in 1926 and his mother Eugenia who spent a great deal of time in America told him stories and began his fascination with the US • Nick Named Billie for Buffalo Bill Beginning of Career • Started out as a journalist • Received his first break as a filmmaker in Germany in 1929: MENSCHEN AM SONTAG (People on Sunday) • Rise of the Nazis forced him to move to France, and ultimately to the United States DOUBLE INDEMNITY, co-written with Raymond Chandler was a tense and thrilling film noir, while SUNSET BOULEVARD investigated the bizarre and tragic life of a once famous silent movie star. Both proved Wilder’s ability to create successful and artistic cinema. --PBS (American Masters) The 1950s saw Wilder produce several films alone including STALAG 17 (1953) and THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, before teaming up with the writer/producer I.A.L. Diamond in 1957. The two would collaborate for over twenty years, producing such major hits as WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1954), SOME LIKE IT HOT and THE APARTMENT --PBS (American Masters) Exposition • Pay close attention to the first few scenes of the film and think about (take notes on) all of the different ways exposition is communicated • Exposition (from wikipedia) is a technique by which background information about the characters, events, or setting is conveyed in a novel, play, movie or other work of fiction. This information can be presented through dialogue, description, flashbacks, or even directly through narrative. Film Noir • 1940’s-1960’s • Dark Seedy elements of Urban Life • Crime and Capitalism • Underworld • Femme Fatale • Eastern Europeans Escaping World War II Sunset Boulevard (1950) • Spiritual and Spacial Emptiness • The price of Fame, Greed, Narcissism and Ambition • Not crime--but the dark side of Hollywood • Posthumously narrated by the main character--introduced at the beginning of the film • Based on the real Hollywood situation of Silent Film Stars being shut out of the industry Eleven Academy Award nominations and the recipient of three Oscars: Best Story and Screenplay (co- authored by Charles Brackett, D.M. Marshman, Jr., and Billy Wilder), Best Black and White Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Franz Waxman). The eight unsuccessful nominations were for Best Picture, Best Actor (William Holden), Best Actress (Gloria Swanson, who lost to Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday), Best Supporting Actor (Erich von Stroheim), Best Supporting Actress (Nancy Olson), Best Director, Best B/W Cinematography (John Seitz), and Best Film Editing. Discussion Points • Exposition • Lighting • Set Design • Performance • Figure Behavior • Other elements of Mise en Scene?.