Written Documentary- Independent Study

Page1

VideoAudio

Written Documentary- Independent Study

Student’s Name: Tony NguyenDue Date: ______Score: ______

Title of Movie(s): The Third Man (1949), M (1937), High and Low (1963), Quai des Orfèvres (1947)

VideoAudio

1. CLIP: M(1937) –

An ELS shows a foggy, dark night in the city in theWeimarRepublic. A streetlight that is dimly lit can be seen in the background.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CLIP: Quai des Orfèvres(1947) – Inspector Antoine visits Jenny. He questions her on her alibi. We see two CU on their faces, which reveal that he is suspicious.

1. CLIP: High and Low (1963) –

1. A LS shows Gondo standing in a room, confronting the police. It cuts to a CU of his angry expression.

1. CUT to black.

1. FADE IN to NARRATOR sitting in a chair in a gray, barren police interrogation room with a flat table and a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

1. CUT to CU of NARRATOR continuing to talk.

1. CUT to LS as NARRATOR stands up and begins to walk towards the right side of the room, where there is a one-way pane of glass.

1. CUT to MS from behind the NARRATOR, who is looking into the black, empty frame of glass.

1. ZOOM IN on the black empty, frame to the right of the NARRATOR’s head until narrator slowly disappears out of the frame.

1. FADE IN to montage of crime scene tape and mugshots.

1. STILL: A freeze frame on the final mugshot. The photo desaturates and turns to black and white while the contrast is increased.

1. A flash of white quickly fills the screen from the center outwards towards the edges.

1. A photo (in the format of a Polaroid instant) falls onto the screen, displaying the movie poster of M.

1. CLIP: M –We see the mise-en-scene of the film in this LS of the gritty streets of urban Berlin.

1. CLIP: M (25:00) –

In a LS, a German police officer carries an angry woman down a long set of spiraling stairs.

1. CLIP: The Third Man –

In a MS, a cat meanders on the streets, which are lined with cobblestones.

1. CLIP: The Third Man –

CU shot - The cat enters through a dim, shadowy doorway and licks the shoes of a shadowed man.

1. CLIP: The Third Man –

Holly Martins chases the shadow of a man (Harry Lime) throughout the moonlit streets of Vienna.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CLIP fades to black. Montage of newspapers headlines about corruption and scandal in grayscale appears, cross-fading from one article to another.

1. Zoom out from newspaper to a MS of the NARRATOR, holding a newspaper and reading. After the reveal, he places the newspaper down and looks at the camera.

1. NARRATOR continues to speak with a newspaper on his lap.

1. NARRATOR continues to speak, raising his hands to gesture.

1. NARRATOR picks up the newspaper again, revealing a still shot of High and Low. The camera zooms in quickly on the still shot. After the shot fills the frame, the clip begins to play.

1. CLIP: High and Low – Here, the action takes place in Mr. Gondo’s house on top of a hill. We see LS and MS.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CLIP: High and Low (1967) -

Part of the city of Yokohama is shown below, the dark alley shrouded in shadows.

1. Montage of stills from High and Low, alternating between showing the city and Gondo’s estate.

1. CLIP: High and Low (1967) - Once the police arrive on the scene to investigate the kidnapping, they walk around the room and talk about the crime.

1. CLIP continues. They walk around the room and talk about the crime.

1. Fade to black.

1. The frame is pitch-black. The NARRATOR then appears in a MS. He is illuminated by a single light bulb hanging above him, which is not shown in the frame.

1. CUT to CU shot of the NARRATOR talking.

1. CUT to a series of still shots from the film Quai des Orfèvres(1947), stacking on top of each other in the form of Polaroid-style photos with large white frames as a border. The first photo is of the title slide, succeeding photos show each of the characters in succession as their names are said, and the final photo is the first frame of the upcoming clip.

1. ZOOM into the top photo on the pile.

1. CLIP: Quai des Orfèvres (1947) – MS of Maurice sitting in a dark interrogation room.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CLIP: Quai des Orfèvres –

In a LS, Jenny stands, pensive and lost in thought, sorrowfully looking into the distance.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CLIP fades out to black.

1. CUT to a close-up shot on the NARRATOR.

1. NARRATOR looks back and forth.

1. Cut to long shot of the NARRATOR standing.

1. Camera pans to the right. Motion blur is visible as the shot fades into the next clip.

1. CLIP: High and Low (1967) - Mr. and Mrs. Gondo are arguing with each other of the frame. Off to the left side of the frame, Mr. Aoki is crying.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CLIP: High andLow (1967) - As the dialogue wraps up, Mrs. Gondo and Jun are in the middle of the long shot, and Mr. Gondo is in the far right.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CROSS-FADE to a slow montage of stills from High and Low (1967)

1. CUT to a LS showing the inside of Gondo’s lavish estate.

1. CLIP continues playing.

1. CUT to NARRATOR again. In a MS, the NARRATOR sits drinking a cup of coffee at a police desk.

1. CUT to CU of NARRATOR as he continues to talk, taking sips from the cup periodically.

1. CUT to CU of the coffee cup being set down. The camera pans up and rotates over in a swooping motion to reveal in the contents of the now-empty coffee cup, as viewed from above. The bottom of the cup shows a frame from the upcoming clip.

1. ZOOM IN to the clip.

1. CLIP: Quai des Orfèvres–

A CU of two arms handcuffed together.

1. CLIP: Quai des Orfèvres–

A LS of them walking down the cell block.

1. CLIP continues.

1. CUT to an over-the-shoulder shot of the NARRATOR holding a manila folder. The clip is playing (superimposed) on a piece of paper inside of it, as part of a stack. The NARRATOR closes the folder to reveal the title.

1. CUT to a MS of the NARRATOR sitting at the same police desk as before. A lamp illuminates the table in a small pool of light.

1. LS: The NARRATOR turns around and reaches for another manila folder from a cabinet in the back, before addressing the audience directly.

1. CU as the NARRATOR sets the manila folder down on the table.

1. A MS of the NARRATOR shows him flicking off the lamp, immersing the room in darkness.

1. Black.

1. FADE IN to a full-length shot (LS) of the blind balloon salesman. He comes to a realization.

1. CUT to a MS of the murderer looking over his shoulder at the camera, played by Peter Lorre.

1. CLIP continues. We see the close-up of Lorre continue before it cuts to a long shot of both men.

1. ZOOM OUT to reveal the clip playing as one part of a book of suspects’ names and photos. The NARRATOR’s hand turns the pages of the book to reveal several publicity stills of the next film, The Third Man, as the next section in the book. The heading of the page reads, “The Third Man”.

1. Montage of pictures of The Third Man begins playing.

1. CLIP: Close-up of a long string instrument being plucked.

1. CLIP: Medium shot of a long string instrument being plucked by a man.

1. CUT to LS of the NARRATOR sitting in a chair and talking.

1. CUT to MS of the NARRATOR talking.

1. FADE to black.

/

1. AUDIO from CLIP

1. CROSS-FADE to VOICEOVER from The Third Man(1949):Calloway: Go home Martins, like a sensible chap. You don't know what you're mixing in, get the next plane.Holly: As soon as I get to the bottom of this, I'll get the next plane.

Calloway: Death's at the bottom of everything, Martins. Leave death to the professionals.

1. AUDIO from CLIP

1. AUDIO from CLIP:Kingo Gondo (in Japanese): I have no time for lies. I want the truth!

1. AUDIO: Law and Order theme noise plays.

1. NARRATOR: Crime pays.

1. NARRATOR: In the U.S., fascination with crime is ever-present in the media. Stories about murders of secret lovers and unsolved mysteries regularly show up as specials on Dateline and 48 Hours.

1. NARRATOR: And it pays – the profit that comes as a result of reporting about real crimes is unquestionable. Society’s current fascination with crime constitutes a voyeuristic scrutiny of people’s lives, motivations, and identity. However, this desire has also been explored in the worlds of film.

1. NARRATOR: I’m Tony Nguyen. And, tonight, we’ll explore the nature of the criminal drama with a focus on its earliest stages and film noir.

1. NARRATOR: And, ultimately, we’ll understand the techniques by which such films can provoke a psychological inquiry: as the audience, we take a trip into the minds of the police and the prime suspects, the hunter and the hunted. Through low-key lighting, tight cinematography, and unique sounds, these directors manage to convey a sense of both alienation and connection.

1. MUSIC: A trumpet is heard, playing a few half notes slowly and sorrowfully.

1. NARRATOR: The film noir style was once pervasive in the criminal drama.

1. AUDIO: The shutter noise of a camera is heard.

1. NARRATOR: But going back even earlier, film noir found its roots in German Expressionism. In M, Director Fritz Lang confronts a serial murderer on the loose: in the ensuing manhunt, the police as well as the city’s criminals attempt to track him down.

1. NARRATOR: The roots of film noir are clearly present in Lang’s techniques. Lang uses chiaroscuro (the combination of light and dark) to present a picture of Berlin as a foreboding place, terrorized by this serial killer on the loose.

1. NARRATOR: The low-key lighting that characterizes the dark tone of film noir comes from Expressionist works like M. In this shot, shadows dominate the frame. The shadows of the police officers show the growing response to the murders and the dark side of even the police response.

1. NARRATOR: The Third Man, released in 1949, also uses chiaroscuro to great effect. Director Carol Reed envelops the streets of Vienna in shadows, creating a sense of danger and mystery.

1. NARRATOR: Seedy and shady settings wrapped in darkness reflect the psychology of the lead character, Holly Martins, who is lost in his pursuit of the truth. He is in up to his head in a search for an old friend that is proving elusive, not unlike the search of the police force in Lang’s M.

1. AUDIO from CLIP. Footsteps and rustling noises are heard.

1. FADE to NARRATOR:The shadow of the hunted man also looms large in the background of each shot, haunting the inhabitants of a large and desolate city. While Berliners and Viennans are constantly watched and reminded of his presence, they are at the same time alienated and alone in their existence.

1. AUDIO from The Third Man:Harry Lime: “Holly, you and I aren't heroes. The world doesn't make any heroes outside of your stories…There's nobody left in Vienna I can really trust, and we've always done everything together.”

1. NARRATOR: The film noir style takes a cynical look at the world. It portrays the psychological attitudes of its characters as self-interested and callous.

1. NARRATOR: But one noir work escapes this feeling of alienation. In High and Low (originally Tengoku to Jigoku), director Akira Kurosawa takes noir elements and weaves them with a tale of redemption, not cynicism.

1. Gondo, a wealthy executive, sees his life unraveling yet acts with noble intentions. Gondo fights to preserve his vision for the direction of a shoe company while becoming embroiled in a kidnapping threat.

1. Whoosh sound accompanies the zoom. A barely audible click is heard as the clip of the film snaps to fill the frame.

1. NARRATOR: In weaving together his story, director Akira Kurosawa also combined multiple technical elements to create an overall, complementary mis-en-scene. Kurosawa lights the setting with high contrast in the noir style, but also contrasts the settings.

1. AUDIO from CLIP

1. NARRATOR: Reflecting the original Japanese title, the gritty underworld is depicted as a hell or “Jigoku” while Gondo’s house is a heaven or “Tengoku”. Even when the curtains are closed and no light filters through the windows, the whites are intense. Because of the strong highlights, the shirts of the cast members radiate on the screen with a heavenly glow.

1. NARRATOR: The contrast is striking – while the city shows the low-key lighting typical of noir files, The scene in Gondo’s estate uses bright, high-key lighting like many modern films today. Instead of consistently using the noir color palette, Kurosawa uses its extreme shadows as a contrast between what appear to be two different worlds.

1. AUDIO from CLIP

1. NARRATOR: In this film, Kurosawa was able to shoot in widescreen for the first time and uses it to its fullest. He fills the screen with his characters, positioning them at different distances like layers of paint on a canvas.

1. NARRATOR: The effect of this layering is to enhance the contrast between light and dark, good and evil, and ultimately “heaven” and “hell”, as the title suggests.

1. The sound of a chain being pulled is heard: a light bulb is switched on.

1. NARRATOR: But not every film focuses on the redeeming qualities of humanity. Certainly, High and Low is the exception to the rule of including grungy and sleazy backdrops in the film noir style.

1. NARRATOR: Quai des Orfevres by Henri-Georges Clouzot exemplifies this pessimistic attitude towards human nature, at least upon first glance. Jenny Lamour is a fame-seeking showgirl who hopes to make it big by flirting with rich and powerful men. Her husband, Maurice, is suspicious of her true intentions – he is constantly thinking that Jenny may secretly be cheating on him.

1. NARRATOR: Clouzot constructs this cynical mindset on-screen by using both visuals and audio effects.

1. AUDIO: Original audio is overlaid with a tense string piece.

1. CROSS-FADE from clip AUDIO into NARRATOR: Visually, he entraps the characters within shadows and darkness. As Maurice sits in an interrogation room, the cross-hatched shadows projected on him suggest that Maurice has sent himself a psychological prison of sorts: he is trapped by his insecurities and his paranoia.

1. AUDIO from CLIP.

1. NARRATOR: The mis-en-scene of Quai des Orferves also contributes to the feeling of being trapped. Even in this long shot, the planks of wood in the background appear like prison bars, fencing the characters in. The arrangement of tables and chairs also locks the characters and restricts their movement on the set.

1. AUDIO fades out to silence.

1. NARRATOR: Getting up-close and personal, like here, adds a visceral impact to the shot. We are forced to confront the characters.

1. NARRATOR: It also adds a claustrophobic tone, a visual motif typical of the film noir genre.

1. NARRATOR: In the following clip from Kurosawa’s High and Low, the scene is not always a close-up, but Kurosawa establishes the same tone.

1. An echo and slight rustle is heard.

1. AUDIO from CLIP.Mr. and Mrs. Gondo are arguing with each other loudly. Aoki cries more softly.

1. CROSS-FADE to NARRATOR: In an example of closed composition, Kurosawa tightens up the scene by placing it in a room closed off the house.

1. NARRATOR: In a scene that is already tense, this is visually reflected in the sense of constriction created by the composition.

1. NARRATOR: Indeed, the audience is left feeling like there is nothing beyond the world of the house. The characters are anxious and focusing on the danger in their home, and this is reflected in Kurosawa’s composition.

1. NARRATOR: Kurosawa also incorporates the film noir themes of alienation and loneliness into his visual landscape. The house is perched on the top of the hill, alone.

1. SOUND FX: Sound of door opening plays.

1. NARRATOR: However, Kurosawa sees the possibility of hope and redemption. In a lonely world, the presence of Gondo’s family and society’s recognition of his good deeds secure a place that is meant for him. He is connected to people by relationships and actions, in ties that paradoxically liberate him from despair.

1. We hear the slight slurp of coffee. The clink of the mug being set down on the table is heard.

1. NARRATOR: Crime oftenreminds us of the worst characteristics of humanity: greed, violence, envy, as we watch in morbid fascination. [Pause]

However, these films show that there is more than the mystery and intrigue. The real nature of the film lies in its exploration of what makes us all human.

1. NARRATOR: Even in Clouzot’s cynical Quai des Orferves, a second viewing shows that he sympathizes with the characters.

1. MUSIC: A slow, melodic violin piece plays quietly in the background.

1. NARRATOR: Clouzot himself said that this shot of Inspector Antoine and his prisoner handcuffed to one another “justified the whole movie”.

1. NARRATOR: The symbolic equality portrayed in this evenly-split frame shows that there are connections we have with other people, even unconventional ones. The two men attempt to know each other: there is a level of intimate understanding between a detective and his suspect.

1. CROSS-FADE to AUDIO from clip.

1. AUDIO from clip continues. As the narrator closes the folder, the audio from the clip cuts off.

1. NARRATOR: Taking a final look at the elements of crime films, we’ll look at a different landscape in film.

1. NARRATOR: The desolate and sinister tone of crime films in the noir style comes not just from visuals, but from sound, as well.

1. NARRATOR: Sound, by itself, plays a huge role in adding color to a film. This is a fact often overlooked in an era with high-tech visuals and color imagery. So let’s turn off the lights-

1. NARRATOR: And let the sound speak for itself.

1. MUSIC: Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, as heard in M, plays.

1. AUDIO from clip.

1. CROSS-FADE to NARRATOR: Although now it is often used in cheesy advertisements, Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” was used in M as a motif. Instead of being a light piece of music, this work became a chilling indicator of the presence of the murderer in the scene.

1. NARRATOR: The audio motif adds to the sense of impending danger, a mood that is also communicated by Lang’s complementary dark visuals.

1. NARRATOR: But other films also use sound effectively. [ZOOM]

1. NARRATOR: In 1948, director Carol Reed heard musician Anton Karas play at a welcome party in Vienna for filmmakers. He was entranced by the unique and interesting sound coming from Karas’ instrument.

1. NARRATOR: This exotic music was being produced by a zither, a forty-stringed instrument that is “a cousin of the guitar”. In The Third Man, its resonant tone conveys a sense of wistfulness, regret, and suspense that suits this dark noir film. In the context of the mysterious Harry Lime and a bizarre past, its tone fits well.

1. NARRATOR: American film critic Manny Farber wrote in a 1950 review that it “hits one's consciousness like a cloudburst of needles”, employing a unique description for a unique instrument.

1. NARRATOR: In the end, the landscape of film noir is painted by a variety of techniques.

1. NARRATOR: Through low-key lighting, tight cinematography, and unique sounds, these directors manage to convey a sense of both alienation and connection.The backdrop of film noiris a dark and lonely one, punctuated by glimpses of tender relationships. And it is one that has made its mark on film today.

1. MUSIC plays.

Page1