Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920).

It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them

down a by-street in a busy quarter of London...

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

 

 

 

The film is brilliant. Why film directors from the past are so gentle and attentive with books' screen versions? Even Dracula by Tod Browning with wrong relationships between characters and absent pieces is full of "the book" more than Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola. But I'm not speaking about the book b B.Stoker, although I want to. I'm speaking about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is a 1920 horror silent film, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were played by John Barrymore. The film was directed by John S. Robertson.

I didn't find many different kinds of angles or camera high and this makes the film a bit theatrical. But the characters are always in focus and in the centre of the picture, except of this moment:

 

Definitely POV of Mr. Hyde's victim. The director is still using eye-level angle shot, but the face of the main character is below.

 

 

 

P.S. to be continued.



Dirty Harry.

Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.

Hilaire Belloc

 



 

Dirty Harry is an American film by Don Siegel. It's the first part in the Dirty Harry series and one of the best film for ever. The film is about a police officer, who is using dirty methods to protect people from violence. One of the most interesting things is that all his partners keep getting injured or even killed. There isn't any official explanation why everybody call Inspector Harry Callahan "Dirty Harry", but Frank DiGiorgio says that Harry "hates everybody: Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Dagos, Niggers, Honkies, Chinks, you name it" and Callahan says that he is doing "every dirty job that comes along".

 



I know what you’re thinking: "Did he fire six shots, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya, punk?

 

 

 

 

The film is rich with using different types of angles and one of the most famous scenes in this film, when Inspector Callahan is standing on Scorpio's wounded leg, camera is going away, higher and higher, and we still can see them, but they are getting smaller and smaller.

Another famous scene, when Harry Callahan is saying his famous speach, which is stated above, is using two different types of angles to show us different points of robber's and his views. The robber is laying on the ground, but Inspector Callahan is standing near him and watching at him from above. So the first angle is worm's eye one and the second one is high angle. Furthermore the director is using XCU (Extreme close up) when the camera is showing the robber's hand near the gun.

These are two most famous scenes. Clint Eastwood is very good as always and if you used to see him only in western films, you should see Dirty Harry - it's not the same.



 

Winter photos.

Enjoy some winter pictures, which were taken these days.

 

 

 



Shot sizes.

Let's have a look at shot sizes that are very widespread in the media.

 

 

XLS

 

 

LS

 

 

 

 

MLS

 

 

 

MS

 

 

 

MCU

 

 

 

 

CU

 

 

 

 

 BCU

 

 

 

 

XCU

 

 



I am Cuba (1964)

Because none of us are as powerful as all of us.

 

 

 

 

The clip is black and white, begins with a representing of a shouting crowd and a girl and than a man who are going through it. Camera is using MS (Medium shot) and High level. At 0.14 the angle is changing to canted, but steel high. From 0.20 the camera is using MCU (Medium close up), but than again returns to MS. From 0.36 the camera is shooting with canted angle, which signified that the man is doing a mad thing - he is going to the police, holding a stone in the right hand. At 0.50 he is starting to go through smoke, and we thinks that he has dissapeared, but he appears again in 3 sec. Now the camera is using MLS (Medium long shot) to help us to see the stone and still keeping canted angle. From 1.12 we can see the man in LS (Large shot), but still with a high canted angle. He is passing a burning car and we can see the battle of water and fire. Water trying to stop the man, but he is going. From 1.30 we see MS but an eye-level angle shot, which transforms into canted angle, what makes the police, represented in it, bigger than the man. There are many contrast: fire and water, stone and pistol, a group of people and one man, high angle and eye-level one. After this we see the man in a LS shot high canted angle . He has got a shot by a pistol and the camera is sharply moving to repeat his movement, which signified his pain. The man is continue moving, but without the stone and very slowly. At 2.16 the camera is changed and we see MCU shot low canted angle. Furthermore it looks like the lens on the camera are uneven, because the man's face begins to transform like in a false mirror. The man falls and the camera whirls. We see some humans figures in LS shot eye-level canted angle. Everything dissapears.

Metropolis.

Evidently, I thought, this tendency had increased till

Industry had gradually lost its birthright in the sky.

I mean that it had gone deeper and deeper into larger and ever

larger underground factories, spending a still-increasing

amount of its time therein, till, in the end - !

H.G. Wells "The Time Machine"

 

 

Mise en scene.

 

 

Location 1.

 

The setting is undeground city where workers are living. There is a clock in it, which has got only 10 numbers, not 12.

 



 Workers are a big crowd, they are moving like a big machine, very synchronically and resignedly as robots. There are a few groups of them and they are working in rotation. Also they've got the same black cloths and caps, so they look more like prisoners than free people. It's tells us that they are similar to each other and don't have their own opinion, they are weak. The scene is made in dark way with some blue colours, the low key lighting makes it depressed and a bit scary, transforming the crowd into a big shapeless thing. The words and letters in the subtitles are moving from below to above like the workers, when they are going up a lift. Everything shows that we see a factory, especially the beginning of the film with moving machines. Furthermore it looks like the place where they are living not very big, for example when they are going and when they are staying in the lift we can see that they locate very close to each other, which signifies they haven't got any space to move separately.

 



As stated above they are living undeground like moles, only working every day on the elite. It's very symbolic, because they don't see sunlight and peace, but only dirt and darkness. I presume, the elite believes that they are not people but robots, who not even dare to be tired.

 

 

 

Location 2.

 

Above that dark place there is another world - the elite. They don't work, but having fun under the sun. They are very similar to children - they don't think about problems, because they don't have them, furthermore they are happy and wealthy, individual and can do what they want. They are free in everything, for instance in sport (they are running which signifies freedom too), in love (the scene in a pleasure garden) and in choosing (they've got different cloths and moving in different ways).

 



 

Because of the lighting the garden is looks gold and adorable, it full of peace, but it's quite illusory too - like in a dream - and it seem like these people will wake up. Also there is a huge wall which signifies that the elite doesn't want to go outside, it's in a safe place, but this wall does not only protect them, it also separates them from everything. Maybe somebody will want to look what is outside? Qui sait.

 

These two locations are very different, because we see two different types of people - rich and poor. One side is rich, another is enslaved. The way they are living reminds me the caste system in India. But there are only two positions: the most powerful one and the untouchable one.

The lighting is different - in first location it's low key to show the mysterious mass, but in the second location there is high key lighting to make the people and the environment like from a fairytale. Also we cannot see workers' faces, which signifies not only the fact that they haven't got anything, but that we cannot see what is inside their souls, about what they are thinking, whereas the elite has light faces and eyes and it's ease to understand what they want to do.

But the elite cannot live without the workers. Wealthy people are very powerful but they don't work, everything is done by the workers. It's a very dangerous situation for the wealthy people.

 

 

The main protagonists.

 

 

The main protagonist are always in the foreground and in the centre, they are individual and bright. For example we see a girl on the photo above. She is in the centre of the picture, high key lighting picks out her body, she is taller than children and she is the first person we see on the photo. Also she and her future beloved are the first people in the Metropolis which names we heard, or, what will be more proper, read. They've got white cloths, but her dress is simple and poor whereas his cloth is more expensive. She is living underground, but he is one of the elite group. They are like Romeo and Juliet - fall in love at first sight. We understand this when they are looking at each other silently and for a long time. Moreover he is touching his chest like he is holding his heart and this also signifies love. He is a young man, handsome (remember the time of making the film - 1926) and rich, she is looks like an angel (because of the light above her hair) - it's not surprising that they fall in love - it's one of the major film's features.



Lighting.

So. There are 20 photos, that can show you different light directions. I was using one/two/three lamps.

1.

Without any direct lighting, only a small white-blue lamp far away - natural picture in building. The second one is used another red lamp, more dark photo.

2.

 

Light is directed to the face. Only one lamp, high key.

3.

Very similar to the previous two, but the emphasis is the hands. Shows the motion of the body.

4.

 

Light is setting behind of the models. Was used to show their angelic side. The pictures is full of kindness and humility. One more lamp, setting on the right, is used on the second photo.

5.

The light is setting above, the face can't be seen very well. One more lamp is used on the second photo too and it's set behind the model.

6.

The light ray is going from below to show the demonic side of the picture. The eyes are black and can't be seen and the mouth is black too.

7.

Three lams were used while the picture was being made: one is in the same positing as it was in the previous photo (below), the second is far on the right side and the last lamp is set behind the photographer. Other two lamps made the photo more magic, but not so scary. It looks like the model is opening a treasure chest on the first one.

8.

The lamp can be seen. The light is making contour of the model's arm and face.

9.

A classic picture. Two lamps from both sides (right and left). This photo is flat, but natural.

10.

 The light is going in the same way as it was in the 7th part, but only one red lamp is used. Also the picture is demonic and dark, nothing can't be seen except of the model's face and hand.

11.

One lamp was used, but it's set far away from the model. The face and hair can be seen, but everything behind of the model can't.

12.

 

The emphasis is eyes and half of the face. Only one lamp was used. Low key lighting.

P.S. No lamps were harmed in the making of these photos.