Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Graduate Clip

This is a clip with a few scenes from the film The Graduate. This movie is one of the most influential films in American film history. It was the first feature film to have a soundtrack provided by a popular rock group which is Simon and Garfunkel. In the past, most films' soundtracks were provided by instrumental ensembles. In addition, the film is the first to feature an editing concept known as "split editing" in which the sounds from a following scene begins before the cut to the next scene occurs. The Graduate is a film which has revolutionary (for its time) film techniques which are relatively easy to analyze in terms of its narrative juxtapositions, thus making it an excellent film to show students for a "film studies" film. In the clip that I chose, Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is confronted by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) before a date with her daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross), who tells Benjamin that if he does not leave Elaine, she will confess to her about their previous affair between Benjamin and Elaine.








2 comments:

  1. Brian, lots of careful analysis of the use of a range of different shots to set up the tensions between characters--for example, the pull-back long shot of Mrs. Robinson in the corner of the house and then Benjamin's viewing of the mother as he's telling Elaine about the affair, and then the later viewing of her leaving her home. You have a good sense of how these techniques are being used to create a story of conflict and relationships that made this a great film.

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  2. I love this movie. I like how you touch on the importance of the music in this movie. It was a HUGE industry-changing move to incorporate Simon and Garfunkle's music into a motion picture. Groundbreaking. Nowadays, musicians heavily rely on movie/commercial appearances for income in an ever-shrinking CD world.

    I like how you address the the camera work as well. It is sometimes as awkward as the subject matter itself. The shots tend to rely on a photographer's view rather than a moving video camera's view. Nice work!

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