Transcript
Anglais : La ville à l’écran
Cinéma à l’écran :
Cours 1
Étude d’un article : « Changing Icons : The Symbols of NYC in Film ; Terri Meyer »
CGI : Computer Generated Images
The icons became a representation of the city, we don’t need to show the entirely city. We can see immediately if the city is old or new.
Utopique =/= Dystopique (dystopic)
City-?state = ville état
Cours 2
Vocabulary for Film Analysis
Shots
Range of view: distance between the camera and the scene (pas d’équivalent) Long shots: plan d’ensemble
Full shots: plan de demi-?ensemble
Zoom shot: un zoom
Close up: plan rapproché
Focus shot/ Composition in depth: plan en profondeur de champs The angle of view: angle de vue
Bird’s eye view: plan general vue de dessus Low angle shot: contre plongée
High angle shot: plongée
Wide angle shot: plan grand angle
Moving shot: plan en movement
A pan: panoramique
Fuzzy, out of focus, blurred: flou, fondu
Cut: raccord
Cut
Straight cut : cut sans transition
Jump cut : coupure brute
Cross cut : montage alterné
Transition : /
Flashback : analepse
Flashfoward : prolepse, projection en avant
Metropolis
Metropolis from Fritz Lang is a city-?state made of different influences. I t’s a black and white silent fiction film widely regarded as a masterpiece. It is the very first movie that has been nominated to the UNESCO’S world’s heritage. It is a gothic corporate city-?state made of impressive skyscrapers. The society has been divided into two groups: in one hand, the thinkers, the intellectuals all live high above the earth in a luxury and pleasant world also called the « Son’s Club »; on in the other hand the group of workers who live underground, toiling to sustain the lives of the privileged. According to quotation: “The dreams of a few had turned to the curses of many”. The climax of the movie is the attack of the uptown by the angry mob of workers. Trough the interventions of Frieder’s son, the worker’s leader are persuaded to reconcile the differences and work together. Metropolis contains also references to antiquity like the evocation of Tower of Babel (contained in Genesis). But this version is more connected to the current situation of label workers: this is a refoundation of the mist.
There is a vertical aspect in Metropolis. According to Fritz Lang, the aesthetic was
inspired from a trip to New York in 192e, during his observations of Manhattan.
Verticality is linked to the idea of height. The uptown is opposed to the downtown. fere
downtown is the city of poor workers, as well as the underground city. This one shelters
the label workers in a production means for everyone in Metropolis. This is the city of
installation, industry, cold and iron. The forms are simple, made of metal, they are
similar of industrial architecture of the last year European’s 19th century. Despite of all
theses influences, this forms also reveals futuristic elements like anthropomorphic
fronts and interface with preeminent buttons and needles (or hands). The hole
disappeared into dramatic and maybe supernatural form (beyond the physics law). It
uses the materials to rise up to heavens. In the beginning in 19th century there is an
insane skyscrapers race in New York / Chicago. Metropolis illustrates the same
competition spirit where modern skyscrapers and ancient towers grew simultaneously. This vertical development of Metropolis was made to be a living symbol of wealth or poverty and misery in its underground part.
Extrait: Metropolis de Rintaro
Shots show an impressive manner to shot.
Fermeture g iris: lens closing / lens opening
City of light
Original: Metropolis in Cleveland
19e0: In New York
19h0: Gotham City and Metropolis are adjacent across an harbour
19hi and 2001: Metropolis in an East Coast corridor including Boston, Washington DC and NYC (MEGALOjOLIS)
19hk: “The Great Superman Book”, Michael Fleisher: in a 19l0 comics, Metropolis is similar to NYC by the presence of Statue Of Liberty
Frank Miller: “Metropolis is New York in the day time, Gotham City is New York at night”
Over the years, Metropolis changed location and features, but always a world-?class city, as NYC, Los Angeles and Chicago
Often referred as “The Big Apricot”= NYC “The Big Apple” Superman is a symbol of hope
Districts (department) / Boroughs (municipalités) of Metropolis
Metropolis made of i boroughs: similar to Toronto, contains also i boroughs Each has a character = like NYC
New Troy: The most important, resembles Manhattan, skyscrapers bustling (vivant, animé) island including:
-? Emperor building (cf empire state)
-? The Twin Towered Lexcorp Building (cf Twon Towers)
-? Little Bohemia (cf Little Italy)
-? Metropolis jark (cf Central jark)
-? Lacey’s and Stacey’s Department Stores (cf Macy’s)
-? Spiffany”s mewellery Store (cf Tiffany’s)
Other Boroughs / suburbs
Seperated to the suburbs by the river (West river and hobby’s river) Midval, location od Midvale Orphenage
Bakerline located in the north of New Troy, refers to farlem St Martin’s Island, refers to Staten Island
Gotham City
FIctionnal city, home of Batman
First Appearance in Batman ne (Winter 19e0)
NY Times mournalist, William Safire: “New York below 1eth Street, from Soho to Greenwich Village; Bowery, little Italy, Chinatown and sinister areas around Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges”. Location used in live-?action films: New York, West London, Chicago, jittsburgh, Los Angeles, Tokyo, fong-?oong
British Country fouse locations: fertfordshire, Buckinghamshire for the scenes of Wayne’s Manor
Origin of name “Gotham”
-? Bill Finger: “Originally, “Civic City”, then “Capital City” or “Coast City”. Flip over
NYC phone book, “Gotham mewellers”
-? Nickname popularized XIXth Century, Washington Irving’s periodical (1k0h)
“Salmagundi”
-? Nottinghamshire/ Goat and fome: “homestead where goats are keeping”.
jronounced “Goth”
Lampoon: pamphlet
It derives from old English “Goat” (chpvre) and “fam” (home: foyer) fomestead: propriété (terriel)
Fictionnal fistory
Founding Fathers summoning Bat Demon becomes trapped beneath old Gotham Town
Dennis O Neil Gotham City is Manhattan below 1eth Street at eleven minutes past Midnight, on the coldest night in November
In the 19l0’s and part of the 19i0’s: lighter tone
In the 19h0’s: tone of the city has become grittier
Some artists have depicted Gotham in different ways. Base theirs interpretations on existing architectural periods and style.
-? Flying Buttresses of Gothic Cathedrals
-? fuge “art deco” and “art nouveau” statutary
-? Cyberpunk, mapanese and greek (moel Schumacher)
-? Distinct Chicago architecture, CGI (Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins), and
infratucture (Dark onight)
Batman Mythology, most influent person promoting Gotham City architecture (pre civil War era) is: mudge Salomon Wayne
Wayne q Cyrus jinkney creates the
“Gotham Style” structures
Later: Batman writers created “Gotham
Revival”. jurposed city of the comic book
must ressembles to Anton Furst’s work
(in Batman, Tim Burton, 19k9)
Geography:
Like other fictional cities of comics
universe: geography of Gotham City has
varied over the years because of:
-? Changing writers
-? Changing editors
-? Changing storylines
Majority: Gotham in North-?eastern Coast,
like New York, and Manhattan (cf: Map
Division)
1990 Atlas of the DC universe: Gotham
located in New-?mersey, across Delaware
Bay from Metropolis
Distnace between Metropolis and
Gotham varied greatly over the years
DC Comics publisher: jaul Levitz: “Gotham is NYC from the 1eth Street Down, the older buildings, more brick and mortar are opposed to steel and glass”
Areas Institutions and Businesses
Gotham is a major economic center within the USA of DC universe
Industries includes
-? Manufacturing
-? Shipping
-? Finance
Arts represented by numerous museums, galleries and jewellers
Commercial seaport, and naval shipyard
More noteworthy Corporation: Wayne Enterprises. Specialises in various industrial aspects, research and development
Charitable division: the Wayne Foundation,
major supporter to the city’s major charity, arts and research endeavour. Business with a facility is Ace Chemicals (or Axis Chemicals)
Newspapers: Gotham Gazette and Gotham Globe.
The films
Tim Burtons Films:
-? 19k9 Batman, production designer was Anton Furst (won an Oscar). Wayne »s
Manor exterior inspired by onebworth fouse; a Gothicized Tudor
-? Axis Chemical, where mack Nicholson plunges into a chemical sludge was filmed in
West London, in a disused power station.
moel Schumacher Films
-? Barbara Ling handled production for both films, « Batman Forever » (199l) and
« Batman and Robin » (199h)
-? Ling’s vision: »Luminous and outlandish evocation of modern expressionism and
constructivism ».
-? Futuristic like concepts (similar to 19k2 Blade Runner) is a cross between
Manhattan, and Neo Tokyo from Akira
-? Ling admitted fer influences came from neon ridden Tokyo and “the machine
age”
Christopher Nolan’s Films
-? The first two Batman series were filmed in Chicago.
-? Batman Begins: Chicago board of Trade Building was used for Wayne’s Tower;
it’s also in the Film, the hub of Gotham water and elevated railway systems.
-? Garrick Theater = Gotham’s Opera fouse
-? Gotham as an exaggeration of New York, with elements of Chicago, and monorails
of Tokyo, fong oong was the basis for the slum “The Narrow”
-? The Dark onight: some Chicago landmarks included, but it is revealed much of
the city is in an Island (cf Manhttan)
