Filmmaking in a Secntence

Filmmaking today is ambitious.

The New World by Robert Koehler

Robert Koehler's article, The New World, is an examination of not only the 2005 film but an analysis of Terrence Mallick's habits and trademarks as a filmmaker. In the article Koehler assuems the position of an analyst rather than a critic, exploring Mallick's consistencies as a writer/director and how he uses The New World as a vehicle for examining the natural world. Regarding Mallick's tendency toward nature, Koehler states, "Watch his camera, and it will invariably wander away, drawn by a bird, a flick of grass, a disturbance in the water" (Koehler). This reinforces the idea of Terrence Mallick's career-long interest in the natural world, obviously seen in previous works of his such as The Thin Red Line. Mallick's film, The New World, however, is unlike anything he has done since. Having shot miles of film and using nothing but natural light throughout the shoot, Mallick pulls out all the stops to make the film as authentic as possible. I feel that he succeeded tremendously of creating an atmosphere that felt real and plausible, which he achieved through ideas that were nearly thirty years in development.

Deeparture by Mircea Cantor

Deeparture, an exercise in silence and pure image by Mircea Cantor, takes the viewer back to the origins of film in that it simply asks him or her to watch. In complete contrast to Christian Marclay's film, the second film i chose to write about, Deeparture takes the opposite approach by displaying a complete lack of sound and, instead, relying on the power and content of the images to intrigue the viewer. Telephones, by Marclay, arouses the sense of sound, thereby asking the viewer to pay attention but in a different way. Deeparture makes a point to exclude the element of sound because it would take away from the atmosphere and tone that the images create. If the film can be compared to Telephones, the main comparison to make would be the fact that both films engage the viewer from the first frame through an assault on the senses. Deeparture, which takes its time in establishing itself, forces the viewer to keep watching with its images of curious animals, who obviously do not act but react in an empty environment. I found the film to be an intriguing example of modern filmmaking returning to its origins with the absence of sound and the use of images that tell a story based solely on what they entail and how they are arranged.

Telephones by Christian Marclay

Christian Marclay's film, Telephones, is a unique undertaking of making a collage of sounds that are everyday in nature, but create a musical sound through editing. For me, personally, the sound throughout the film works constantly, never hitting a dull moment due to the fact that each clip and individual sound are tightly woven into a vignette of telephones ringing. Through Marclay's meticulous use of pacing and editing, he creates a distinct and poignant musical soundtrack with each ring practically on top of the next. He also makes a point to duplicate similar sounds with different phones, moving up and down and pitch but eventually coming full circle to sounds we have already heard. I feel that this specifcally is what makes the piece work as a unique collection of sounds. Marclay, however, pushes it even further when he moves from phones to voices of people answering the ringing phones. This is not quite as musical as the phones ringing. Each voice is uniquely different in pitch and tone, yes, but they do not all meld together as a piece of music. In the interview that Glenn presented regarding Aaron Ximm, Ximm comments on the idea of sound collage as music when he says, "In such work there is a gratuitous display of craft and a love of purely sensory pleasures that I believe is out of fashion in the 'serious' art world" (Ximm 39). Overall, Marclay's piece finds its window in arousing the senses, obviously the sense of sound particularly, which makes for an unexpected, yet exciting viewing experience.