Documentary/Portrait Project post

Here's the vimeo link for my Portrait assignment. You'll have to forgive the lack of an intro. I finished editing and had already posted this before I remembered.

https://vimeo.com/87182715

Blog post #4 - Midterm Scene Analysis

 

 

Steven Spielberg has an innate skill of creating films that stick with me. He has his fair share of critics, and a few of his films are well beyond anything ground breaking; but, when he does create those gems, I believe he easily ranks among one of the flat out best "big" filmmakers of all time, certainly of the modern era. Despite, my enjoyment of his work, and the influence his films have played in my life, I had not seen one of his biggest films: Schindler's List. I think one reason being that it is an incredibly heavy film, and honestly I was hesitant to view it. I finally set aside the time to watch it and I'm glad I did; I knew immediately that it was what I wanted to cover for this particular blog post. The film depicts different periods and events involved in the systematic extermination of European Jews during World War II by Nazi ruled Germany. The majority of the film is based in Krakow, Poland. It follows the actions of one Oskar Schindler, and how through his "business ventures," he employed and spared many Jewish lives who would have otherwise perished.



In this scene we have the two characters, Oskar Schindler(Liam Neeson) and Amon Goeth(Ralph Fiennes). The two have a converse while seated on the Goeth's balcony overlooking the Jewish work camp below.


 

 The scene begins with camera just inside the interior of Amon Goeth's "villa." The two figures are framed left. This may seem unbalanced, but Spielberg's choice of framing is of course, deliberate. The work camp, is framed to the right and the predominant feature of the background. I believe Spielberg did not want to allow the audience an escape from recognizing its existence. This scene follows the events of an upscale party held at Goeth's temporary home set above the camp. The party has all of the luxuries expected by the high ranking German officials and associates. The camera dollys in on the scene from the lavish party to this balcony; it's a stark juxtaposition. As the camera moves in, the frame opens up from the lavish interior to the work camp. Oskar Schindler comments on the wonderful party held at Goeth's residence. Schindler sits down on a bench on the balcony. He is framed almost center; he may attend the parties of these war criminals, but he does follow their same ideology; he does not belong. Goeth is framed left, still standing, due to perspective, he appears larger than the camp. This expands upon his previously established ego.

Goeth falls due to his level of inebriation. Schinder chastise him for the not only his level of drunkenness, but for the fact he continues to drink low grade alcohol, rather than partake what Schindler gives to him. This scene takes place at night. The two characters are both lit, but to me what is interesting is that he camp is shown clearly as well. This is not only for practical reasons: a prison camp would be lit to prevent escapees; it also reinforces Spielberg's goal: the camp never goes away for the audience.




Goeth crawls toward the bench where Schindler is seated. It is in the style of a courting bench, thus the characters are not seated in the same orientation, rather, they are on complete opposite sides. This is another type of distancing for the audience between the characters, both physical and philosophically. Goeth is obsessed with power and says he admires Schindler's ability to have self-control(in his mind a form of power).
 

Schindler introduces the question of "power" to Goeth, and what does it mean to have it. The focus is racked from Goeth to Schindler

For the first time, we move into the tighter shots of the two characters. The background goes into a soft focus as the main conversation begins.

The focus is soft, but not so soft to where the background is indistinguishable. Here Spielberg brings us right back into the reality. The spot light can be seen as it surveys the grounds.

We see the spot light rotate in the background, but at this point it seems to linger on Goeth. The lighting between the two switches from a practical look due to light spilling out from the inside of the house, to a type of harsh contrasted light similar to that of an interrogation. The spot light serves as a reminder of the environment. But at the same time, Schindler tries to appeal to the humanity, and the ego of Goeth. It is shining another light on the mindset of the two men.

Here the frame shifts slightly to left as Schindler moves in closer. His words are meant to stroke the ego of Goeth by comparing his level of power with that of an emperor. Really, Schindler is trying to implant the idea so that perhaps Goeth will begin to curve his ruthless acts.

The frame is tight and as Schindler continues with his explanation, we can see the discomfort of Goeth due in part to what Schindler is implying.

The frame opens back up to give some room to breathe. Schindler was simply playing the ego of Goeth to get what he wanted, but the conversation was still pretty confrontational in tone. The depth of field has shifted slight, and the background is not as soft.

The final shot consists of Goeth framed by himself. He begins to digest the words of Schindler, but makes a mockery of the whole point. The ideas of mercy held by Schindler is out of the realm of understanding for Goeth. One constant of the scene is the lighting of both men. Schindler is the man of mercy in this scene, but he is often lit with harder light and more contrast. Goeth, the bastard that he is, gets lit by spill light from the inside of his home. What this does however, is make his lighting much more even. The thing about Goeth is that in this scene and a couple of others in the film, he comes off as charismatic. He doesn't look like the boogey man in this scene. He doesn't have deep contrasted lighting and shadows on him. This lighting shows him as being "normal." This makes his level of depravity even more shocking and honest. History shows, and Spielberg knows this, that most of the atrocities were carried out my people, who in other circumstances seemed normal. What is more disturbing than an incredibly human figure performing these kinds of acts.